Literary Friday, Edition 199
Our Summer Reading List is Here!
We get pretty excited about our Summer Reading List each year, but this list feels like the best yet. Staples from beach read masters like Mary Kay Andrews, Karen White and Wendy Wax are here but so are some excellent debuts from first-time authors, new works of literary fiction, thrillers, a young adult novel and a short story collection. We even have a few books tackling some serious social issues that will make you think while lying in that lounge chair.
Dive in to our picks of 34 books to get you through the lazy days ahead and get details on upcoming Twitter chats, giveaways, author interviews and more here. And just to get you in the mood, we have a pair of ‘Lowcountry Wedding’ cocktail recipes courtesy of Mary Alice Monroe.
Literary News
Hundreds of people turned out last Saturday for a memorial service for Pat Conroy in Beaufort, South Carolina. During the service, Conroy’s widow Cassandra King announced that a literary institute named after the author will be founded in Beaufort.
Traveling With T offers up 3 Reasons to Visit Greenwood, MS, and it’s worth a read just for her author pics from TurnRow Books. Want to go? Then enter our giveaway for a free night at The Alluvian Hotel and Spa!
NPR re-examines Harry Crews’ place in Southern literature in light of a new biography about the Georgia author.
All The Governor’s Men author Katherine Clark is a “FACE of the South” in an interview by Style Blueprint.
Rising Alabama novelist Randy Thornhorn died on May 6 leaving behind two books praised as being among the best Southern Gothic novels ever written.
Tampa Bay Times reviews AMC’s new show Preacher, adapted from the ’90s comic by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
Literary Events, Workshops & Contests
Knoxville, Tennessee’s Children’s Festival of Reading will be held May 21. Children of all ages are invited to meet world-class authors and illustrators and enjoy a day of storytelling, arts and crafts and science exploration in World’s Fair Park.
Angela King Gallery in New Orleans will present “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” exhibition with pieces from the Dr. Seuss archives, opening May 27 through June 26.
Travel down Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road for four Fridays in June when Beech Mountain’s historic Land of Oz park reopens for tours.
Themed “Murder & Mayhem in Paradise, the third-annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest will take place June 10-12 with Robert K. Tanenbaum, Lisa Black, Timothy Hallinan and James O. Born.
The deadline for submissions to the 2016 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is August 15. The contest, which includes a $10,000 prize, is open to fiction (novels or short story collections) published in 2016.
Register now for The Writer’s High Retreat with Joshilyn Jackson and Michael Morris September 9-11 at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, Georgia.
Save the dates for upcoming book festivals, including the Mississippi Book Festival August 20, Decatur Book Festival September 2-4 and Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 14-16.
Recently In Southern Voice
In case you missed it, read Arkansas writer Marla Cantrell’s story She’ll Be Back and Russell W. Johnson’s Frequent Flyers with an incredible twist at the end.
To find out more about your favorite Southern authors’ haunts and hangouts, download the Deep South Literary Trail App, available direct from iTunes and for Android and perfect for those winter road trips.
Have a piece of news, event, video or something else related to Southern lit that you’d like us to consider for Literary Friday? Send an e-mail to [email protected].
