Literary Friday, Edition 207
Interview, Chat & Giveaway with Megan Miranda
Is it possible to write a book backwards? Megan Miranda proved it is with her thriller All The Missing Girls in which she unravels the mystery starting at the end. Her plot revolves around two young women missing a decade apart. Miranda takes readers through 15 days of discovery or what she describes as “walking back through the pieces of the puzzle and then as the story goes kind of stripping away layer after layer.” Read this week’s interview with her to find out more.
We’ll also chat with Miranda on Twitter from 1-2 CST (2-3 EST, 11 a.m.-noon PST) today about her writing process — which involved many drafts and lists — how she used her experience writing young adult novels to craft a backstory and what makes her setting in the North Carolina woods so dark and scary. You can log into our chat room here or just follow the #southernlit hashtag.
We do have a copy of All The Missing Girls to give away, so pop into the chat for a chance to win!
Literary News
Following up her books for Southern expats, Mandy Shunnarah has compiled a list of 3 Unflinching Southern Memoirs Published by Small Presses.
We’re Shining the Light on Andalusia Farm as new evening hours make it possible to experience sunsets as Flannery O’Connor once did, and a Thursday open mic series expands event offerings.
New Yorker writer Wei Tchou details a visit he took to Andalusia Farm in The Paris Review this week.
Nicolai Foster talks about directing Breakfast at Tiffany’s for the London stage and casting Pixie Lott (pictured) as Holly Golightly.
Bustle has 20 Famous Authors Who Were Enemies in Real Life, and Southerners have had their share of literary beefs.
The Telegraph calls Southern Gothic photographer William Eggleston’s portraits at The National Gallery “steamier than a heatwave.”
Literary Events, Workshops & Contests
South Florida Poetry Journal is seeking poetry submissions for its August issue. Send three unpublished poems and a brief bio to [email protected].
Flat Rock Playhouse will debut two new plays at the Carl Sandburg Home in North Carolina. “Spink, Skabootch and Swipes in Rootabaga Country” will be performed Wednesdays and Fridays through August 12, and “Rootabaga Express” will be performed Thursdays and Saturdays from through August 13.
The 36th annual Hemingway Days Celebration in Key West, Florida, is happening through July 24. Events include a lookalike contest for Hemingway imitators (pictured), prose and poetry readings and a three-day marlin tournament.
Mr. Toole, a new play about the life of John Kennedy Toole written by one of his former students, is being performed at the Mid-Town International Theater Festival in New York through July 31.
Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” opens today at Dillard University in New Orleans and runs through August 7.
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.
Latest In Southern Voice
Splintered, a Dorothy Jane story about a child’s relationship with her father after her mother dies, by Collier McLeod.
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].
