:Georgia Literary Festival:
The 2012 Festival
The 2012 Georgia Literary Festival will be held November 9-10 at the new Jekyll Island Convention Center on the state’s beautiful southeastern coast. There will be a full day of free author programs at the beachfront Convention Center Saturday with additional special events Friday and Saturday at the nearby Jekyll Island Club Hotel. The festival is sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book with funding from the Georgia Humanities Council and local sponsors.
The 14th annual festival, which celebrates writers and writing in a different part of the state each year, will be hosted by the College of Coastal Georgia, The Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Jekyll Island Authority. Representatives of area organizations including the Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center have been planning the event since 2011.
The exciting lineup of more than 30 authors includes Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Trethewey, environmentalist and author Janisse Ray, popular author Mary Kay Andrews, bestselling thriller writer Steve Berry, nationally renown chefs Nathalie Dupree, Hugh Acheson and Damon Lee Fowler, a celebration of The Georgia Review, children’s authors and many others. The festival invitation list includes:
Natasha Trethewey (Keynote speaker) — Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2007 for her collection “Native guard,” she is an English professor at Emory University. A native of Mississippi, she has written both poetry and nonfiction including “Beyond Katrina:” A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.” She is a winner of the Lillian Smith Award and is represented on the Georgia Center for the Book list of “25 Books All Georgians Should Read.”
Hugh Acheson — He is the renowned chef and author of “A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen.” A six-time James Beard nominee for Best Chef Southeast and recently named Best Chef by Food and Wine magazine, Acheson is the chef/owner of the award-winning Five and Ten restaurant in Athens and Empire State South in Atlanta.
Mary Kay Andrews — The Atlanta based author of more than a dozen popular novels, Mary Kay Andrews (whose real name is Kathy Trocheck) has created lively, funny Southern characters who make regular appearances on national bestseller lists. Among her delightful books are “Little Bitty Lies,” “Savannah Breeze,” “Deep Dish” and “The Fixer Upper.”
Tina McElroy Ansa — A native of Macon who has made her home for many years on St. Simons Island, she is the author of five acclaimed novels including “Baby of the Family,” ”The Hand I Fan With” and most recently “Taking After Mudear.” A popular writing teacher and storyteller, she has appeared three times on the Georgia Center for Book list of “25 Books All Georgians Should Read.”
Daniel Black — Raised in Arkansas, he now teaches at and writes from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. His books, which include “Perfect Peace” (a Townsend Award nominee for 2012), “They Tell Me of a Home,” “The Sacred Place” and “Twelve Gates to the City” celebrate in diverse and compelling ways the presence of African Americans in America.
Doraine Bennett — A native of Columbus who still makes her home there, she is the author of 16 nonfiction books for young readers. They include “Georgia: My State — Habitats,” written for third grade level readers, “”Georgia: My State — geographical Regions” written for second grade reading level,” and “Georgia: My State — Biographies” written for second graders.
Steve Berry — The author of a dozen historical thrillers has become one of America’s top selling authors. A native of Atlanta who lived on the Georgia coast for many years, he was a successful trial attorney whose first book “The Amber Room” was a bestseller in 2003. His more recent novels include “The Balkan Escape,” “The Templar Legacy” and “The Jefferson Key.”
Stacy Cordery — She is the prize-winning biographer of Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and her new book is a biography of the woman who created the Girl Scouts, “Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts.” She teaches at Monmouth College and serves as the web bibliographer of the National First Ladies Library.
Stephen Corey — An acclaimed poet and essayist, he also serves as the editor of the nationally circulated Georgia Review based at the University of Georgia. He has published nine volumes of poetry, edited several anthologies and contributed essays and reviews to many publications. He is one of the state’s major and most influential literary figures.
Janice Daugharty — a native of South Georgia, she is a nationally respected novelist who is artist-in-residence at Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton. She has published short fiction, six novels and numerous short stories and essays chronicling the life of the people of her native area. Her novels include “Dark of the Moon,” “Pawpaw Patch,” “Like a Sister” and “Just Doll.”
Nathalie Dupree — She is the very popular author of 11 cookbooks about the American South including “New Southern Cooking” and “Nathalie Dupree’s Shrimp and Grits Cookbook.” She has appeared many times on the Food Network and in publications ranging from Bon Appetit to The New York Times. She recently published “Southern Biscuits,” co-authored with Cynthia Graubart.
Damon Lee Fowler — A nationally known expert on the history of Southern foodways, he is the author of six cookbooks, among them “The Savannah Cookbook” and “New Southern Baking.” His work has often appeared in Food & Wine magazine, and he has edited three editions of important early American cookbooks. He makes his home in Savannah.
Alice Friman — She is poet-in-residence in the MFA program at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville. A winner of several prizes from the Poetry Society of America, she is the author of nearly a dozen books including “Vinculum,” “The Book of the Rotten Daughter,” “Zoo” and “Reporting from Corinth.” Her work has been widely anthologized.
Jane Garvey — She is an Atlanta-based writer who focuses on books about wine and food though her work also encompasses architecture, travel, art and interior design. She has written for a number of national publications, and her books include “The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to Atlanta.”
Cynthia Graubart — She is an Atlanta-based cookbook author and television cooking show producer whose most recent work is “Southern Biscuits” co-authored with Nathalie Dupree. She produced Nathalie Dupree’s first TV program, and she and Dupree are writing “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking” due out in the fall.
Gail Karwoski — A children’s book author, her book “The Tree That Owns Itself and Other Adventure Tales from Georgia’s Past” was named to the inaugural list of “25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read” by the Georgia Center for the Book. Some of her other works include “Miracle,” “Julie the Rockhound” and “River Beds.” She lives near Athens.
Daisy King — The author of a new cookbook, “Meet Me on Jekyll Island,” she has compiled several best-selling cookbooks including “Miss Daisy Celebrates Tennessee,” “Miss Daisy’s Healthy Southern Cooking” and “Miss Daisy’s Blue Ribbon Desserts.” She lives in Tennessee.
Brenden Martin — He is professor of History and Director of Public History at Middle Tennessee State University. His books include “Tourism in the Mountain South” and an essay “From Millionaires to the Masses: Tourism on Georgia’s Golden Isles” published in “Southern Journeys: Tourism, History, and Culture in the Modern South.”
June McCash — She is the author of six nonfiction books and most recently a debut novel, “Almost to Eden” set on Jekyll Island. Three of her books have focused on the history of Jekyll Island and the Jekyll Island Club: “Jekyll Island’s Early Years,” “The Jekyll Island club” and “The Jekyll Island Cottage colony.” She makes her home in Tennessee.
Jack McDevitt — He is a bestselling author of science fiction novels who lives on the South Georgia coast. His 2006 novel “Seeker” won the prestigious Nebula Award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His books include “The Engines of God,” “Omega,” “Odyssey” and “Time Travelers Never Die.”
Judson Mitcham — He is the award-winning author of both poetry and fiction whose books include the novels “The Sweet Everlasting” and “Sabbath Creek.” He is a two-time winner of the Georgia Author of the Year and the Townsend Prize. His books of poetry include “Somewhere in Ecclesiastes.” He currently teaches at Mercer University in Macon.
Pamela Bauer Mueller — She is a prize-winning author of books for children and adults who lives on Jekyll Island. She has written and published eight books of fiction and won three Georgia Author of the Year awards. Among her books for young readers are three with settings on the Georgia coast: “Neptune’s Honor,” “An Angry Drum Echoed” and “Splendid Isolation.”
Crystal Ball O’Connor — She is an educator and author of books for children who regularly visits classrooms to encourage reading. A registered artist with the South Carolina Arts Commission, her books include “Jake and the Migration of the Monarch,” “Katherine’s Quilts Made for Dreaming” and “Sing With Me Brennan.”
Joe Randall — He is one of the masters of Southern cooking, creating Chef Joe Randall’s Cooking School in Savannah in 2000. His slogan, “a little south in your mouth,” comes from his nearly 50 years of eating and cooking traditional southern foods. A long-time resident of Savannah, his latest book is “A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American cuisine.”
William Rawlings — Born and raised and still living on a farm in Sandersville, he is the author of several popular books of thriller fiction including “The Lazard Legacy,” “The Rutherford Cipher” and “Crossword.” He has a forthcoming nonfiction book, “A Killing on Ring Jaw Bluff” about the cotton economy in rural Georgia in the 1920s.
Janisse Ray — She is an internationally respected environmental activist, memoirist and poet who lives on a working farm in central Georgia. Two of her books — “Ecology of a Cracker Childhood” and “Wild Card Quilt” — have been on the Georgia Center for the Book list of “25 Books All Georgians Should Read.” She has won honors both for her advocacy of the environment and her literature.
Michele Ross — A former writer and editor for The Atlanta Journal Constitution, she is a freelance writer and critic who reviews books and cinema for a variety of national newspapers and magazines including the Washington Post and the Cleveland plain Dealer.
Lola Schaefer — She is the popular author of books for young readers, and her book “Mittens” was chosen for the Georgia Center for the Book’s inaugural list of “25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read.” Among her other books for kids are “Just One Bite,” “What’s That, Mittens?” and “Island Grows.”
Danny Schnitzlein — He is the author of three popular books for young readers: “the Monster Who Ate My Peas,” “Trick or Treat on Monster Street” and “The Monster Who Did My Math,” which was voted on the Georgia Center for the Book’s inaugural list of “25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read.” He lives in Marietta near Atlanta.
Charles Seabrook — He is the longtime and award-winning environmental writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the author of several notable books about Georgia outdoors. They include “Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses” and the newly released “The World of the Salt Marsh: Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast.”
Jeffrey Small — He is an Atlanta writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work focuses on religion and spirituality. His debut novel “The Breath of God” was published to acclaim earlier this year, and his academic book, “God as the Ground of Being: Tillich and Buddhism in Dialogue” is based on his research work at Oxford University.
Jesse Tullos — A retired journalist who grew up in Brunswick, he is the author of “The Red Terrors: The Story of a High School’s Drive to Football Glory in 1964 Georgia.” It is a true story about high school football players and their coaches in Brunswick, and how they dealt with adversity and came to touch the hearts and souls of an entire community.
Anita Zaleski Weinraub — She is the editor of “Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together a History.” She also serves as the chairwoman of the Georgia Quilt Project, which has documented more than 9,000 quilts, and was a contributor to “The Olympic Games Quilts” project. She has curated four quilt exhibitions at the Atlanta History Center.
Jane Wood — She is an author of books for young readers ages 9-14 whose most recent work “Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country” received a Mom’s Choice Award. A resident of Jacksonville, Florida, her books include “Adventures on Amelia Island,” “Trouble on the St. Johns River” and “Voices in St. Augustine.”
Three well-known authors with close ties to coastal Georgia will be honored posthumously with special programs at this year’s festival:
Frances Ann Kemble (1809-1893)
Fanny Kemble was a noted British actress from a celebrated English theater family who wrote dozens of books including plays, poetry, travel, works about the theater and 11 volumes of memoirs. She spent the year 1838-39 at her slave-owning husband’s rice plantations on the Georgia Sea Islands and in 1863 published what became a provocative and widely acclaimed account of her observations, “Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation, 1838-1839.”
Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953)
O’Neill is acknowledged as the finest dramatist in American history, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936 and four Pulitzer Prizes. His best-known works include “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “The Iceman Cometh” and “Mourning Becomes Electra.” He lived for several years in the early 1930s at a beachfront home he built at Sea Island where he wrote two plays, “Days Without End” and his only comedy, “Ah! Wilderness.”
Eugenia Price (1916-1996)
Price was born in West Virginia and in 1965 settled on St. Simons Island, where she became one of the nation’s most popular writers of historical fiction and an honored environmentalist and preservationist. A successful early radio writer and broadcaster who wrote several nonfiction books, she eventually produced nearly 20 novels focusing on the Georgia coast, among them “The Lighthouse,” chosen by the Georgia Center for the Book in 2003 as “One of the 25 Books All Georgians Should read.”
A complete schedule of events will be posted shortly. For vendors, here is the application form for this year’s festival. We urge you not to delay submitting a vendor request for the new Jekyll Island Convention Center.
Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street Decatur, Georgia 30030
(404) 370-8450 x 2225
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