Georgia Literary Festival

Bainbridge Hosts 2008 Georgia Literary Festival

The 10^th annual Georgia Literary Festival will be held in Bainbridge on October 25, marking the first time the event has moved to South Georgia.

Nearly two dozen authors will be featured at the event which focuses on honoring writers with connections to the area. Among them are a number of nationally known, prize winning authors including Jay Barbree, long-time NBC space program correspondent, and children’s book illustrator Michael P. White, whose work with popular author Carmen Deedy has won wide acclaim.

The free public event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book and the Georgia Humanities Council with the Decatur County-Gilbert H. Gragg Library and Bainbridge College, the site of the festival. The festival will include readings, book signings, children’s activities, poetry workshops, a special performance about Georgia’s first Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and vendors and exhibitors from around the Southeast.

The festival will open with a special event on Friday evening October 24, with most activities scheduled during the day on Saturday the 25^th. Events are scheduled inside and outside at the new Kirbo Center at Bainbridge College.

Among the authors who will be speaking at the festival are:

Mary Kay Andrews, the popular Atlanta author of bestselling novels Deep Dish, Little Bitty Lies and Savannah Breeze.

Jay Barbree, NBC News correspondent and a native of Blakely, author of Live from Cape Canaveral: Covering the Space Race, from Sputnik to Today, Destination Mars, and Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon, written with Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton;

Douglas Blackmon, Southern Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, discusses his book, Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II;

Cathy Cox, a native of Bainbridge, former Georgia Secretary of State and now President of Young Harris College;

Michael P. White, illustrator of The Library Dragon and The Secret of Old Zeb by Carmen Deedy and Harriet’s Horrible Hair Day;

Jack McDevitt, noted science fiction writer from Brunswick, author of Cauldron, A Talent for War and Deepsix;

Claire Matturo, popular mystery writer from Cairo whose books include Bone Valley and Sweetheart Deal;

Frye Gaillard, writer-in-residence at the University of South Alabama, and author of Prophet from Plains: Jimmy Carter and His Legacy, and The Dream Long Deferred, the prize-winning book about Habitat for Humanity;

Bobby Dews, long-time Atlanta Braves coach now writer-in-residence at Andrew College in Cuthbert, author of The Crackers: The Early Days of Atlanta Baseball, a short story collection, Legends, Demons and Dreams, and a volume of poetry;

Janice Daugharty, writer-in-residence at Valdosta State University and author of six novels and a short story collection including Just Doll, Like a Sister, Dark of the Moon;

James Kimbrell, director of the creative writing program at Florida State University and author of several volumes of poetry including The Gatehouse Heaven and My Psychic: Poems;

Wynton C. Hall, Bainbridge College faculty member and author of The Right Words: Great Republican Speeches That Shaped History;

Dana Wildsmith, poet and teacher from Bethlehem whose acclaimed books include Alchemy, Our Bodies Remember and One Good Hand;

Philip D. Beidler, professor of English at the University of Alabama, former Vietnam War veteran and author of Late thoughts on an Old War: The Legacy of Vietnam and an expert on Alabama literature;

Sonny Sammons, author of The Keepers of Echowah, a novel about growing up in South Georgia.

The festival also will feature Joye Cauthen in a one-woman performance as Caroline Miller, author of Lamb in His Bosom, and Georgia’s first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1933. For information about this year’s Bainbridge festival, please call 229-248-2590. Vendor booths are $50. For information about booths, e-mail Jim Smith. The deadline is September 6, 2008.

The following accommodations are available in Bainbridge and nearby cities for the festival. Most have special discounted festival rates:

The 2008 festival sponsors include:

• Georgia Humanities Council
• Thomas M. & Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust
• Wal-Mart
• United Way of Bainbridge-Decatur County
• Ivey Funeral Home
• Dean Chrysler
• Georgia Power
• Cox-Ware Funeral Home
• First Port City Bank
• The Money Tree

The Charter House Inn

1401 Tallahassee Highway Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 (229) 246-8550. 124 rooms of which 34 newly renovated Groups rates $62.99 + tax

Commodore Bed & Breakfast

320 Washington Street Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 (229) 248-0081. 4 rooms, non handicapped accessible Rates from $95.00 + tax

Jameson Inn

1403 Tallahassee Highway Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 (229) 243-7000. 61 rooms, 3 handicapped rooms High speed wireless Internet access, complimentary continental breakfast Group rate for festival $68.99 + tax

Western Motel

1925 East Shotwell Street Bainbridge, Georgia 39817 (229) 248-8668. 39 rooms, 1 handicapped accessible room Rates from $49.95 + tax

The Place to Be RV Park

801 West Shotwell Street Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 (229) 246-5802. 85 sites w/full hook-up: water, power, sewer, cable tv

Days Inn

1407 Tallahassee Highway Bainbridge, Georgia 39819 (229) 248-6300. 42 rooms Rates from $58.50 + tax

CAIRO (approx 24 miles)

Best Western

2800 US Highway 84 East Cairo, Georgia 39828 (229) 377-8000. 50 rooms, 3 handicapped accessible Rates from $63 + tax

COLQUITT (approx 21 miles)

Tarrer Inn

155 South Cuthbert Street (229) 758-2888. Colquitt, Georgia 39837 17 rooms