Dalton State College will feature five regional literary figures, a search for Civil War ancestors and a food tasting at its third annual book festival next week.
"Home Grown: A Literary Celebration of Northwest Georgia," hosted by Dalton State's Derrell C. Roberts Library, will take place Monday through Thursday. All events are free. Most will be held in the Goodroe Auditorium of Gignilliat Memorial Hall, except the ancestor search, which will take place in the library.
For more information, call the Roberts Library at 706-272-4575.
n MONDAY: Civil War programs bookend the festival, which kicks off Monday at 1 p.m. with a presentation by Dr. John D. Fowler, co-editor of "Breaking the Heartland: Georgia's Civil War." Fowler holds the B.J. and Dicksie Bandy Chair in History at Dalton State and is director of the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia.
Following his presentation, librarian David Brown will lead a two-hour session at 2 p.m. on "Finding Your Civil War Ancestors" in the Roberts Library's wireless classroom, guiding participants through the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System databases.
TUESDAY: Tuesday features screenwriter turned novelist Jeffrey Stepakoff. At 1 p.m., he will discuss "Writing for Television and Film," and at 6 p.m., he will introduce his new novel, "The Orchard," a featured alternate selection of major book clubs.
Stepakoff, who teaches at Kennesaw State University, has written for "The Wonder Years," "Dawson's Creek" and various Disney films, and is the author of "Fireworks Over Toccoa."
WEDNESDAY: Chattanooga's Roy Exum will share his thoughts on "The Love of Reading" at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Exum grew up within the walls of the Chattanooga News-Free Press, which his family owned and for which he served as executive vice president and sports editor. He currently writes a column for www.Chattanoogan.com
THURSDAY: The final day covers Appalachian folk life and the Civil War and ends with a sampling of Southern delicacies.
At 1 p.m., author/editor Joyce Green will present her book, "The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book." This celebration of a simpler life focuses on Appalachian music, folk legends and a history full of outsized personalities.
At 6 p.m., Kent Whitaker, also known as The Deck Chef, will speak on "The Barbecue That Healed a Nation." He will talk about how a barbecue party led to healing the wounds of war and the establishment of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
Whitaker is a culinary author focusing on regional cooking. He is a winner of the Emeril Live Barbecue Contest and is an American Authors Association 2009 gold-medal winner. A sampling of Southern food will follow the program.