The Celebration of Southern Literature for 2015 will bring such familiar names to town as “Cold Mountain” author Charles Frazier, “The Last Girl” author Lee Smith and Allan Gurganus, who wrote “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.”
Set for April 16-19, the event also includes workshops, discussions, readings and book signings, as well as opportunities to interact with some of the authors in more casual surroundings during two planned social events.
Presented by the Southern Lit Alliance, the majority of the event will again take place at the Tivoli Theatre.
“This is a Chattanooga event,” says Susan Robinson, Southern Lit Alliance executive director, “and we want to make it accessible to everyone. It is not a scholarly event. You don’t have to be a professor. It’s for anyone who likes to read.”
She adds that the panel discussion topics, including one focused on taking a book to film, are intended to attract young readers. And the addition of some social events in the evening may bring those who’ve not been able to come in the past.
“Some people work during the day, and we wanted to do some fun things at night with the authors,” she says.
One panel discussion will discuss “Books to Film: Their Role in the Southern Experience” and will feature Frazier, whose “Cold Mountain” was made into a movie with Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger, earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Zellweger. Also on the panel are novelist Ron Rash (“Serena,” “Chemistry and Other Stories”) and Guggenheim Fellow Gurganus, whose “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” was made into a CBS-TV miniseries and won an Emmy for actress Cecily Tyson.
Another discussion, “Women of the Southern Wild: Enduring Female Characters in Southern Literature & Drama,” will feature the award-winning Smith, who has written 11 novels and four short story collections, Rash and Tayari Jones, whose novel “Leaving Atlanta,” takes place during the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-81.
There also are variety of social events so conference attendees can mingle with the writers. An opening reception will take place on the top floor of the newly opened University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Library. There also will be events at the Flying Squirrel Bar and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. All social events, with the exception of cocktails at the Flying Squirrel Bar, require a separate ticket.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.