AM: Diane, thanks for the interview. It was so great seeing you at the Mississippi Book Festival this summer. I’ve had the opportunity to read The Abolitionist’s Daughter during recent flights. It’s an excellent novel. Why don’t we start by having you tell our readers a little bit about it—background, characters, whatever you’d like to […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Patrick A. Howell, Author of “Yes, We Be”
November 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: Patrick, I’m so glad we’ve finally found the occasion to discuss Yes, We Be. Let’s start broadly: what’s the book about? PH: Allen, Yes, We Be is different parts clarion call, first book of poetry and personal manifesto (the art and artifice to oneself of manifesting). I’ve been writing much, much longer than the […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Amy Susan Wilson, Publisher of Red Dirt Press
October 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: Amy, thanks for doing this interview about Red Dirt Press. Congratulations, too, for reaching the six year mark. You focus on publishing poetry and prose that examines the complexities and diversities of the New South. You also have a focus on social justice issues that are global in nature yet connect to the New […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Julie E. Justicz, Author of “Degrees of Difficulty”
October 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: Julie, thanks for doing this interview about your debut novel, Degrees of Difficulty. Congratulations, by the way. This book is the heart-wrenching story of a family drawn together and torn apart by a series of struggles, most of which involve Ben, the disabled son and brother of the other characters: Perry (father), Caroline (mother), […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Joe Taylor, Author of “Ghostly Demarcations”
October 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: Joe, I’m so happy about this interview. We’re just down the road from each other, so I’m glad for the opportunity to connect. Your new book is Ghostly Demarcations. I’d like to start by asking about the title, specifically the word “demarcations.” JT: Allen, well I half stole the title from a poem by […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Layton Green, Author of “A Shattered Lens”
September 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: I’m glad we get to do this interview, Layton. I was intrigued when A Shattered Lens arrived in the mail and I opened the package and read this praise on the front cover: “Dostoevsky and Poe would be proud.” You don’t often hear Dostoevsky and Poe lumped together, but I knew instantly that whatever […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Judge William Alsup, Author of “Won Over”
September 11, 2019 by 2 Comments
AM: Judge Alsup, I’m grateful that you’ve shared your time to do this interview for Southern Literary Review. The occasion for the interview is, of course, the publication of your memoir, Won Over, which has this subtitle: “Reflections of a Federal Judge on His Journey from Jim Crow Mississippi.” What made you decide to write […]
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Heather Webber, Author of “Midnight at the Blackbird Café”
August 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment
AM: Heather, thanks for doing this interview about Midnight at the Blackbird Café, a novel about Anna Kate, who finds herself back in Alabama upon her grandmother’s death. I’m curious how someone from Massachusetts who lives in Ohio decided on Alabama as the setting for this book. And for the readers’ sake, I’ll point out […]