Meet Irene Latham, Author of Leaving Gee’s Bend

Leaving Gee’s Bendauthor, Irene Latham, recently charmed a packed audience during her visit to Oxford, Mississippi. Below, she’s generously shared her thoughts on writing and quilting with SLR contributor Abigail Greenbaum. Enjoy. SLR: How did you discover the quilts of Gee’s Bend, and why did they move you so deeply? What about these quilts in particular, so […]

Leaving Gee’s Bend, by Irene Latham

     Click to Buy  Reviewed by Abigail Greenbaum      By now, nearly everyone has heard of the Gee’s Bend quilts. Maybe you saw them in New York City, where Leaving Gee’s Bend author and Alabama writer Irene Latham first discovered their bright colors and irreverent patterns, their sense of place and history. Or maybe you’ve […]

March Read of the Month Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Click to Buy Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin has been met with a steady stream of critical praise since hitting shelves in October, 2010. No stranger to the world of literary acclaim, Franklin has been acknowledged as an Edgar Award recipient and was selected as the John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the […]

Dream Fishing, by Scott Ely

Reviewed by Adele Annesi Novelist, ex-soldier and short story fisher king Scott Ely offers an extraordinarily memorable catch in his latest collection, Dream Fishing.  From the appropriately accessible “Wasps,” with its comparatively youthful voice and subject, to the profound “Guatemala City,” Ely continually casts his stories in deeper waters. His sometimes untidy but probing prose […]

A Bad Day’s Work, by Nora McFarland

Reviewed by Donna Meredith Lilly Hawkins notes that if the TV station where she works as a shooter takes the number one spot in the ratings, the boss will get the bonus and the rest of the staff will “share a pizza.” A painful reality, one we can all relate to. The humor of Lilly’s […]

Meet John Brandon, Author of Citrus County

John Brandon’s name has been whispered among literary circles as a writer to watch since he was selected as the 2009-10 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. His first novel, Arkansas, took readers on a wild ride through the “trailer trash” world of drugs and violence. And, he left them wanting more. […]