Rheta Grimsley Johnson Talks One Book One Community with Baton Rouge Media
Baton Rouge media turned their spotlights on Rheta Grimsley Johnson recently as residents embarked on the One Book One Community summer read program featuring Johnson’s travel memoir Poor Man’s Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Louisiana. In a show airing July 31, Johnson told syndicated talk show host Jim Engster that she was “flabberagasted and honored” to have her book selected for the One Book program …
Roger Reid’s Space Rockets to Alabama Department of Ed’s Emphasis on Reading List
Space, the young adult novel by Roger Reid, has been named to the Alabama Department of Education’s Emphasis on Reading list for the school year 2009-2010. Mr. Reid was the only Alabama author to have a book so designated …
Ted Dunagan Wins Georgia Author of the Year Award for A Yellow Watermelon
Ted Dunagan received the Georgia Author of the Year award in the Young Adult category for his debut novel, A Yellow Watermelon, in a ceremony held June 13 at the KSU Center in Kennesaw, Georgia. Katherine Mason, Assistant Professor of English Education at Kennesaw State University and lead judge of the Young Adult category said, “A Yellow Watermelon reveals the power of friendship and loyalty to overcome racial and economic prejudice in 1940s South Alabama. Told from twelve-year-old Ted Dillon’s point of view, the story is suspenseful and captivating, with authentic dialogue and engaging sentence variety.”
I Just Make People Up’s Foster Dickson Wins Surdna Arts Fellowship
Foster Dickson, author of I Just Make People Up: Ramblings with Clark Walker and former NewSouth Books editor, has been awarded a $4,200 Fellowship by the Surdna Arts Teacher Fellowship Program. A complementary $1,500 grant will go to Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama, where Mr. Dickson has taught creating writing for six years …
Longleaf Novel Gifted by Skelton Foundation to Coffee County Schools
The Edwin L. and Elizabeth L. Skelton Foundation generously donated copies of author Roger Reid’s young adult novel Longleaf to twenty elementary and middle schools in Coffee County, Alabama. The Skelton Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to benefit charitable, religious, scientific, literary, or educational purposes …
Robert Baldwin Continues Life and Death Matters Events
Robert Baldwin continues his busy schedule of speaking engagements in connection with the recent publication of his memoir Life and Death Matters: Seeking the Truth About Capital Punishment. On April 22 the author will be a featured presenter at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, AL, where he will speak on the topic, “What it Means to Say ‘Yes’ to Jesus.” Read more about this upcoming event in the April issue of The Canterburian …
Alabama Arise Features Life and Death Matters in Anti-Death Penalty Lobbying
Dr. Robert Baldwin’s new memoir Life And Death Matters: Seeking the Truth About Capital Punishment, will be given to every state legislator in Alabama on Thursday, February 26 by the organization Alabama Arise as part of their lobbying effort against the death penalty. A note from Rev. Tom Duley, President of the Board, Arise Citizens Policy Project, and Kimble Forrister, State Coordinator, will accompany the book …
Students Prefer A Yellow Watermelon
Eighth grade students at Wilson Hall Middle School were asked if they preferred the young adult novel A Yellow Watermelon by Ted Dunagan, read by the class in October, or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which students recently finished reading. Many students chose A Yellow Watermelon, citing its simplicity and the fact that it is set in their own backyard. According to an article in The Clarke County Democrat, “Some liked Dunagan’s book because it was easier to read and it was about our own Clarke County” …
Hats Off to Alabama Public Libraries
Not enough gets said about the good job many public libraries do in serving their communities with events programming. Alabama has quite a few that deserve recognition, many of which have hosted programs featuring NewSouth Books authors in the last few years. To name just a few who’ve partnered with us recently: the B.B. Comer Memorial Public Library in Sylacauga; the Ashland City Public Library; the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library; the Pell City Public Library; the Adelia McConnell Russell Library in Alex City; the Birmingham Public Library; the Selma-Dallas County Public Library; and the Mobile Public Library …
Working the Dirt Editor Jennifer Horne Interviewed on Alabama Arts Radio Series
Poet, anthologist and editor Jennifer Horne appeared on the Alabama Arts Radio Series on November 11 in an interview conducted by Jeanie Thompson, Executive Director of the Alabama Writers Forum. Horne, a recent recipient of an Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship, discussed her work as an anthologist, including the compilation and editing of Working the Dirt: An Anthology of Southern Poets, published by NewSouth Books in 2003 …