Kendall's comments (member since Jan 08, 2008)

Kendall's comments from the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium group.

This year's list is final, a baker's dozen of wonderful authors...

Melissa J. Delbridge, author of Family Bible
Kendall Dunkelberg, author of Time Capsules
Tony Earley, author of The Blue Star
Becky Gould Gibson, author of Aphrodite's Daughter
Ravi Howard, author of Like Trees, Walking
Pearl Amelia McHaney, editor of Occasions: Selected Writings by Eudora Welty and Eudora Welty as Photographer
Jim Murphy, author of Heaven Overland
Bridget Smith Pieschel, editor of Golden Days: Reminiscences of Alumnae, Mississippi State College for Women
Jack Riggs, author of The Fireman's Wife
Natasha Trethewey, author of Native Guard
Frank X Walker, author of When Winter come: The Ascension of York
Jesmyn Ward, author of Where the Line Bleeds
Ken Wells, author of The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Visit the 2009-authors bookshelf to learn more about their books. And feel free to comment on any of them here...

I'm busy looking for next year's authors! I've had some great suggestions from MUW faculty and past Symposium participants. Ideas are still welcome!

By all accounts the Symposium this year was a big success. Many thanks to all the authors, who were great to work with and who gave inspiring readings. The round-table discussion went well, and everyone did a great job and had a good time together.

Mark your calendars for next year! (October 22-24, 2009)

The full program has been posted to our website http://www.muw.edu/welty/

You can now learn more about each author. Look for the schedule soon! Also, please help us get the word out about the symposium. If you know anyone who may be interested, please share this information with them.

If you get the digest, then you saw that my last post had a bunch of gibberish at the end. That was how I had to code the html so it would show up right on the discussion board, but unfortunately in the email, it just gave you the raw code. Go to the discussion board to find the code that you can copy and paste onto a website to link to this group's bookshelf. (Clicking "more" after all that code would take you right there. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Now that 9 authors have accepted the invitation to the Symposium, it is time to start spreading the word. You can help by placing a link to the 2008-Authors bookshelf on your website. I've created a tag that you should be able to copy and paste into your web page code. Try it out!



<span style="color: #382110">Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium 2008 Bookshelf on  </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf/2288.Eudora_Welty_Writers_Symposium?utm_medium=api&utm_source=banner_widget&shelf=2008-authors"><img border="0" alt=" my welty-symposium-books shelf" src="http://www.goodreads.com/images/badge/badge1.jpg"></a>

Two new authors have signed on: Rheta Grimsley Johnson and Hillary Jordan. We are thrilled to add them to our line-up! Look for their recent books on the 2008 Authors bookshelf for this group.

Now that classes are out, I've been looking for authors and am starting to send out invitations to participate. Thanks to all those who emailed me suggestions! It's not too late.

Three authors have written to say they would like to come to the symposium this year: Cary Holladay, Paul Ruffin, and Catherine Pierce. I will update when there are more or if there are changes. Look on the bookshelf (to-read for now) for titles of their recent books.

As (new) director of the symposium, I am looking for suggestions of great authors to invite this year. If you are an author who claims a Southern connection or if some of your favorite authors are arguably Southern, feel free to suggest books here.

I am open to all definitions of what Southern literature is. To start the discussion, I'll say a Southern author is any author who was born or has lived a significant part of their lives in the South and whose work speaks to that experience in some way. If that definition isn't broad enough, feel free to add comments or qualify it.

The date has been set for the 20th Annual Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium — October 16-18, 2008. Check back here for updates and announcements!