The Alabama Writers’ Forum
The Alabama Writers’ Forum, a partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, works to cultivate our state’s literary culture. We do that through supporting writers at all stages. We encourage our young writers to find their creative voice through the Father Goose Poetry Festival for Kids!–and through our Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards. We support the work of our state’s literary community through our Alabama Authors Directory, First Draft magazine, and other programming and opportunities for writers across the state. And we celebrate our state’s rich literary legacy through the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. We are, above all, a community of writers united by our desire to advance the literary arts in Alabama. If that describes you — join us! There are many ways to get involved.
Out Loud Huntsville: A Year in Review 2024
Out Loud Huntsville: A Year in Review 2024 Edited by Kimberly Casey Out Loud HSV, 2025 Paperback: $12.00 Genre: Poetry Reviewed by Foster Dickson Out Loud Huntsville’s ninth Year in Review anthology contains poems from twenty-six distinctly diverse writers, who dub themselves a “spoken word community.” The anthology, edited by Kimberly Casey, is organized alphabetically by the poets’ last names, or in the case of one, by his only name. The author bios at the end of the book reveal that the contributors run the gamut: some from creative writing backgrounds, which is to be expected, and among the others: a technical writer, a journalist, theater folks, scientists and engineers, several writers from other parts of the country and of the world, a handful who write under pseudonyms, and even one self-described “cultural enigma.” Unlike some multi-author poetry collections, Out Loud Huntsville’s does not open with a prose introduction by the editor. Instead, the reader is launched straight into the poems, starting with Frankie Allen’s “The Aspiration of an Offspring,” a free-verse testimonial about wanting encouragement. [...]
