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.
The Storm
The Storm By Rachel Hawkins St. Martin’s Press, 2026 Hardcover: $29.00 Genre: Thriller Reviewed by Dr. Candice N. Hale After enjoying flawed characters, surprising twists, and dark suspense in The Woman Upstairs, The Villa, and The Heiress, I expect Rachel Hawkins’ newest thriller, The Storm, to bring the same excitement. Although The Storm at first seems quieter and more restrained, I soon saw that Hawkins is not trying to shock us right away; instead, she slowly builds tension between the characters. So, the novel’s strength is in its people—their choices, their loyalties, and how they blame or protect each other in the peaceful town of St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama. At first, I was caught up in the obvious hurricane and the doomed love affair. But the essence of The Storm is in the complicated relationships between Geneva, Lo, Delphine, and Audrey. There is more than one storm here, and as readers, we must decide which one we are following, since it changes how we see the story. The storms I found most interesting were the emotional [...]
