A partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts
October 2023 Newsletter
From the Executive Director
It is with a deep sense of appreciation that I assumed the leadership of the Alabama Writers’ Forum this Fall. I am appreciative for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that over the past couple of months, I have been impressed by just how deep our literary culture runs in this state. Alabama has always punched above its weight in the literary arts, producing more brilliant writers than a state our size ought to. I am proud of our state. I am proud of you: the writers, bookshop owners, poets, publishers, and storytellers that make up this diverse literary community to which we belong.
We are entering an exciting new era for the AWF. Our founding executive director, Jeanie Thompson, is retiring after thirty years at the helm. Over those years, Jeanie and her team of staff, volunteers, and board members have built the AWF into a bedrock of our state’s literary community. I’m very happy to report that Jeanie will remain an integral part of this organization’s future as Executive Director Emeritus. We celebrate Jeanie’s legacy and look with excitement to the future.
AWF has accomplished a lot in the last thirty years. Writing Our Stories, our award-winning creative writing program for justice-affected youth, is now in its twenty-sixth year. Around 1,500 young Alabamians have received world-class creative writing instruction from some of our state’s most accomplished writers. Those students are now published authors, and you can read their work here. The Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards celebrates some of our state’s most talented emerging writers and their teachers. This year, students from all over the state compiled portfolios of their work for submission to our esteemed panel of judges and were honored with cash prizes funded by you, our community of supporters. There are now twenty-nine members of the Alabama Writers’ Hall of Fame, including such luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Harper Lee, and Sonia Sanchez — just to name a few. The Hall of Fame is a showcase of our state’s rich and impressive literary heritage, and work is already underway for our 2024 induction ceremony.
What’s in store for our next thirty years? We’re certainly going to continue putting our full energy behind our three main initiatives: Writing Our Stories, the Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards, and the Alabama Writers’ Hall of Fame. We’re going to deepen our longstanding partnerships with the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Department of Youth Services. We’re going to continue to develop new initiatives and partnerships with other arts and culture organizations around the state and around the nation.
What else should the future hold for our organization? That part is up to all of us. Wouldn’t it be great if every student in Alabama had access to Writing Our Stories? Wouldn’t it be great to see the return of our print magazine, First Draft? Wouldn’t it be great to develop new programs that support Alabama writers of all ages, like workshops, retreats, symposia, and book festivals?
Whatever may be in store for our organization in this next era, I know two things will be so. First, the Alabama Writers’ Forum will remain our state’s premier community of writers supporting writers. From the third grader scrawling out her first poem in school to our large and growing roster of internationally renowned writers, the AWF will continue to cultivate our state’s literary arts community, to create opportunities for Alabama’s writers, and to enrich the cultural lives of every Alabamian. Second, whatever we accomplish through the AWF, we will do so only with your support. Whether that means becoming a member, maintaining your annual membership, volunteering for one of our events, or joining our Board of Directors, this organization does not work without you. So if you’ve been looking for an invitation to get more involved in what we do here at AWF: here it is. Drop me a line at richardevans@writersforum.org, or give us a call at the office at 334-265-7728. Please be in touch.
Finally, I want to thank you for trusting me to lead our community into this exciting new era.
Yours in friendship,
Richard Evans
Executive Director
Alabama Writers’ Forum
Joy Harjo Headlines Witness Prize Program Oct. 19
The Southern Humanities Review’s annual Witness Prize will be presented at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art at Auburn University on Thursday, October 19, at 6 PM. Judge Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, and prize winner Samyak Shertok will be in conversation. SHR awards the prize, given in honor of the late poet Jake Adam York, for a poem of witness and includes a cash prize and publication opportunity. The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Visit JCSMA to learn more and register.
Ta-Nehisi Coates Receives Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence
Fitzgerald Prize recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation with poet and ASU Dean Jacqueline Allen Trimble and ASU History Department acting chair Derryn Moten.
On September 22, award-winning author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates became the eighth recipient of the Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence. Given by the Fitzgerald Museum, the award recognized Coates for his work in “promoting social and racial understanding…while also fostering American storytelling as an educator and writer across multiple disciplines and genres.” An essayist, novelist, screenwriter, and graphic novelist, Coates’s work includes the National Book Award-winning Between the World and Me and writing for Marvel’s Black Panther series.
Ben Raines Named Environmental Fellow and Writer-in-Residence at USA
Calling all High School Teachers and Students: Add Poetry Out Loud to Your Curriculum!
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. The program is great for English and language arts students, as well as theater and speech students, and can be incorporated into the existing curriculum. There are competitions with awards at regional, state and national levels. For more information, and to find out which region your school is in, please visit https://www.alartsalliance.org/poetryoutloud and https://www.poetryoutloud.org/
AWF END-OF-YEAR FUNDRAISING APPEAL
We know that no matter where you live and work in the lively, vibrant world of Alabama letters, you value the work and advocacy of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. Near the end of our FY23 fiscal year, we heartily thank you for your sustaining membership or donation to promote the literary arts in Alabama.
We ask that you consider making an additional gift, renewing your membership early, or making a gift in honor or memory of someone important to you or the literary arts. Your extra gift will strengthen our matching dollars for upcoming statewide grants and provide much needed discretionary funds. Please help us reach our remaining year-end goal of $10,000.
Your gift will ensure that you make a difference for writers, readers, teachers, and all members of Alabama’s literary community. You can donate online here. Because we are a registered 501(c)3 organization, your donation is completely tax deductible.
AWF Calendar
Thank You Books brings a full month of book events in October, including the multi-talented Minda Honey on October 14th and poet Jim Murphy on October 19th. Honey is the editor of Black Joy at Reckon News and was director of the BFA in Creative Writing program at Spalding University. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads. Murphy, a professor of English at the University of Montevallo, will read from his new collection, Versions of May (Negative Capability Press, 2023). His work has appeared in Brooklyn Review, Cimarron Review, Gulf Coast, Painted Bride Quarterly, Mississippi Review, Puerto del Sol, Texas Review, The Southern Review, and TriQuarterly. Visit Thank You Books for details and its full calendar.
Tuscaloosa’s Ernest & Hadley Booksellers hosts Sydney Thompson talking about The Forsaken and the Dead: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book Three on October 13, followed by Matthew Minicucci, poet and University of Alabama professor, reading from his fourth collection, Dual, on October 20. On October 24 George Rable will discuss Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War. Check the bookstore’s calendar for details.
These are just a few of the many book events happening around the state this month. Be sure to check the AWF online calendar for literary events at a bookstore, library, or school near you, and be sure to add your events at AWF calendar.
AWF Book Reviews
Each month the Alabama Writers’ Forum posts book reviews of works by writers who live in or have ties to the state, as well as works of interest to Alabama readers. This month features poet Jim Murphy’s new collection, Versions of May; Livingston Press’ recent anthology, The Best of the Shortest: A Southern Writers Reading Reunion, gathered and edited by Suzanne Hudson; and Ayana Mathis’s long-awaited second novel, The Unsettled, set partly in Alabama.
Please let us know about your new book! Ask your publisher to send a review copy to Alabama Writers’ Forum, P. O. Box 4777, Montgomery, AL 36103-4777 or share your book information with Jay Lamar, jaylamar@writersforum.org.
AWF News and Newsletter
AWF wants your news! Send information about workshops, contests, prizes, and events to writersforum@writersforum.org.
