Alabama Writers' Forum

Southern Humanities Review Open for Submissions
2024-08-05 08:00 - 2024-10-15 17:00 (America/Chicago) | AL
Southern Humanities Review is seeking poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for our next quarterly issue. Submissions will be open until October 15. Fiction is capped at 250 submissions, and we are currently only open to historically underrepresented writers in poetry. There are 100 free submissions available for historically underrepresented writers in each genre. Contributors receive a small honorarium.

Sunday, August 4, at 3pm at The NewSouth Bookstore: Mike Coleman presents on the themes of his new memoir, The Way from Me to Us
2024-08-04 15:00 - 16:30 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Join us in celebration of the release of The Way from Me to Us by Mike Coleman. The book tells the powerful story of his coming out as a gay man at a time when doing so meant you could lose everything. But Coleman wins in this amazing story of how he took chances and found the love of his life. Together, he and his partner staked out a life together at a time when such things “just weren’t done,” bravely battling challenges of every variety, including from within. Coleman is a Georgia Author of the Year finalist; his story will move and inspire.

Nancy Owen Nelson and Harry Moore at Pebble Hill
2024-08-01 16:00 - 17:30 | Pebble Hill, 101 S. Debardeleben St., Auburn, AL, 36830, United States
Join poet Nancy Owen Nelson and author Harry Moore for a reading at Auburn University’s Pebble Hill.
Nancy Owen Nelson earned her BA from Birmingham-Southern and her MA and PhD from Auburn University. Her poems have been published in The South Dakota Review, Graffiti Rag, What Wildness is This: Women Write About the Southwest, The MacGuffin, A Cloud of Possibility, Oberon, and This/That/Lit online journal. Published books include her memoirs, Searching for Nannie B: Connecting Three Generations of Southern Women (2015) and Divine Aphasia: A Woman’s Search for Her Father (2021); her poetry chapbook, My Heart Wears No Colors (2018); and her poetry book,Portals: A Memoir in Verse (2019). In 2019, her poem “Africatown,” was awarded second place for free verse in the Alabama Writers Conclave competition.
Recipient of the 2014 Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers, Harry Moore is the author of the poetry collection Bearing the Farm Away (Kelsay Books, 2018) and four chapbooks: What He Would Call Them(Finishing Line Press, 2013); Time’s Fool: Love Poems (Mule on a Ferris Wheel Press, Huntsville, AL, 2014); Retreat: A Way Forward(Finishing Line Press, 2017); and Beyond Paradise: The Unweeded Garden (Main Street Rag, 2020). His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Plainsongs, Xavier Review, Pudding Magazine, Main Street Rag, South Carolina Review, Blue Unicorn, Slipstream, Anglican Theological Review, Ponder Review, and other journals.

Thursday, July 25 at 5:30pm at The NewSouth Bookstore Tina Mozelle Braziel and James Braziel talk about Glass Cabin
2024-07-25 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Join us on Thursday, July 25 at 5:30pm to welcome poets Tina Mozelle Braziel and James Braziel with their book Glass Cabin.This new work is a pretty amazing volume of storytelling, which chronicles the thirteen years they spent building their home on Hydrangea Ridge out of secondhand materials — found tin, tornado-snapped power poles, and church glass. The poems explore the work it takes to measure cuts for the stairs, to haul water up the mountain, to write. The Braziels will read from and share the experiences behind this new work, as conceptually interesting as the dwelling space it commemorates. Join us!

Edda Fields-Black at The NewSouth Bookstore Tuesday, July 23 at 5:30pm!
2024-07-23 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
A new book by Professor Edda Fields-Black — an exceptional work of American history — tells the story of one of Harriet Tubman’s most extraordinary exploits. The author joins us at The NewSouth Bookstore on Tuesday, July 23 at 5:30pm to discuss it. Combee is an account of the Combahee River Raid, an expedition of 150 African American soldiers led by Tubman into Confederate territory, who then rescued and carried back 700+ enslaved people. Members of the daring operation included the author’s great-great-great-grandfather. Join us for this exciting program featuring Dr. Fields-Black celebrating the release of her work.

Alabama State Poetry Society Online Open Mic
2024-07-22 18:30 - 19:30, 2024-06-24 18:30 - 19:30, 2024-05-27 18:30 - 19:30 | Zoom
Join us for online poetry open mics the 4th Monday of each month!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85693609367
Meeting ID: 856 9360 9367

Thursday, July 18 at 5:30pm at the NewSouth Bookstore: Michael Streissguth presents on Highways and Heartaches, with music by the Montgomery Dulcimer Players at 4:45pm!
2024-07-18 16:45 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
A fun evening is in store for you with a talk by Michael Streissguth about his new book, Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music. Mark your calendars to join us on Thursday, July 18 at 5:30 pm. In his entertaining book, Streissguth tracks the evolution of country music from the rural routes of 1960s and ‘70s Appalachia to the 1980s country music boom that paved the way for modern Americana. David and Barbara Betts and a couple of others from the Montgomery Dulcimer Players will open the program playing for your enjoyment starting at 4:45pm.

Jonathan Rigsby at The NewSouth Bookstore Thursday, July 11 at 5:30pm!
2024-07-11 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Jonathan Rigsby spends his days as a crime intelligence analyst and nights as an Uber driver. Reeling from a divorce and struggling to pay rent while caring for his autistic son, Rigsby became a rideshare driver, joining the millions of people with a side hustle just to make ends meet. With a compelling blend of honesty and wit, Rigsby invites readers in Drive into his car to reveal the harsh reality of gig work. Drive is an engaging personal story and a chronicle for social change. The author joins us at The NewSouth Bookstore on July 11 at 5:30pm.

The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture (LCLC) - Call for Papers
2024-07-09 08:00 - 2024-10-18 23:59 | University of Louisville, 2301 South 3rd Street, Louisville, KY, 40292, United States
2025 CALL FOR PAPERS
52nd Annual Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture
FEB 17-18 – Virtual
FEB 20-22 – In-Person
Featuring Keynote Speakers
RACHEL KUSHNER, BEN LERNER, JAHAN RAMAZANI,
and GEORGIE MEDINA MARCANO!
The Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture welcomes critical papers and full panel discussions about literature from the 20th and 21st centuries and its connections to other art forms and academic fields. The conference also welcomes creative submissions, such as literary compositions, videos, or hybrid genres. Additionally, critical-creative submissions exploring poetics, crafts, or writing practices are welcomed.
Confirmed LCLC52 events include The Hero Project of the Century: Tyrone Williams As iZ (Aldon Nielsen, organizer) and The Function of Music in Poetry (Adeena Karasick and Mark Scroggins, organizers). And so much more to come!
VENDORS and EXHIBITORS are welcome. Contact Emily Ravenscraft, Conference Coordinator at lclc@louisville.edu to learn how you can be a part of LCLC52.
Submissions are accepted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hebrew, and Italian. Panels involving global literature and culture in other languages are encouraged. We also encourage proposals that bring together people from different universities or organizations, with varying levels of experience in academia, and from various fields of study. Recent society participants include the African American Literature & Culture Society, Charles Olson Society, E.E. Cummings Society, International Harold Pinter Society, International Lawrence Durrell Society, International Virginia Woolf Society, Iris Murdoch Society, T.S. Eliot Society, among others.
Conference registrants may participate in up to two of the following activities: (1) a critical, critical-creative, or group/society panel; (2) a creative session; (3) or as the leader of a seminar. Additionally, registrants may also chair one or more panels, as well as participate in seminars. Submissions are limited to one entry per category.
Deadline for submissions is 11:59 P.M. EST on September 15, 2024.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
Email submissions to lclc@louisville.edu
Please use the Subject line exactly: LCLC52 Submission, [Type of submission]
Example: LCLC52 Submission, Roundtable Session
Submission Components:
Individual Critical / Critical-Creative Submissions
Please send as 2 separate attachments
1) Cover sheet: Name as it is to appear in program with any institutional affiliation, Paper Title, and a biographical statement (250 words).
2) Abstract: be sure to omit all references to the author and the author’s name (250-300 words).
Individual Creative Submissions
Please send as 2 separate attachments
1) Cover Sheet: Name as it is to appear in program with any institutional affiliation, Title of Work Submitted, and a biographical statement (250 words).
2) Writing Sample: suitable for a 15-20 minute presentation.
Full Panels, Roundtables and Societies Sessions (single panels or streams) Submissions:
Sessions are to be designed for a 90-minute time slot. The organizer should submit the following documents:
Please send as 2 separate attachments
1) Cover Sheet: Names and Institutional Affiliations, Titles of Work Submitted, biographical statements.
2) Dependent on the subject of the submission please submit either:
a) Abstract: be sure to omit all references to the author and the author’s name (250-300 words).
b) Writing Sample: suitable for a 15-20 minute presentation
SEMINARS. These 120 minutes sessions typically feature informal conversation moderated by the seminar leader(s) on the topic and or activity. If you wish to propose a seminar for LCLC52, contact LCLC Coordinator Emily Ravenscraft and we will evaluate it in advance of our second CFP which will be circulated in August 2024. See below for the current line-up of for this the current LCLC52 seminars. Each seminar has it’s own process for submission, so please read the descriptions carefully.
SEMINAR I
Translation Chapbook Workshop and Reading
Dr. Mark Mattes & Dr. Clare Sullivan
Participants will take part in a bookbinding workshop led by Dr. Mattes of Louisville-based Hot Brown Press and create chapbooks of their translations. All tools and materials will be provided. Then, in a subsequent panel, chapbook contributors will share their work and participate in a group discussion led by LCLC committee member Dr. Clare Sullivan. Participants should submit 1) Cover sheet and 2) Sample of original, unpublished translations into English from any language. Limit your selection to 150 words – excerpts are fine. Include the source text with your submission and a brief citation.
SEMINAR II
Poetry, Games, and Magic
Dr. Brandon Harwood & Dr. Robert Eric Shoemaker
This seminar explores the interplay between poetry, magic, and games. What similarities, practical and theoretical, may be drawn from these fields? How can the poetics of play, or the magic circle of the video game, inform our understanding and practice of each? What do today’s multimedia games and poetries say about or to ancient rituals, sociocultural stratification, or morality and purity rules? What openings do we see in language and culture to bend rules in order to break open systems? Participants should submit 1) Cover sheet and 2) Abstract touching two of these fields: game studies, poetry/poetics, and the magical/occult.
SEMINAR III
Pandemic Studies
Martha Greenwald, Seminar Leader
Participants will pursue the imaginative structures, disputed narratives, cross-pollinating conspiracies, and contested discourses used to make sense of COVID-19 as well as other past, contemporaneous, or future pandemics. As we accept that life now is increasingly lived with the COVID-19 virus as a normalized and never-ending event, Narrative frameworks and genres of the pandemic experience have shifted and need now additional study. We seek surprising, ambitious, theoretically-rich, and provocative response. Participants should submit 1) Cover sheet and 2) Abstract. Contributions that introduce fiction or generic hybridity are welcome.

Go and Write! Summertime Retreat on the Bay of Fundy—St. Martins, New Brunswick (Canada)
2024-07-07 08:00 - 2024-07-14 17:00 | St. Martin’s County Inn, 303 Main St., Martins, New Brunswick, Canada
July 7-14, 2024. Private, ensuite bedroom in historic shipbuilder’s estate in the fishing village of St. Martins, NB. All breakfasts and five suppers, private concert, trips to Kings Landing Historical Settlement and the Fundy Trail, workshops, written feedback, and dedicated writing time.

Call for Submissions: The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize
2024-07-01 - 2024-09-30 | TRP: The University Press of SHSU, United States
$10,000 + Publication + Residency at Vermont Studio Center
2024 Judge: Diane Seuss
Established in 1998, The X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize highlights one full-length collection of poetry per year. Since 2024, the Prize comes with a $10,000 advance, TRP’s X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.
Recent judges include Richard Blanco, Kimiko Hahn, Kazim Ali, Maggie Smith, and Marilyn Nelson.
Submissions open each year on July 1 and close on September 30.

Call for Submissions: The George Garrett Fiction Prize
2024-07-01 - 2024-09-30 | TRP: The University Press of SHSU, United States
Winner Receives: $2,000 + Publication
Judge’s Selection Receives: $1,000 + Publication
2024 Judge: Kaveh Akbar
Thanks to generous support from the judge, Kaveh Akbar, a Judge’s Selection from this year’s George Garrett Fiction Prize will also receive a $1,000 advance and publication.
Established in 1998, The George Garrett Fiction Prize highlights one book a year for excellence in a short story collection or novel. Starting 2024, the Prize comes with a $2,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 10 copies of the published book.
Recent judges include Manuel Muñoz, Vi Khi Nao, Selah Saterstrom, Joe Wilkins, and John McNally.
Submissions open each year on July 1 and close on September 30.

Open Call for Writers
2024-06-30 - 2024-07-31 | Online, NC
For a limited time, Sunspot Lit is calling for single works of novella-length fiction or nonfiction in any category, including memoir, literary, genre, and historical. Open July 1 through July 31. Guidelines and submission forms at Submittable: https://sunspotlit.submittable.com/submit or Duotrope: https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/sunspot-literary-journal-LIXJW.

Deborah Jackson Taffa at The NewSouth Bookstore Thursday, June 20 at 5:30pm!
2024-06-20 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
The reviews in for Deborah Taffa’s new memoir are many and starred, and include praise from Oprah and the New York Times. Whiskey Tender is a Native American story which is unexpected and propulsive, indeed tender, but also bold and beautifully told. It’s a memoir of family and survival, coming of age on and off the reservation, and of the frictions between mainstream American culture and Native identity. A fascinating work, full of humanity, and a fascinating story, which luckily Taffa will join us at the bookstore to tell. Mark your calendars to be with us on Thursday, June 20 at 5:30pm.

Karren Pell and the Old Alabama Revue at The NewSouth Bookstore Thursday, June 13 at 6pm!
2024-06-13 18:00 - 20:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Singer-songwriter Karren Pell and her Old Alabama Revue bring a new program — appropriately called “Summer’s Comin‘” — to The NewSouth Bookstore on Thursday, June 13 at 6pm. Enjoy the talents of Tim Henderson, Larry Gobrecht, Toni Wood, Katie Pearson, Tony Castaldo, and Don Silman, who’ll get you in a summertime groove from the start. There’ll be some toe tappin’, for sure!

Gerry Wilson at The NewSouth Bookstore Tuesday, June 11 at 5:30pm!
2024-06-11 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
We welcome Gerry Wilson to The NewSouth Bookstore on Tuesday, June 11 at 5:30pm. Bart Barton will lead her in conversation about her first novel, That Pinson Girl. Told against the backdrop of the deprivation of World War I and the tragedies of the influenza epidemic, That Pinson Girl unfolds in lyrical, unflinching prose, engaging the timeless issues of racism, sexism, and poverty. Wilson is a recipient of a Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellowship. Her story collection, Crosscurrents and Other Stories, was nominated for the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Fiction Award. Come discover the work of this fine writer as we celebrate the release of her newest book.

Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop for Aspiring Teen Writers
2024-06-10 08:00 - 2024-06-28 17:00 | UAB’s Spencer Honors House, 1190 10th Ave. S., Birmingham, AL, 35205, United States
UAB’s Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop offers an exciting creative writing opportunity for your student this summer, June 10-28th. Please encourage them to apply and/or invite the Director, Tina Braziel, to talk with your students about it and/or provide creative writing instruction.
Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop is an exciting and rewarding day camp for aspiring teen writers! They will work with published authors to draft, edit and publish stories, screenplays, podcast, poetry and more. They will find inspiration from Birmingham’s rich culture and history during field trips and special activities!
Dates: 9 am – 3 pm, M-F, June 10-28th, 2024
Location: UAB’s Spencer Honors House (1190 10th Ave S. Birmingham, AL)
Telephone: (205) 934-8573 office 205-276-1818 cell
Scholarships: Full and partial scholarships for anyone who finds the workshop fee cost prohibitive.
Email: tmharris@uab.edu
More information, pictures, examples of student work and application information can be found at: https://www.uab.edu/cas/english/events/ada-long-workshop?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2a6wBhCVARIsABPeH1vL-6KOYLoI-lRt5WR1PwredgzcVRGM5RwJrQ-yviMiJ6T4CupoLTsaAi0pEALw_wcB
Tina Mozelle Braziel, Director
Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop
https://www.uab.edu/cas/english/events/ada-long-workshop

An Evening with Constance Fay: Fiasco
2024-06-08 17:30 - 21:00 | The Haunted Book Shop, 9 S JOACHIM ST, MOBILE, AL, 36602-2707, United States
Join us for “An Evening with Constance Fay” on June 8th at The Haunted Book Shop. Sci-fi romance author, Constance Fay, will discuss her latest page-turning intergalactic saga, “FIASCO”. Known for her ability to blend steamy romance with space-age adventure, Constance Fay is turning heads in the genre.
WHAT’S IN STORE
In-Conversation: Constance Fay will have a Q&A with a fellow author (author TBA)
Book Signing: Constance Fay will be signing copies of FIASCO. Only books purchased from The Haunted Book Shop may be personalized by the author.
Specialty Cocktails: Next door at The Alchemy, enjoy a Constance Fay-themed cocktail menu.
Purchase of the FIASCO equals your ticket to the event.
Mark your calendars, invite fellow book enthusiasts, and anticipate an evening filled with laughter and romance.
Only books purchased from us can be personalized. We will also have her first book CALAMITY available.
About FIASCO
Equal parts steamy interstellar romance and sci-fi adventure, Constance Fay’s FIASCO is a perfect wild romp amidst the stars.
Cynbelline Khaw is a woman of many names. She’s Generosity, a cultist who never quite fit in. She’s Bella, the daughter who failed to save her cousin’s life. And then there’s Cyn, the notorious bounty hunter who spaced a ship of slavers.
She’s exhausted, lonely, and on her very last legs—but then a new client offers her a job she can’t refuse: a bounty on the kidnapper who killed her cousin. All Cyn has to do is partner with the crew of the Calamity, a scouting vessel she encountered when she was living under a previous alias. One tiny little issue, she’s been given an additional bounty: deliver the oh-so-compelling medic, Micah Arora, to the treacherous Pierce Family or all her identities will be revealed, putting her estranged family in danger.
Hunting a kidnapper doesn’t usually mean accidentally taking your sexy new target to dinner at your parent’s house, a local mystic predicting you’ll have an increasingly large number of children, or being accompanied by a small flying lizard with a penchant for eating metal, but, as they field investigative hurdles both dangerous and preposterous, Cyn and Micah grow ever closer. When a violent confrontation reveals that everything Cyn thought about her past is wrong, she realizes that she has the power to change her future. The first part of that is making sure that Micah Arora is around to be a part of it.
About Constance Fay
Constance Fay writes space romance novels and genre fiction short stories. Her short fiction can be found in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Catscast podcast, and other publications. She has a background in medical device R&D and lives in Colorado with a cat who edits all her work first.

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder at The NewSouth Bookstore Saturday, June 8 at 3pm!
2024-06-08 15:00 - 17:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Join us at The NewSouth Bookstore for a special program arranged in partnership with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF): Playwright Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder will talk about her semi autobiographical Southern story of love, loss and restoration. When Libby returns to her father’s home, she learns that he’s left her with the remains of an old Rolls Royce Phantom, which she names Zelda, and a surprising discovery to be made about his life. The talented playwright, a 2024 Tennessee Arts Commission Fellow with a dozen plays to her name, will share insights about the writing of “Zelda in the Backyard” and her inspirations for it. Thanks to ASF for co-hosting!

AI and Creativity
2024-06-08 - 2024-06-30 | Online, NC
Sunspot Lit is exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and creativity in prose, poetry, and art. Submissions will be considered for publication in the quarterly digital and annual print editions. Submit here https://sunspotlit.submittable.com/submit/281493/ai-and-creativity-2024 before June 30th.

Garrett Ashley and Ken Autrey reading from new works at The NewSouth Bookstore!
2024-06-06 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Two local writing talents read from their new work at The NewSouth Bookstore on Thursday, June 6 at 5:30pm. Garrett Ashley’s short story collection, Periphylla, and Other Deep Ocean Attractions, introduces a rare tableau of characters that collectively define our humanity. Circulation by Ken Autrey is a gorgeous set of elegies that shows an attentiveness to the power of the past with its riches and sorrows. Come enjoy the pleasures of listening to and discussion about good writing with these emerging voices.

Join us to celebrate the release of Old Enough: Southern Women On Creativity And Aging at The NewSouth Bookstore Sunday, June 2 at 3:00pm!
2024-06-02 15:00 - 16:30 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
We are excited to welcome a half dozen contributors to Old Enough: Southern Women on Creativity and Aging to The NewSouth Bookstore on Sunday, June 2 at 3pm. Join us for readings and lively discussion about the topic of this important new book, published by NewSouth Books, a really fine project led by Jay Lamar and Jennifer Horne with Katie Lamar Jackson and Wendy Reed, and featuring essays from Jacqueline Allen Trimble, Jeanie Thomspon and others. Meet these contributors and enjoy a stimulating program focused on what it means to age creatively tied to the release of this beautiful new book, a volume NPR correspondent Debbie Elliott calls “a gift, one which confronts cliched thinking about ‘women of a certain age’ with grace, humor, and candor.” It’s not soon enough for Old Enough!

The Louisville Review's National Poetry Book Contest
2024-06-01 - 2024-08-31 | Online Submissions only, The Louisvilel Review, 1436 St. James Court, Louisville, KY, 40213, United States
The Louisville Review is thrilled to announce that Jeanie Thompson will serve as distinguished judge for our 2024 National Poetry Book Contest!
This first-book contest invites poets living in the United States who have not yet published a full-length book of poetry to submit manuscripts of 48-70 pages.
Winner will receive $1,000 and Publication through The Louisville Review’s Fleur-de-Lis Press, 25 author copies, and distribution through Barnes & Nobel and Amazon.
The winning book will be reviewed online in North American Review, the longest running literary magazine in the nation.
Finalists will receive publication of a selected, previously unpublished poem in The Louisville Review, and we will hold an online reading for the winner and finalists.
The reading fee of $25 includes a 1-year print subscription to The Louisville Review.
Full details here: https://louisvillereview.org

A Carolyn Haines Launch Party!
2024-05-23 17:30 - 19:30 | The Haunted Book Shop, 9 S JOACHIM ST, MOBILE, AL, 36602-2707, United States
Join us for a launch party in honor of Mobile mystery novel phenom Carolyn Haines on May 23, as we celebrate her latest novel, “Lights, Camera, Bones.” We’re rolling out all the frills for Carolyn with a specialty cocktail menu at Happy Hour pricing, putting Carolyn on the hot seat for an audience Q&A, book signing line, and, most certainly when Carolyn is involved, unknown hijinks and hilarity.
In “Lights, Camera, Bones,” we step again into the shoes of the much-loved character Sarah Booth Delaney, a fiery and resourceful private investigator from the South famously described by Kirkus Reviews as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” The drama unfolds on a movie set in Greenville, right on the Mississippi River where Delaney Detective Agency faces a unique challenge with the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy political scion while filming a story about the 1927 flood that devastated Greenville. The subsequent discovery of a severed foot suggests a disastrous encounter with a bull shark, but as rumors circulate, the human element cannot be discounted. Delaney, along with her associates, must navigate a complex maze of evidence to solve this alarming mystery.
Make sure your funny bone and curious mind are intact for this event. It is one you won’t want to miss!
Book purchase from The Haunted Book Shop is required to enter the signing line.

Del Shores Foundation Call for Submissions
2024-05-23 08:00 - 2024-07-31 17:00 | Del Shores Foundation
CALL FOR UNPRODUCED SCRIPTS BY LGBTQ+ SOUTHERN WRITERS
The third Del Shores Foundation Writers Search is now open for submissions from unproduced playwrights and screenwriters whoidentify as LGBTQ+ and currently live in the South. CASH AWARDS are given to the semifinalists, finalists and winners andPRODUCTION GRANTS accompany the winning scripts to move their work toward production. USE WAIVER CODE “DSFAL” for FREE SUBMISSION. Final submission deadline 7/31/24. For more information and submissions visit https://www.delshoresfoundation.org/

Austin Film Festival Extends Submission Deadline to May 31!
2024-05-23 08:00 - 2024-05-31 23:59 | AL
Austin Film Festival’s Script Competition takes all kinds of submissions, including screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, scripted digital series, and fiction podcasts. To submit, visit https://austinfilmfestival.com/submit/ and use the discount AFFWG24 for $5 off your submission fee.

We can’t wait to read your scripts so submit them today!

Christina Lauren Block Party: The Paradise Problem
2024-05-18 17:30 - 22:00 | The Haunted Book Shop, 9 S JOACHIM ST, MOBILE, AL, 36602-2707, United States
Christina Lauren is coming to town on May 18th, and we’re celebrating their 30th novel with a block party! We will have an in-conversation Q&A with the writing duo known as Christina Lauren, a curated vendor market, a special Christina Lauren cocktail menu at Alchemy Tavern, sangrias at Penton’s Bistro, and a photo station to capture the fun!
WHAT’S IN STORE
In-Conversation: Christina Lauren will have a Q&A with a fellow author (author TBA)
Block Party: Our section of Conti Street will be blocked off and will have curated vendors for your shopping pleasure
Photo Line: Timed-entry for the photo line to get your photo with Christina Lauren
Specialty Cocktails: Next door at The Alchemy, enjoy a Christina Lauren-themed cocktail menu or partake of sangrias at Penton’s Bistro
Purchase of the hardcover of THE PARADISE PROBLEM equals your ticket to the event.
Grab your tickets and books early – you won’t want to miss this!
Purchase of the hardcover of THE PARADISE PROBLEM from our bookstore is required for entry.
Important Information/Rules per Publisher – PLEASE READ
Your ticket will get you a pre-signed copy of THE PARADISE PROBLEM. Signature only. No personalizations per the request of the authors.
Additional backlist will be made available for purchase (see Add-Ons when selecting tickets). Backlist will also be pre-signed and have Christina Lauren’s signature only.
Personal backlist from home will not be permitted and will not be signed by Christina Lauren.
All attendees will receive an exclusive tour art print inspired by the book.
Christina Lauren will be posing for fan photos once the Q&A has concluded. They will not be signing or personalizing books in this line.
We’d like to thank the following sponsors and partners!
The Alchemy Tavern
Penton’s Bistro
Mobile Bay Magazine
Downtown Mobile Alliance
More details to come.
About THE PARADISE PROBLEM
Christina Lauren, the instant New York Times bestselling and “reigning romance queens” (PopSugar), returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
About Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Dating You / Hating You, Autoboyography, Love and Other Words, Roomies, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, My Favorite Half-Night Stand, The Unhoneymooners, Twice in a Blue Moon, The Soulmate Equation, Something Wilder, and The True Love Experiment. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com and @ChristinaLauren on Instagram or Twitter.

Third Thursday Poetry Reading at Auburn
2024-05-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, 101 S. Debardeleben St., Auburn, AL, 36849-5637, United States
Our final Third Thursday poetry reading of this season will take place at 6:30 on May 16 at Pebble Hill in Auburn. Wine and snacks will be served beginning at 6.

This month’s program will feature a series of brief readings by 12 writers living in the Auburn-Opelika area.

This series is supported by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, Department of English, and Southern Humanities Review in the college of Liberal arts at Auburn University; the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Auburn University; and the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
