Alabama Writers' Forum

"The Hallelujah Girls" a James Hope Wooten Comedy
2024-04-27 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-04-26 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-04-25 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-04-21 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-04-20 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-04-19 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-04-18 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Millbrook Theatre, 5720 Main St., Millbrook, AL, 36054, United States
THE STORY: Hilarity abounds when the feisty females of Eden Falls, Georgia, decide to shake up their lives. The action in this rollicking Southern comedy takes place in SPA-DEE-DAH!, the abandoned church-turned-day-spa where this group of friends gathers every Friday afternoon. After the loss of a dear friend, the women realize time is precious, and if they’re going to change their lives and achieve their dreams, they have to get on it now! – Dramatists Play Service
Shows begin on April 18 and run through April 28. See website for shows and times.
For Tickets, please visit the Millbrook Players Website: https://www.millbrooktheater.com/2024-season.html

Please Read Carefully: NO refunds – You should receive a receipt from PayPal, but not from MCP. All you need to bring to the door is the name under which the ticket was purchased.
Directed by Cheryl Phillips

Magic City Poetry Festival: Poetry at the Monument
2024-04-27 14:00 - 16:00 | St. Paul UMC, 1500 6th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL, 35203, United States
Each year, MCPF brings poetry alive in unlikely places like public parks and national monuments, and this year we will reprise our popular Poetry at the Monument event, featuring poets Jermaine Thompson, Tania De’Shawn, and Lakisha Cargill on Saturday, April 27, 2-4 p.m., at the St. Paul’s UMC, 1500 6th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama.
Poetry at the Monument, sponsored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and hosted at the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, will feature these three local poets who will share work related to civil rights and social justice.

REGISTER HERE

Magic City Poetry Festival: For Colored Girls with Joi Miner
2024-04-26 19:00 - 21:30 | Miles College, 5500 Myron Massey Blvd., Fairfield, AL, 35064, United States
America’s Next Great Author winner, poet and novelist Joi Miner will revive her production of Ntozake Shange’s groundbreaking choreopoem, for colored girls who considered suicide when the rainbow was enuf. This is MCPF’s first theatrical event, and we’re excited to share it with our community! Friday, April 26, 7 p.m. at Miles College, 5500 Myron Massey Blvd., Fairfield, AL 35064
Admission is FREE.
Help us continue our conversation by giving today with your registration.

REGISTER HERE

So You've Written a Book Manuscript...What's Next?
2024-04-25 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
The Alabama Writers’ Forum has put together an expert panel to give you advice on how to get published. Join us next Thursday, April 25th at 3pm for a live, free zoom workshop, featuring: Sue Brannan Walker, Publisher and Editor, Negative Capability Press; Daniel Waterman, Editor-in-Chief, University of Alabama Press; Kim Shackelford, Co-Owner, Beach Bards Publishing.

The link to register is on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alabamawritersforum
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCFlyJSkHlHChANYRd2Iw_mq9At3LxqlYCMni23K4cKq8ypg/viewform?pli=1

The NewSouth Bookstore celebrates Women's History Month with its first ever group read!
2024-04-23 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
March is Women’s History Month. This year, we’re organizing our first bookstore group read — think of it as a one-time, one-book book club — in recognition of it. Our selection for the group read is Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin. The work by Jill Lepore — American historian and journalist on faculty at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker, and author of more than a dozen books — was published in 2013. It was a National Book Award finalist and New York Times Notable Book. It’s a tour-de-force that is simultaneously “a fascinating look at early America, a meditation on one remarkable mind by another, and, implicitly, a biography of all the other Janes—history’s anonymous and overlooked women” (New York Magazine).
With this post we are formally announcing the group read. We have a large stack of copies of the book at The NewSouth Bookstore awaiting purchase ($19). Those wishing to participate may take January through early April to read the book. We will gather for discussion in the bookstore on April 23 at 5:30pm. Sign-up is suggested: jessala.white@newsouthbookstore.com. All are invited, irrespective of sex/gender. Thank you for considering this announcement your personal invitation to be part of what will be an exciting Women’s History Month event!

Alabama State Poetry Society Online Open Mic
2024-04-22 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

Mary Dearborn at The NewSouth Bookstore Sunday, April 21 at 3pm!
2024-04-21 15:00 - 17:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Mary Dearborn is our guest at the bookstore on Sunday, April 21 at 3pm for a talk about her major new release, Carson McCullers: A Life. The first biography of McCullers in more than twenty years, Dearborn takes advantage in her writing of a cache of newly available journals and letters to craft an admiring but clear-eyed appraisal of McCullers art and enigmatic life. Her book is rich in insights. So too will be her talk. Mark your calendars to be with us for this special event.

Tina Mozelle Braziel and James Braziel present GLASS CABIN
2024-04-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Thank You Books, 5502 Crestwood Blvd Unit B, Birmingham, AL, 35212, United States
Join Thank You Books for an afternoon with husband-and-wife authors and UAB professors Tina Mozelle Braziel and James Braziel, and to celebrate their fascinating new book of poetry.
“GLASS CABIN chronicles the thirteen years Tina and James spent building their home out of second-hand tin, tornado-snapped power poles, and church glass on a waterless ridge in rural Alabama. Their alternating voices support one another like parts of their cabin—every board needs its nail, every window needs its frame. These poems explore the work it takes to measure cuts for stairs, to haul water—one ton at a time—up the side of the mountain, and to write. It is also a meditation on hope, on frustration, and their place in the wilder parts of the world.”
The event is free but registration is encouraged: please register here
James and Tina Mozelle Braziel are a husband-and-wife writing team. They have received fellowships from Hot Springs National Park and Alabama State Council on the Arts. James’s book, This Ditch-Walking Love, winner of the Tartt Fiction Award, tells the stories of people living on Alabama’s Cumberland Plateau. His novels Birmingham, 35 Miles (Bantam) and Snakeskin Road (Bantam) are about the survivors of an environmental disaster in the future South. James, an associate professor, teaches creative writing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Tina Mozelle Braziel is the author of Known by Salt (Anhinga), winner of the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, and Rooted by Thirst (Porkbelly). Her work has appeared in POETRY and other journals. Tina directs the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop for high school students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. James and Tina live and write in a glass cabin that they are building by hand on Hydrangea Ridge.

Magic City Poetry Festival: Return to Wonderment: Poetry and Jazz with Thandiwe Shiphrah and Daniel Arite
2024-04-20 18:30 - 20:00 | East Village Arts, 7611 1st Ave. North, Birmingham, AL, 35203, United States
“Return to Wonderment” is a performance collage of live jazz and poetry that honors humanity’s connection to Earth and highlights ways to deepen our rapport with nature and our commitment to ecological renewal. It features Daniel’s original compositions and new arrangements of jazz standards tailored to Thandiwe’s rhythmic recitations of poems and popular song lyrics. In a varied mix of solos and duets — interwoven with illuminating video images — this evening’s length performance creates an inspiring space for refreshing the mind, listening to the heart, and celebrating the beauty and wonder of our shared home.
Saturday, April 20, 6:30-8:00 p.m., East Village Arts, 7611 1st Ave. North, Birmingham, AL 35203
FREE ADMISSION WITH OPTION FOR DONATION
REGISTER HERE

Magic City Poetry Festival: Freedom Poetry Salon
2024-04-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Home of Charlotte Donlon
This salon, hosted at the home of Charlotte Donlon, will provide space and time for poets, musicians, all artists to share work in an open-mic style. FREE, BUT REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!
Beverages and snacks will be provided by Church Street Coffee & Books.
Registration is required, as space is limited. Location and parking instructions will be sent directly to registrants 24 hours before the event. Please contact Charlotte at charlotte@charlottedonlon.com if you have any questions.

REGISTER HERE

Auburn's Third Thursday Poetry Event to Feature Graduating Creative Writers
2024-04-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, 101 S. Debardeleben St., Auburn, AL, 36849-5637, United States
This month’s Third Thursday reading will begin at 6:30 p.m. on April 18 at Pebble Hill in Auburn, and will feature graduating creative writing students from Auburn University.
Refreshments will be available beginning at 6:00.
The Third Thursday Poetry Series is supportd by the Caroline Draughon Center for Arts and Humanities, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the AU Department of English, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Magic City Poetry Festival: Zines And Poetry: Making A Tiny Book With Alina Stefanescu
2024-04-17 18:00 | Via Zoom
In structural conditions that narrow what gets published, whether by political systems that legislate repressive ideologies against free speech or by economic structures that prevent critical and system-challenging work from being published, the zine works from a tradition of grassroots publishing. The zine isn’t working to get into the elite circles (though sometimes it does): the zine is working to speak, to say, to share, and to imagine power differently.
In this zine-making workshop, join MCPF board member, celebrated writer and poet Alina Stefanescu as you endeavor to make your very own zine, Wednesday, April 17, 6 p.m. via Zoom.
Supplies needed: white paper (printer or otherwise), a writing utensil, glue, and optional collage materials (magazines, etc).

REGISTER HERE

Jennifer Horne at The NewSouth Bookstore on Tuesday, April 16 at 5:30pm!
2024-04-16 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
The fascinating but troubled life of Montgomery’s own Sara Mayfield (1905—1979) emerges from the pages of a fine new biography by Jennifer Horne, titled Odyssey of a Wandering Mind. We are lucky to have Horne — author and former Alabama state poet laureate — present on the topic at The NewSouth Bookstore on Tuesday, April 16 at 5:30pm. Horne tracks Mayfield’s early life in Montgomery’s elite social circles, her friendship with H.L. Mencken and others culturally prominent, her lengthy confinement in Bryce Hospital for the Insane, and her writing career. It’s a book as rich and interesting as Mayfield’s life was rich and interesting. At The NewSouth Bookstore in April.

Magic City Poetry Festival Presents: Poetry at the Museum
2024-04-13 13:00 - 16:00 | Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr., Blvd., Birmingham, AL, 35203, United States
Each year, MCPF brings poetry alive in unlikely places like public parks, national monuments, and this year, for the first time, at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Saturday, April 13, 1-4 p.m. Poetry at the Museum, sponsored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Yelp, will feature four local poets who will share work related to visual art. There are two attendance options this year: the Yelp Community Experience and Free General Admission.
The Yelp Community Experience begins at 1pm and features a reading by Yelp’s sponsored poet, Birmingham Poet Laureate Salaam Green and local poets Kanou Julien, Miriam Calleja, and Lauren Slaughter. Yelpers, meaning anyone with a Yelp account, will receive a special gift after checking in on the event page. If you do not have a free Yelp account, quickly create one here.
Birmingham Musuem of Art, 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Junior Boulevard, Birmingham, AL, 35203 United States (map)
For regular admission to our 2pm or 3pm tour, please register at the regular admission link and arrive at 2pm or 3pm to attend one of the two other tours.

REGISTER HERE – REGULAR FREE ADMISSION

REGISTER HERE – YELP COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE
Sponsored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Yelp

John Keahey in conversation with Karen La Rosa at The NewSouth Bookstore Friday, April 12 at 5:30pm.
2024-04-12 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
Nationally recognized travel writer John Keahey comes to the bookstore in the company of Sicily Tours and Travel founder Karen La Rosa for conversation about his intriguing new book, Following Caesar: From Rome to Constantinople, the Pathways That Planted the Seeds of the Empire. History comes alive in this travel narrative which follows three ancient roads looking at more than two thousand years of Roman history through the modern eye. Andiamo! Come celebrate the release of this book with Keahey and La Rosa on Friday, April 12 at 5:30pm.

Magic City Poetry Festival Presents: Janice Harrington at the ALLA Conference
2024-04-12 12:00 - 14:00 | Homewood Public Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, Alabama, 35209, United States
MCPF is proud to bring Alabama native, poet, librarian, and children’s Author Janice Harrington to Birmingham to feature at the Alabama Library Association Conference, Friday, April 12, 12-2 p.m., Homewood Public Library. In this lunch and learn, Harrington will talk about her life and love of books, and how that love of reading has blossomed into a fruitful career! Attendees of this luncheon will need to register with the Alabama Library Association Conference: https://www.allanet.org/annual-convention
More info about the conference here.

Patricia Foster at The NewSouth Bookstore on Thursday, April 11 at 5:30pm!
2024-04-11 17:30 - 19:00 | The NewSouth Bookstore, 105 S. Court St, Montgomery, 36104, United States
We welcome Patricia Foster on Thursday, April 11 at 5:30pm. In Written in the Sky: Lessons of a Southern Daughter, Foster presents a double portrait of place and family, a book of deeply personal essays that interrogate the legacy of racial tensions in the South, the constriction of caste and gender, and the ways race, class, and white privilege are entwined in her family story. Foster is gaining well-deserved recognition for her talents as a writer with this new book. Come meet her and enjoy her talk about it.

Frye Gaillard and Patricia Foster at Page and Palette
2024-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Page and Palette, 32 South Section St., Fairhope, AL, 36532, United States
Authors Frye Gaillard and Patricia Foster will be the featured readers at Page and Palette in Fairhope, Alabama, Wednesday, April 10, from 6-8 p.m.
James Usavage says, “With A Hard Rain Gaillard gives us a deeply personal history, bringing his keen storyteller’s eye to this pivotal time in American life. He explores the competing story arcs of tragedy and hope through the political and social movements of the times: civil rights, black power, women’s liberation, the war in Vietnam, and the protest movements against it.” https://writersforum.org/a-hard-rain/
Kirkus Reviews says Patricia Foster’s Written in the Sky: Lessons of a Southern Daughter is “A powerful, often heart-wrenching collection of essays tackling the history of the American South…a double portrait of place and family, a book of deeply personal essays that interrogate the legacy of racial tensions in the South, the constricton of caste and gender, and the ways race, class, and white privilege ar entwined in her family story.” https://writersforum.org/written-in-the-sky/

Patricia Foster discusses "Written in the Sky: Lessons of a Southern Daughter"
2024-04-09 19:00 - 20:00 | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 506 North Pine Street, Foley, Alabama, 36535
Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 506 North Pine Street, Foley, AL 36535
Presented by the Commission on Racial Justice and Reconciliation of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
In Written in the Sky: Lessons of a Southern Daughter, published by the University of Alabama Press, Dr. Foster presents a double portrait of place and family, a book of deeply personal essays that interrogate the legacy of racial tensions in the South, the constriction of caste and gender, and the ways race, class, and white privilege are
entwined in her own family story. In the book, she reflects on the racial scars and crossroads in her southern past and reckons with the intimate places of her own wounding and grief.
The story of place, Dr. Foster discovers, emerges not only from family histories and cultural traditions but also from wrestling with a culture’s irreconcilable ideas: the hard push to determine what matters. What matters to her are the shadow stories beneath our mythologies, the complicated and radiant narratives that must be excavated and reckoned with, stories that have no neat or binary resolution, stories full of luminous moments and riveting facts, and stories where the secrets hide. Written in the Sky presents the best of nonfiction storytelling: searingly honest portraits, dramatic encounters, and lyrical narratives that will interest teachers and students, as well as social justice advocates, policymakers, and readers compelled by stories of awakening and the white-hot beauty of language.
A native of Baldwin County, Alabama, Dr. Foster graduated from Foley High School and went on to earn a B.A. in sociology, an M.F.A. in art, an M.F.A. in fiction, and a Ph.D. She has taught at Goddard College and the University of lowa, where she held a full professorship. She has also pursued a successful career as a writer and as a book editor. Her books include Minding the Body: Women Writers on Body and Soul (editor), Sister to Sister (editor), The Healing Circle: Narratives of Recovery (editor), All the Lost Girls: Confessions of a Southern Daughter, Just Beneath My Skin, and Girl from Soldier Creek.

Magic City Poetry Festival Presents: Thoughtful Readers Gatherings with Jose Hernandez Diaz
2024-04-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Via Zoom
Thoughtful Readers Gatherings™, a new series of author conversations to connect writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon’s growing audience of thoughtful readers and writers with good books and nourishing conversations, Sunday April 7, 5-6 p.m., via Zoom
The event layout is as follows:
–15 minute conversation to focus on the guest author’s reading and writing life.
–30 minute conversation about the book with an 8-minute reading, a 10-minute conversation with me (questions provided ahead of time), and 5-10 minutes of Q&A
Here’s What’s Included in Each Paid Registration
—One Book by the Featured Author. Cost is retail book price plus sales tax.
—Access to a Writing and Reading Life Conversation with Featured Author
—Access to a Reading and Book Conversation with Featured Author
—Access to the Zoom Recording for Two Weeks
—Follow-up Email with Additional Resources for Exploration and Nourishment
All Free Options Include Everything but the Book
—Access to a Writing and Reading Life Conversation with Featured Author
—Access to a Reading and Book Conversation with Featured Author
—Access to the Zoom Recording for Two Weeks
—Follow-up Email with Additional Resources for Exploration and Nourishment
Registration is required for all online Thoughtful Readers Gatherings. All online Thoughtful Readers Gatherings take place on Zoom:

REGISTER FOR FREE OPTION

REGISTER FOR PAID OPTION

https://charlottedonlon.com/products/thoughtful-readers-gatherings-free-option
https://charlottedonlon.com/products/thoughtful-readers-gatherings
https://www.magiccitypoetryfestival.org/2024

2024 Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Series: Featuring Hasan Kwame Jeffries
2024-04-06 18:30 | First Baptist Church, 347 N Ripley St, Montgomery, AL, 36104, United States
Hasan Kwame Jeffries will be the Durr Lecture Series guest lecturer on Saturday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m., Historic First Baptist Church, 347 N. Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL.
A reception will follow the lecture, 8 p.m., Springhill Suites, Downtown, 152 Coosa St., Montgomery, AL.
The Durr Lecture Series Weekend is an annual lecture series focusing on history and social justice, inspired by the legacy of Clifford and Virginia Durr. The first lecture was hosted in 1992.
The 2024 Durr Lecture Series will feature Civil Rights Attorney Barbara Phillips and Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
Free and Open to the Public
https://www.durrlectures.org/
https://www.alasu.edu/

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An Evening with Meghan Quinn: Bridesmaid for Hire
2024-04-06 17:30 - 20:00 | The Haunted Book Shop, 9 S JOACHIM ST, MOBILE, AL, 36602-2707, United States
Join us for the a Book Signing with Meghan Quinn on April 6th, 5:30-8:30pm, at The Haunted Book Shop. This engaging event celebrates the release of Meghan Quinn’s latest rom-com, “Bridesmaid for Hire,” a hilarious and spicy journey filled with ambition, humor, and unexpected romance.
WHAT’S IN STORE
Book Signing: Meghan Quinn will be signing copies of the BRIDESMAID FOR HIRE. Only books purchased from The Haunted Book Shop may be personalized by the author.
Specialty Cocktails: Next door at The Alchemy, enjoy a Meghan Quinn-themed cocktail menu.
Purchase of the BRIDESMAID FOR HIRE equals your ticket to the event.
Mark your calendars, invite fellow book enthusiasts, and anticipate an evening filled with laughter and romance.
NOTE: Only 4 books per ticket can be signed. The new book plus 3 books either brought from home or purchased at the store. Only books purchased from us can be personalized, the rest can only be signed.
NOTE: Ticket holders will be assigned a time slot for the signing line upon check-in at the event. Time slots are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
About BRIDESMAID FOR HIRE
USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn is back with a hilarious new rom-com series.
Sometimes the wedding of the century calls for desperate measures.
And sometimes those desperate measures are to pretend the person you hate most is actually your boyfriend.
After years of working her tail off at her event-planning business, Maggie Mitchell is ready for a vacation. With nothing on her mind but R & R, she’s enjoying the warm weather of Bora Bora when in saunters Brody McFadden, her brother’s best friend and also her sworn enemy. Thanks to years of tension between the two—kicked off by a make-out session at her brother’s wedding that ended horribly—Maggie has sworn to stay away from the man. That is, until she finds out he’s in Bora Bora for his boss’s daughter’s wedding, hoping to use the trip to win a real future at the company.
Maggie promised herself she wouldn’t even think of work on the island, but as word spreads about the “wedding of the century” taking place in the midst of her vacation, she realizes offering her services as a bridesmaid and planner could bring her business to the next level. The only catch? She needs to pose as Brody’s girlfriend to get the job…while letting him stay in her peaceful bungalow.
Tensions rise, irritation flairs, and despite years’ worth of bickering behind closed doors, Maggie can’t quite squash the sparks building between her and her new fake boyfriend, especially when she learns the real reason their first kiss was cut short. But as the wedding day draws closer and everything starts to go wrong, it just might be Brody who sends Maggie’s business crashing down—and her heart along with it.

2024 Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Series: Featuring Civil Rights Attorney Barbara Phillips
2024-04-05 16:00 | Montgomery Interpretitve Center, 1521 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL, 36106, United States
Civil Rights Attorney Barbara Phillips will be the Durr Lecture Series guest lecturer on Friday, April 5, at 4 p.m., Montgomery Interpretive Center, ASU, 1521 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36106.
A casual Pea Level Picnic Dinner will follow at 6 p.m., 75035 Tallassee Hwy, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
The Durr Lecture Series Weekend is an annual lecture series focusing on history and social justice, inspired by the legacy of Clifford and Virginia Durr. The first lecture was hosted in 1992.
The 2024 Durr Lecture Series will feature Civil Rights Attorney Barbara Phillips and Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
Free and Open to the Public
https://www.durrlectures.org/
https://www.alasu.edu/

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2024 Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Weekend Symposium: Imagine & Create the Third Reconstruction
2024-04-05 10:30 | Frank M. Johnson Jr U.S. Courthouse, 1 Church Street, Montgomery, AL, 36104, United States
The Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Series will open with the Judge Frank M Johnson Jr. Institute Symposium: Imagine & Create the Third Reconstruction, on Friday, April 5, 10:30 a.m., at the Federal Court House, 1 Church St., Montgomery, Alabama.
The Durr Lecture Series Weekend is an annual lecture series focusing on history and social justice, inspired by the legacy of Clifford and Virginia Durr. The first lecture was hosted in 1992.
The 2024 Durr Lecture Series will feature Civil Rights Attorney Barbara Phillips and Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
Free and Open to the Public
https://www.durrlectures.org/
thejohnsoninstitute.org
www.alabamahumanitiesalliance.org
