Fall Lines
Fall Lines – a literary convergence launches third issue with a reception and reading at Tapp’s Arts Center July 28th
The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form, running parallel to the east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians and the softer, more gentle coastal plain.
Jasper Magazine, in partnership with Richland Library, USC Press, One Columbia, Muddy Ford Press, and The Jasper Project will release the third annual issue of Fall Lines – a literary convergence on Thursday, July 28th from 7 – 9 pm at a free reception at Tapp’s Arts Center. An annual literary journal based in Columbia, SC, Fall Lines was conceived as a mechanism for highlighting Columbia as the literary arts capitol of South Carolina.
A panel of judges selected 30 pieces of poetry and prose, from hundreds of international submissions, for publication in Fall Lines alongside invited pieces from Ron Rash, Terrance Hayes, Pam Durban, Laurel Blossom, and Patricia Moore-Pastides. Two prizes for the literary arts, sponsored by Friends of the Richland Library, will also be awarded including the Saluda River Prize for Poetry to Kathleen Nalley for her poem, “The Last Man on the Moon,” and the Broad River Prize for Prose, awarded to Claire Kemp for her short fiction, “The Dollmaker.” Adjudicators included SC poet laureate Marjory Wentworth and award-winning author Julia Elliott. In addition, Fall Lines will also publish the winner of the 2016 South Carolina Academy of Authors Coker Fiction Fellowship, “I Can’t Remember What I Was Trying to Forget,” by Phillip Gardner.
The awards ceremony and reception will also feature readings by selected authors whose work is published in this issue of Fall Lines: Scott Chalupa, David Travis Bland, Matthew O’Leary, Mike Miller, Claire Kemp, Kathleen Nalley. Tim Conroy, Julie Bloemeke, Eileen Scharenbroch, Jonathan Butler, and Mark Rodehorst.
The editors of Fall Lines, Cindi Boiter, Ed Madden, and Kyle Petersen, are deeply appreciative of this year’s sponsors including Jonathan and Lorene Haupt, Sara June Goldstein, Richland Library, One Columbia for Arts and History, Muddy Ford Press, Columbia Museum of Art, the SC Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosewood Art and Music Festival, Deckle Edge Literary Festival 2017, and The Whig.
For more information please contact Cindi Boiter at cindiboiter@gmail.com.
INTERVIEW: USC Press's Jonathan Haupt on Young Palmetto Books by Mary Catherine Ballou
"We’re filling a gap in children’s literature by giving young readers and their parents and educators the chance to encounter smartly written, beautifully illustrated, and handsomely produced books exploring the people, places, events, and themes that have helped define South Carolina’s experience and that continue to shape our shared future." - Jonathan Haupt, Executive Director, University of South Carolina Press
Founded in 2011, the Young Palmetto Books (YPB) serves as the Children’s Book Series created in conjunction with The University of South Carolina Press and the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books & Literacy. Geared toward younger readers in and around South Carolina, the first titles in the YPB collection were published in 2013. In the following interview, USC Press Executive Director Jonathan Haupt provides information about this exciting series for children.
Jasper: Why did you decide to publish a new series?
Haupt: Since 1944 USC Press has been committed to publishing books about South Carolina that broaden our understanding and appreciation for the complexities and wonders of our home state. Young Palmetto Books was an opportunity to expand that mission to the benefit of younger readers, and to do so in a way that also highlighted a group of immensely talented writers and artists in, from, or otherwise of South Carolina. We’re filling a gap in children’s literature by giving young readers and their parents and educators the chance to encounter smartly written, beautifully illustrated, and handsomely produced books exploring the people, places, events, and themes that have helped define South Carolina’s experience and that continue to shape our shared future. We’re growing young minds with great books, and given that we’re the publisher of our state’s flagship research university, that educational mission is as much as a responsibility as an opportunity.
Jasper: Who are the key players in the publishing process?
Haupt: Young Palmetto Books is a partnership between USC Press and the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books & Literacy (SCCCBL), which in turn is a unit of the USC School of Library and Information Science. SCCCBL director Kim Shealy Jeffcoat serves as series editor for Young Palmetto Books and works with a dedicated editorial board of educators, writers, artists, and librarians to guide the direction of the series. I serve as the sponsoring editor for YPB at USC Press, and the Press’s expert staff of editors, designers, and marketers publish and distribute the YPB books alongside the nearly 1,500 other books currently in print from USC Press.
Jasper: How are the authors selected?
Haupt: Young Palmetto Books has two open submission periods each year, announced on the series website, www.youngpalmettobooks.com. The series editor and editorial board vet those hundreds of submissions for quality and fit with the educational, place-based mission of YPB, then recommend the best of those submissions to the Press. Those recommended manuscripts are then reviewed externally by expert peer reviewers selected specifically for each project and, assuming those reviews are supportive, then also by a 12-member faculty editorial board. All throughout this process, authors are given feedback to improve their work. Our rejection rate is very high, but so then is the quality of the books that do make it through this lengthy review and approval process.
Jasper: Do authors have to come to the Press with an illustrator, or does the Press acquire the illustrator?
Haupt: Picture books are not required to have completed art or even an artist in mind when being submitted for consideration, although we are open to that possibility. Of the picture books we’ve published so far or have under contract now, very few came to us with completed art at the onset. We’ve been really fortunate to get to work with some remarkably talented South Carolina artists on our picture books and our graphic novella, those of course in addition to all of the exceptional writers with whom we also work.
Jasper: What do you hope to accomplish with the Young Palmetto Books?
Haupt: We’re a humanities publisher, and the real goal of anyone working in the humanities is to help people become more informed, more inspired, more engaged, more empathetic, more responsible, more understanding of each other and of the world we share. That’s true of every book published by USC Press and it’s certainly true of our books for younger readers. We’re in this together, and that’s a valuable lesson to learn and relearn at any age.
Jasper: What honors have the Young Palmetto Books achieved thus far?
Haupt: We’ve only published twelve books to date, but I’m pleased to say that many of them have garnered honors already. Katie’s Cabbage by Katie Stagliano is perhaps our most award-winning YPB title so far, having been selected as the 2016 Together We Can Read book for Richland School District One and winning the 2015 Carol D. Reiser Children’s Book Award, a silver medal in the 2015 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards for best book by a youth author, and a 2016 Christopher Award for books for young people. USC First Lady Patricia Moore-Pastides’ YA and family garden-to-table cookbook Greek Revival from the Garden: Growing and Cooking for Life also won a gold medal for cookbooks in the 2013 Mom’s Choice Awards, a silver medal for cookbooks in the 2013 Living Now Awards, a 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Award in the home category, and was a finalist in the cookbooks category of the 2014 International Book Awards. Our other book awards and starred reviews are listed on the YPB series website at www.youngpalmettobooks.com.
Jasper: Are there any other children's series like this in the Southeast?
Haupt: In part because of our very high rejection rate, we’ve gotten to be very good at recommending other children’s book publishers to authors, and there are no shortages of publishers in the Southeast—Arbordale, Peachtree, and Algonquin Young Readers, to name just three.
Jasper: How do the Young Palmetto Books answer the diversity needs that our culture so desperately requires now?
Haupt: Regardless of their authorship, we aim for our YPB titles to be as diverse as possible in their representations in text and art alike, but still in keeping with the context of their narratives. It can be a challenging balance to strike, but it’s a powerful moment when a young reader can identify with a character in a story, and an equally powerful moment when a character’s representation, when different from that of the reader, can expand a reader’s perception of self and of others. Increasingly, themes of diversity, inclusion, and empathy have become lens through which we assess the potential fit of new submissions for the series.
Jasper: Where can people go to read or purchase these books?
Haupt: Our goal with all USC Press books, Young Palmetto or otherwise, is that they be available to readers wherever they would normally go to engage with any other book, be that a local library, a local or chain bookstore, a museum gift shop, the major online booksellers, or any ebookseller. So the answer to your question of where can people go to find Young Palmetto Books—is everywhere. And we hope they will have a look at what we’ve done with the twelve books in the series so far and with the half-dozen more now under contract and coming soon, including a new edition of Louise Meriwether’s Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls illustrated by Jonathan Green and two more volumes in our Writing South Carolina series, highlighting the winners and finalists of the annual South Carolina High School Writing Contest, our partnership with the USC Honors College.
For more information about the Young Palmetto Books series, please visit www.youngpalmettobooks.com.
"... it’s a powerful moment when a young reader can identify with a character in a story, and an equally powerful moment when a character’s representation, when different from that of the reader, can expand a reader’s perception of self and of others. Increasingly, themes of diversity, inclusion, and empathy have become lens through which we assess the potential fit of new submissions for the series." - JH
DECKLE EDGE — New Literary Festival to Launch in February 2016
The inaugural Deckle Edge Literary Festival will be held February 19-21, 2016, in Columbia, South Carolina. The weekend-long festival will feature readings, book signings, panel presentations, exhibitors, writers’ workshops, activities for children and young adult readers, and a wide range of other literary events for many interests and all ages.
The Deckle Edge literary festival will gather and foster the diverse branches of our region’s literary community through an inclusive weekend of public events and programming for readers, writers, and lovers of the written word. While Deckle Edge has its roots in the storied tradition of South Carolina’s literary life, the festival is committed to forging new ground, challenging existing boundaries, and broadening the conception of the literary South.
The festival hopes to appeal to regional and national audiences while remaining a community focused effort, partnering with an extensive network of South Carolina literary and cultural organizations, including Richland Library, the University of South Carolina Press, Hub City Writers Project, the SC Center for Children’s Books & Literacy, Ed Madden and the Columbia Office of the Poet Laureate, South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, the Low Country Initiative for Literary Arts, Jasper Magazine, Richland County schools, and others.
Deckle Edge will be built on the strong foundation of the South Carolina Book Festival, a project of the Humanities Council SC, which announced the festival’s dissolution this past summer. The Humanities Council SC is now actively pursuing a variety of year-round statewide literary initiatives and has been supportive of the plans for Deckle Edge as a new literary event to be hosted in Columbia. “The SC Book Festival was a tremendous gift to readers and writers in the South, and we’re grateful to the Humanities Council SC for sharing their expertise with us as we create something new,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Darien Cavanaugh, “We would not have been able to move so quickly on launching Deckle Edge without their guidance and good will.”
Participating authors and specific panels have not yet been announced. While the festival will not be limited to local talent, programming will highlight a handful of New York Times bestselling authors from the Carolinas, some beloved favorites from past SC Book Festivals, and many voices not previously heard from at South Carolina literary events. “This is Columbia’s literary festival,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Annie Boiter-Jolley, “but it’s also joining the larger conversation about literature of and in the South. We look forward to sharing our vision with writers and readers, and to hearing from them as to what Deckle Edge might become in future years.”
As the festival goes through the process of applying for nonprofit status, One Columbia for Arts and History will be acting as its fiscal sponsor. Deckle Edge has also sought financial support through city and county tax grants, and is currently accepting tax-deductible donations through One Columbia. “Deckle Edge is the right literary event at the right time,” said One Columbia executive director Lee Snelgrove. “What Annie and Darien are building with their partnerships is very ambitious, but this city has already proven that ambition can be rewarded in our arts community. One Columbia is proud to be a partner in establishing this new literary festival.”
Visit the festival web site at www.DeckleEdgeSC.org to donate or to sign up for the festival mailing list, and e-mail info@DeckleEdgeSC.org for more information.
DEADLINE = MARCH 1
2015
Fall Lines – a literary convergence is a literary journal based in Columbia, SC and presented by Jasper Magazine in partnership with the University of South Carolina Press, Muddy Ford Press, Richland Library and One Columbia.
With a single, annual publication, Fall Lines is distributed in lieu of Jasper Magazine’s regularly scheduled summer issue. Fall Lines will accept submissions of previously unpublished poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash fiction from December 1, 2014 through March 1, 2015. While the editors of Fall Lines hope to attract the work of writers and poets from the Carolinas and the Southeastern US, acceptance of work is not dependent upon residence.
Please limit short fiction to 2000 words or less; flash fiction to 350 – 500 words per submission; essays to 1200 words; and poetry to three pages (Times New Roman 12 pt.)
Submit your work to Jasper Magazine’s Fall Lines – a literary convergence at https://jaspermagazine.submittable.com/submit.
While you are invited to enter up to five items, each item should be sent individually as a single submission. Please include with each submission a cover sheet stating your name, email address, and USPO address.
There is a five dollar reading fee for each short story; for up to three poems; for up to three flash fiction submissions; or for each essay.
Publication in Fall Lines will be determined by a panel of judges and accepted authors will be notified in May 2015, with a publication date in June 2015. Accepted authors will receive two copies of the journal.
___
The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form, running parallel to the east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians and the softer, more gentle coastal plain.
Acclaimed Columbia Artist Stephen Chesley to Sign Claws at Nest - tonight!
Columbia artist Stephen Chesley will autograph copies of his illustrated edition of the Archibald Rutledge adventure story Claws at Nest (Hampton and Main Sts.) during Columbia’s First Thursdays on Main.
First published more than a century ago, Claws is a harrowing tale of an encounter between a young boy and a giant bobcat in depths of a lowcountry swamp.
Chesley’s 24 charcoal sketches bring the story vibrantly to life. Claws is published by the University of South Carolina Press with royalties benefiting the South Carolina Book Festival.
Chesley will sign copies at Nest from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on November 6 as part of First Thursday on Main.
Get more information on Claws from http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2014/7422.htmlhttp://
For more information about the signing check out the Facebook event here.
A Selected Listing of Chesley's Exhibits and Collections (Courtesy of Wim Roefs and If ART Gallery):
SELECTED COLLECTIONS Erskine College, Bowie Arts Center Savannah College of Art and Design Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, Rock Hill, South Carolina South Carolina State Art Collection Columbia Museum of Art Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Charlotte, North Carolina Pioneer Electronics, New York, New York National Bank of South Carolina Southern Bell Springs Mills, Rock Hill, South Carolina numerous private collections
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS South Carolina Regional Sculpture Competition, Aiken County Museum, Aiken, South Carolina, 2005 "Stephen Chesley",Carolina Galleries, Fine Art Dealers Association, Charleston, South Carolina, 2004 "Stephen Chesley", Conn Gallery, Landrum South Carolina.2004 Sumter Gallery of Art, "Birds" exhibition, Sumter, South Carolina,2004 "Stephen Chesley", Jackson Gallery of Art, Aiken, South Carolina,2003 Spartanburg Museum of Art, 2nd Hub Juried, Spartanburg, South Carolina,2003 "Mit/Ohn Distanz", Joint international exhibition, Ducati Building, Columbia, South Carolina, 2003 "With Without Distance", Volksbank, Kaiserslautern, Germany, Woolmagazine Artist Group, 2003 "In Response"', National Juried Exhibition, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia, 2002 Spartanburg Museum of Art, Hub City juried Exhibition, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 2001 Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, Street Gallery (mural), 2001 Savannah College of Art and Design, National Juried Exhibition, Savannah, Georgia, 1999 "Stephen Chesley", Opelika Fine Arts Center, Opelika Alabama, 1999 Spartanburg Museum of Art, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1999 Gertrude Hebert Institute of Art Juried Exhibition, Augusta Georgia, 1998 Savannah College of Art and Design, National Juried Exhibition, Savannah, Georgia, 1998 Oil painters Juried Exhibition, National Bank of South Carolina, 1989-1998 Savannah College of Art and Design, National Juried Exhibition, Savannah, Georgia, 1997 "Terrain" Exhibition, Carrillon Building, Charlotte, mural 15’x15’, 1997 National Endowment for the Arts, Southeast Regional Fellowship, Southeast Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, North Carolina, 1996 Spoleto Juried Exhibition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1996 "Landscape Trilogy", Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, North Carolina, 1996 Group Exhibition, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina, 1996 Gibbs Art Museum, Charleston South Carolina, 1996 "The New Landscape", Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1995 Francis Marion College, Florence, South Carolina, 1995 "Southern Range", Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1995 USC Gallery, University of South Carolina, Sumter, South Carolina, 1995 Spoleto Juried Exhibition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1994 Anderson Juried Exhibition, Anderson Museum of Art, 1994 Montgomery Biennial Exhibition, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, Alabama, 1994 "Lure of the Lowcountry", Gibbs Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, 1994 "Grace and Symbolism", Nations Bank, Art in Public Places, Columbia, South Carolina, 1993 "Expressions", Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina, 1992 South Carolina Arts Commission Triennial, Columbia South Carolina, 1992 National Juried Exhibition, Montana College Gallery, Dillion, Montana, 1991 South Carolina Contemporary Images, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Kentucky, 1991 South Carolina Coastal Watercolor Exhibition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1991 Springs Mills Juried Exhibition, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 1990 South Carolina Coastal Watercolor Exhibition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1989 South Carolina Annual Juried Exhibition, Columbia, South Carolina, 1988 Southern Graphics Council Exhibition, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, 1988 Springs Mills Juried Exhibition, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 1988 Retrospective: South Carolina State Art Collection, 1988 Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida, 1988 Joyce Dickenson Invitational, Florence, South Carolina, 1988 Springs Mills Juried Exhibition, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 1987 South Carolina Arts Commission Annual Juried Exhibition, Columbia, South Carolina, 1987 National Park Service National Juried Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. 1987 South Carolina Arts Commission Annual Juried Show, Columbia, South Carolina, 1986 Springs Mills Juried Exhibition, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 1986 South Carolina Coastal Watercolor Exhibition, Charleston, South Carolina, 1985 South Carolina Arts Commission Annual Juried Exhibition, Columbia, South Carolina, 1985 " Emerging Artist", Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina, 1981
Fall lines photo
Jasper Celebrates Fall Lines
Jasper is pleased to announce that Fall Lines -- a literary convergence is on the streets after two exciting celebrations of its release.
On Sunday, we launched Fall Lines with a celebration and reading hosted by our partner the Richland Library Many thanks to Tony Tallent not only for facilitating the partnership but also for hosting and feting us so well Sunday afternoon.
The Fall Lines Team -- left to right, Ed Madden of Jasper, Lee Snelgrove of One Columbia, and Tony Tallent of Richland Library with Cindi Boiter of Jasper seated (not pictured Jonathan Haupt of USC Press and Bob Jolley of Muddy Ford Press)
Left - Nicola Waldron, winner of the Broad River Prize for Prose; Right - Mary Hutchins Harris - winner of the Saluda River Prize for Poetry -- both sponsored by Richland Library Friends
The next day we were back on the podium with an extended reading hosted by Sara Cogswell at her beautiful gallery on State Street in West Columbia, Gallery West.
photo by Will South
Pick up your copy of Fall Lines at any of the Richland County Library branches, the One Columbia office on Lady Street, Jasper Studio in the historic Arcade at 1332 Main Street, Frame of Mind, Gallery West, and selected boutiques, galleries and venues in Columbia -- or order it online at Amazon.com or BandN.com. And look for the Fall Lines e-book coming soon from Richland Library.
Many thanks to Roe Young of Roe Young State Farm, Tom Mack of the SC Academy of Authors, and the Richland Library Friends.
Fall Lines
Announcing the Winners of Jasper's Fall Lines Writing Prizes
~~~
The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form, running parallel to the east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians and the softer, more gentle coastal plain.
~~~
Jasper is delighted to announce the winners of the Fall Lines Poetry and Prose Writing Prizes sponsored by the Richland Library Friends and published in the inaugural issue of Fall Lines – a literary convergence.
Congratulations to Nicola Waldron, winner of the Broad River Prize for Prose for her piece "Dig and Delve," and to Mary Hutchins Harris, winner of the Saluda River Prize for Poetry for her poem, "Accidentals." A check for $250 accompanies each prize.
Work by Waldron and Harris will appear in Fall Lines along with poetry and prose by such award winning writers as Christopher Dickey, Josephine Humphries, and SC Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, as well as Aida Rogers, Ray McManus, Susan Levi Wallach, Susan Laughter Meyers and more. Fall Lines is edited by Cynthia Boiter with poetry editor Ed Madden.
With a single annual publication, Fall Lines is distributed in lieu of Jasper Magazine’s regularly scheduled summer issue via a partnership between Jasper Magazine and Richland Library, the University of South Carolina Press, One Columbia, and Muddy Ford Press. The South Carolina Academy of Authors and Roe Young State Farm Insurance Agency also serve as generous sponsors of the literary journal.
Fall Lines will release on Sunday, June 8th with a 4 pm reception and reading at the Richland Library.
Fall Lines - new Columbia-based literary journal CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Fall Lines
a literary convergence
Fall Lines – a literary convergence is a new literary journal based in Columbia, SC and presented by Jasper Magazine in partnership with Richland Library, the University of South Carolina Press, Muddy Ford Press, and One Columbia.
With a single, annual publication, Fall Lines is distributed in lieu of Jasper Magazine’s regularly scheduled summer issue. While a limited issue of three thousand copies of Fall Lines will be printed, Fall Lines will be available in its entirety in a downloadable e-format via RichlandLibrary.com.
Fall Lines will accept submissions of previously unpublished poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash fiction from January 1 through March 1, 2014. While the editors of Fall Lines hope to attract the work of writers and poets from the Carolinas and the Southeastern US, acceptance of work is not dependent upon residence.
Please limit short fiction to 2000 words or less; flash fiction to 350 – 500 words; essays to 1200 words; and poetry to three pages (Times New Roman 12 pt.) Submit your work via email to Editor@JasperColumbia.com with the words “Fall Lines” in the subject heading along with the category (above) of the item being submitted. While you are invited to enter up to five items, each item should be sent individually as a single submission. Please include with each submission a cover sheet stating your name, age, email address, and USPO address. There is no fee to enter.
Publication in Fall Lines will be determined by a panel of judges and accepted authors will be notified in May 2014, with a publication date in June 2014. Accepted authors will receive two copies of the journal.
___
The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form,runningparalleltothe east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians andthesofter, more gentle coastal plain.
Aida Rogers Talks About her Next Big Thing
What is the working title of your book?
State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love
What is the genre of your book?
Anthology of essays about places in South Carolina
Where did the idea come from?
I really was taken by the “My Kind of Town” series Smithsonian Magazine was running that featured writers from around the country describing the town/cities where they lived. I thought it might be interesting to narrow that focus from a town or city to an actual place, like a hiding place. Writers being thinkers, I thought their opinions would be interesting.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
South Carolina writers tell us why one certain place in the state is so special to them.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
It took about 2 and a half years to solicit, gather, and edit essays, artwork and photos for the collection – and to get various stages of proofs back to the publisher ready for printing.
Who or what inspired you to write it?
Fascination with the topic itself, and curiosity about what different writers would say, and how they would say it.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The anthology will be published by the University of South Carolina Press.
What other books would you compare this book to within your genre?
National Geographic published an anthology titled Heart of a Nation that included an essay by Spartanburg writer John Lane. John also contributed to State of the Heart. Heart of a Nation was about natural places in the country; State of the Heart was open to whatever different writers came up with—sports arenas and cafes, for instance.
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
There are 35 essays, so I won’t try to do them all. Still, I’ll take some artistic license in terms of whether these talented souls are performing in this world or the next:
Brian Dennehy – Pat Conroy
Mary Steenburgen – Liz Newall
Diane Keaton – Ceille Baird Welch
Charles Durning – Billy Deal
Sissy Spacek – Robin Asbury Cutler
Geraldine Page – Dot Jackson
James Garner – Ken Burger
Alfre Woodard – Dianne Dinah Johnson
Andy Griffith – Kirk Neely
Jon Voight – Tom Poland
Teri Garr – Cindi Boiter
Donald Sutherland – Deno Trakas
What else about your manuscript might pique the reader’s interest?
Because I purposely didn’t suggest places to writers, I was very surprised by the places they chose, and the personal nature of some of them. Some writers chose to write about places that are no longer here, so younger readers will learn that when you erase a few decades from a place, you’re in some ways wandering through a foreign country. There is a lot of wisdom in these essays. Many of the contributors have experienced a lot in their lives, and through these essays, they honor people who have been very important to them.