Book Report: Author news

Posted on by Alli Marshall

• Mars Hill College English professor, Hal McDonald, author of The Anatomists (reviewed in last week’s Book Report)  will read from his new novel a a book sale and signing session Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m., in the Broyhill Chapel of Mars Hill College.

• Local writer Jeff Douglas Messer, is ready for the publication and world premiere of his script, This War Is Live. Set from 2003 to 2004, it follows the first year of the Iraq war, from “Shock and Awe” to Abu Graib. The show is a fictional account of a documentary filmmaker embedded in a military unit during the invasion. The filmmaker eventually discovers he’s the target of media manipulation after he captures some controversial footage.  This War Is Live opens Thursday, April 3 and runs through Saturday, April 12, at the Footlight Players Theatre in Charleston, S.C. An encore performance is slates for Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival in May and June.

• Novello Literary Award winner Miriam Herin reads from her mystery novel, Absolution at Malaprop’s on Friday, April 4, at 3 p.m. The books follows a woman who investigates her husband’s murder, which is linked to his time spent in Vietnam.

• The 5th annual Isothermal Writers’ Workshop is held in Spindale, N.C. on Saturday, April 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Isothermal Community College. The region’s top authors and poets (including Joseph Bathanti, Vicki Lane, Ashley Warlick and Cathy Smith Bowers) will share techniques and tips. The $20 fee includes coffee, breakfast pastries and lunch. Pre-registration is required. Go here

to download a flyer and get directions; call 286-3636, ext. 306 or ext. 360 for information.

• Author Dorothea Benton Frank is scheduled to give the keynote address at the Friends of Madison County Library‘s 4th annual author’s luncheon (proceeds benefit Madison County Library’s summer reading program for the children of Madison County). The event is Friday, April 18, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Country Club of Asheville. $35 includes buffet lunch, program and book signing session with the author. Info: 649-3741.

•  WNC BookFest, hosted by the Henderson County School System, returns to the Historic Johnson Farm on Saturday, May 3. The event promises more than twenty authors (including Helen Moore,  Jack Pyle and Taylor Reece) in attendance who will give impromptu readings. The Mills River Media Center offers a table of free books for children to choose from. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., free. Info: 891-2712.

• Winston-Salem-based Press 53 has announced it will publish Springtime on Mars (a collection of stories) by Drexel, N.C. author Susan Woodring. The book release takes place in the form of a 50s-style dance party, Saturday, May 3, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the R.O. Huffman Community Center in Drexel.  Free. 

—Alli Marshall, A&E reporter

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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall
View all posts by Alli Marshall →

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