Alabama Bound

Michelle Andrews, Government Documents, Birmingham Public Library
April 2, 2005! Reserve that date for the seventh presentation of Alabama Bound! hosted by the Birmingham Public Library. This annual free-to-the-public event celebrating books and authors gives readers and writers the chance to interact in a casual, informal setting. With a variety of writing represented there is always something for everyone’s taste, and there is never a shortage of new authors to be discovered.

Authors with an Alabama connection will gather at the downtown Central Library to share insights, answer questions from the public, and/or read from their most recent work. Books will be on sale and time will be set aside for autograph sessions and conversations with favorite authors.

A featured speaker will be celebrated chef Frank Stitt, author of Frank Stitt’s Southern Table and owner of Birmingham’s Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega and Chez FonFon.

A youth panel will feature authors of prose and poetry for young people. Members will include Charles Ghigna (If You Were My Valentine), Faye Gibbons (Horace King: Bridges to Freedom), Jo Kittinger (When I Grow Up), Gail Lamar and Cynthia Mask (Moon of the Wishing Night), and Han Nolan (When We Were Saints).

Sports enthusiasts should enjoy the sports panel, whose members will be Rob Pate (Tiger’s Walk), Elizabeth Schaefer (Auburn Football), Richard Scott (Legends of Alabama Football), and Warren St. John (Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania).

This year’s line-up also includes authors whose works cover a range of subjects, from cooking to history, as well as fiction and drama. Authors Ace Atkins (Dirty South), Leslie Bailey (Hey Leslie! What’s Cooking?), Philip Beidler (Late Thoughts on an Old War), Anthony Bolden (Afro-Blue), Hans Watford, (Lethal Risk), and Billie Young (Fear Not the Fall) will also be included.

Previous guest authors have included Rick Bragg, Dennis Covington, Anne George, Diane McWhorter, Sena Jeter Naslund, Shelley Stewart, and Kathryn Tucker Windham.

Publishers and writers’ groups also will be represented. Past participants include The University of Alabama Press, Crane Hill Publishers, Portico Magazine, the Alabama Writers Forum, and Southern Sisters in Crime.

All activities will be held on the first floor of the main building. Once again, BPL staff will operate the Atrium Café where light refreshments, such as sandwiches, muffins, and drinks will be sold. Alabama Bound! merchandise, such as t-shirts and coffee mugs, also will be on sale.

Join us for Alabama Bound! 2005 at the Birmingham Public Library from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 2. For more information and updates, access the Alabama Bound! website at http://www.alabamabound.org/.