2008 Woodie Awards
Not your "normal conference-type thing"
Jessica Summe
Issue date: 2/16/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The 2006 On The Brink Writer's Conference was held at the Houston Cole Library on Feb 11.
The conference, sponsored by the JSU department of English, gathered Southern writers together to read from their newest novels, meet local readers and writers, and sign books for their fans.
The theme of this year's gathering was Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Shine, which encouraged several of the speakers to talk about their experiences with moonshine.
The morning session included readings from Clyde Bolton (Stop the Presses! [So I Can Get Off]), Sonny Brewer (The Poet of Tolstoy Park), Pat Cunningham Devoto (The Summer We Got Saved), and Beth Ann Fennelly (Tenderhooks). The afternoon session consisted of Frank Turner Hollon (The Point of Fracture), Suzanna Hudson (In the Dark of the Moon), Joshilyn Jackson (Gods in Alabama), and Theron Montgomery (The Procession). All of these books, and some other works by the featured authors, were available for purchase thanks to Jake Reiss of Alabama Booksmith.
"I've been invited by the committee several times in the past," said Montgomery, while waiting to sign copies of his book. "I got my Master's here, I grew up here, so it's nice to be back. I think it's the most outstanding public school conference in the state. They keep fine-tuning it, watching the details, and improving it every year."
"My husband and I have a special fondness in our hearts for this conference," said Fennelly, whose husband, Tom Franklin, attended the conference in 1999 for his novel Poachers. "This is where it feels like it really got started."
Alabama Booksmith also secured 20 or 30 copies of Fennelly's newest work, Great with Child, which Fennelly herself did not have copies of yet.
"I was shocked to see them on the table," she said. "I got one to send to my mother."
Hollon, who attended the conference in 2000, is a practicing lawyer in Fairhope, Ala. His 2003 novel Life is a Strange Place is being made into a movie starring Luke Wilson.
"It's going to be called Barry Munday," said Hollon. "They're filming it in LA, but I'm hoping to sneak in a play a part. It probably sold the least of my novels, but that's the one Hollywood wants to make a movie out of."
"I had read Sunny's and Pat's books," said Mary Bottcher, a retired high school guidance counselor attending the conference. "I bought Clyde Bolton's [book] and picked up Beth's book after hearing them speak today."
DeShunn Johnson, who bought Gods in Alabama and The Summer We Got Saved, said, "I felt like it wasn't a normal conference-type thing. It was very enlightening and a fun time."
The conference, sponsored by the JSU department of English, gathered Southern writers together to read from their newest novels, meet local readers and writers, and sign books for their fans.
The theme of this year's gathering was Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Shine, which encouraged several of the speakers to talk about their experiences with moonshine.
The morning session included readings from Clyde Bolton (Stop the Presses! [So I Can Get Off]), Sonny Brewer (The Poet of Tolstoy Park), Pat Cunningham Devoto (The Summer We Got Saved), and Beth Ann Fennelly (Tenderhooks). The afternoon session consisted of Frank Turner Hollon (The Point of Fracture), Suzanna Hudson (In the Dark of the Moon), Joshilyn Jackson (Gods in Alabama), and Theron Montgomery (The Procession). All of these books, and some other works by the featured authors, were available for purchase thanks to Jake Reiss of Alabama Booksmith.
"I've been invited by the committee several times in the past," said Montgomery, while waiting to sign copies of his book. "I got my Master's here, I grew up here, so it's nice to be back. I think it's the most outstanding public school conference in the state. They keep fine-tuning it, watching the details, and improving it every year."
"My husband and I have a special fondness in our hearts for this conference," said Fennelly, whose husband, Tom Franklin, attended the conference in 1999 for his novel Poachers. "This is where it feels like it really got started."
Alabama Booksmith also secured 20 or 30 copies of Fennelly's newest work, Great with Child, which Fennelly herself did not have copies of yet.
"I was shocked to see them on the table," she said. "I got one to send to my mother."
Hollon, who attended the conference in 2000, is a practicing lawyer in Fairhope, Ala. His 2003 novel Life is a Strange Place is being made into a movie starring Luke Wilson.
"It's going to be called Barry Munday," said Hollon. "They're filming it in LA, but I'm hoping to sneak in a play a part. It probably sold the least of my novels, but that's the one Hollywood wants to make a movie out of."
"I had read Sunny's and Pat's books," said Mary Bottcher, a retired high school guidance counselor attending the conference. "I bought Clyde Bolton's [book] and picked up Beth's book after hearing them speak today."
DeShunn Johnson, who bought Gods in Alabama and The Summer We Got Saved, said, "I felt like it wasn't a normal conference-type thing. It was very enlightening and a fun time."