Three Southern authors have nearby homes, giving avid readers the opportunity to travel and appreciate literature along The Southern Literary Trail.
The Southern Literary Trail, directed by William Gantt, holds a festival every two years celebrating authors from Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.
Gantt said 2009 was the first collaborative festival, and although 2012 is an off-year, the trail and its partners hold events to continue the celebration of beloved authors from the South.
This weekend, Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians, a trail partner in Columbus, Ga., will hold a two-day event celebrating the 95th birthday of author Carson McCuller.
Friday, there will be birthday cake with the Mayor of Columbus at the Smith-McCullers House, and events Saturday include poetry readings, a movie screening and a keynote speaker in author Sherill Tippins.
The theme for the celebration and the topic of Tippins' talk is McCullers' time at the February House in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he stayed for a period of time with other writers and artists including W.H. Auden, Jane and Paul Bowles and burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee.
"The idea was basically that they were forming an artist commune," said Courtney George, interim director for the Carson McCullers Center.
"The U.S. hadn't entered WWII yet, and they were trying to figure out how to create lasting art in such a tumultuous time."
George said while all of Saturday's events will be exciting, she is most excited about Tippins' lecture.
"People will get to learn more about February House," George said. "She's coming from New York to talk to us about that, so I think that's something that people aren't as familiar with that time in Carson's life."
McCullers is most known for her novels "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," "Reflections in a Golden Eye," "The Member of the Wedding," "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" and "Clock Without Hands."
George said almost all of the works are set in a Southern town similar to Columbus, and while the Georgia city is never named, the descriptions in the novels closely match it.
George said she would like to say McCullers is a household name.
"Definitely for people who are from here I would say, but I'm always surprised because I teach here and a lot of my students haven't heard of her," George said. "So I think people from from outside of the area maybe aren't as familiar with her."
In Montgomery, the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum will hold its annual Gala March 3, and the next day will be a reading of the "The Last of the Belles" in partnership with the Southern Literary Trail.
The reading will be done by the Readers Theater, a group of professors from Alabama who are also writers.
Gantt said Zelda lived in the house for approximately a year, and while Scott was in Hollywood for most that time, he did outline his novel "Tender is the Night" at the home.
"He courted her while he was a serviceman stationed in Montgomery," Gantt said, "and 'Last of the Belles' is basically a fictional version of their courtship."
After the reading, actress Grace McPhillips and co-producer Bob Hudgins will discuss "Beautiful Little Fools," a movie scheduled to be filmed in Montgomery later in the year.
Gantt said it's important to celebrate Southern writers because they represent the region's cultural history.
"They provide us with reminders of the importance of literature in its long form," he said. "Also ... the themes in what they write about continue to be so contemporary.
"Our project connects places where these writers lived, where they wrote or places that influenced them."
EVENTS IN MONTGOMERY:
March 3: Eighteenth Gala and Auction
at 7:00pm.
Where: Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum
Theme: The Last of The Belles, (Flapper or belle attire encouraged, but not required)
Admission is $25 per person and $45 per couple.
March 4: Fitzgerald Museum partners with the Southern Literary Trail to bring "The Last of the Belles" to life in a theatre production.
Afterward, "Chicago" actress Grace McPhillips and co-producer Bob Hudgins will discuss "Beautiful Little Fools," a film based on Zelda Fitzgerald scheduled to be filmed in Montgomery in 2012.
Distance from Auburn: 54 min.
EVENTS IN COLUMBUS:
Feb. 17: Celebration of Carson McCullers' 95th birthday
Where: Smith-McCullers Center
Birthday cake will be served, and there will be an apperance by Mayor Teresa Tomlinson.
Feb 18: Events celebrating Carson McCullers' time at the February House.
Where: Columbus Public Library,
3000 Macon Road
* 2 p.m. Poetry Reading of W.H. Auden
* 3 p.m. Screening of "Lady of Burlesque"
*5 p.m. Readings from "Reflections in a Golden Eye"
* 7:30 p.m. Writer Sherill Tippins speaks about February House.
Distance from Auburn: 53 min.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
