Maybe not just because the folks at TurnRow Books in Greenwood are smart and discerning where literary fiction is concerned, but possibly also because they’re unafraid (after all, they did open a bookstore in Greenwood, MS, of all places at a time when a good many book retailers wanted out), John Pritchard had a successful first event there for The Yazoo Blues a few weeks ago and was never asked to bow to the politically correct. He delighted the audience with a reading from his new book that let its virtuosic prose all hang out.

Pritchard also received blog attention on the TurnRow website that in NewSouth’s opinion is first-rate. The Q&A with our author offers a wealth of insights into the creation of Junior Ray Loveblood — the eponymous but dubious hero of Pritchard’s first novel who continues to make jaws drop in the second. TurnRow followed the posting with yet another about favorite literary bad boys. We’re thrilled John Pritchard made the list.

Three cheers for Brooks Taylor’s Q&A with John Pritchard in the Tunica Times and Mary Dayle McCormick’s on-the-money review of The Yazoo Blues for Delta Magazine, posted on the McCormick Book Inn website. Guess it goes to show that Mississippi knows (and even embraces) its own!

Poet, anthologist and editor Jennifer Horne appeared on the Alabama Arts Radio Series on November 11 in an interview conducted by Jeanie Thompson, Executive Director of the Alabama Writers Forum. Horne, a recent recipient of an Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship, discussed her work as an anthologist, including the compilation and editing of Working the Dirt: An Anthology of Southern Poets, published by NewSouth Books in 2003.

Horne explained that she had begun work editing a volume of poetry dedicated to Southern gardening when NewSouth editor Randall Williams suggested the subject of farming. That project evolved into Working the Dirt, a volume devoted to farming and gardening themes.

The book’s focus is perhaps more relevant today than when it was first published, said Thompson, because of the recent “eat local” movement focusing on fresh, regionally available produce. Horne agreed that there is more public consciousness today of gardening and farming. During the interview, Horne performed two poems with similar agricultural themes, Farmer’s Market by Marcia Camp and Summer Food by Coleman Barks.

Listen to the interview at the Alabama State Council for the Arts website.

Working the Dirt is available from NewSouth Books, Amazon, or your favorite local or online book retailer.

Author Roger Reid continued a successful tour to launch his new young adult novel Space with appearances in Montgomery, Alabama at Baldwin Arts & Academics Library, Houston Hill Junior High School and with an interview on the WSFA-TV program Alabama Live. According to an article in the Montgomery Advertiser, Reid and colleagues Randy Mecredy, director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and Mark Hainds of the Longleaf Alliance, spoke to Houston Hill students about the fascinating world of science.

From the article:

Reid said that the fantasy in stories such as Harry Potter and other scince fiction that the students enjoy is actually being created in the real world. Well, some of it.

Reid joked that he was too old to go the moon, but the the seventh-graders had a shot if that was something they wanted to do.

Read the entire article at The Montgomery Advertiser website.

Reid, Mecredy and Hainds were interviewed by Kim Hendrix on Alabama Live in a segment entitled “Discovering Alabama in a new way.” They discussed their school visits in the Montgomery area presenting the science from Space and from Reid’s first young adult novel Longleaf. Hainds showed samples of the longleaf pine needles and pine cone.

The scientists discussed the importance of reaching students through Reid’s innovative approach of combining an exciting adventure story featuring a fourteen-year-old protagonist with real-life scientific facts. Reid also emphasized the importance of encouraging writing, a topic he shares with students.

See the interview at WSFA’s website.

Space and Longleaf are available from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.