First Draft Newsroom

The state Poetry Out Loud Competition for Alabama will be held on February 20, 2012, at 12:30 p.m. at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery. The event is free and open to the public.

Alabama hopefuls will vie for another chance to place themselves as National winners in Poetry Out Loud 2012. On February 20, high school students from all over the state will convene to recite poetry, both from classic, well-known poets to original poetry, written by them especially for this competition. Read More…

At a called meeting of arts leaders and individuals from around the state on January 11 at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) in Montgomery, Alabama State Council on the Arts chairman Jim Harrison (Tuscaloosa) and ASCA executive director Al Head encouraged the arts community to step up to the challenge of arts advocacy for the upcoming legislative session. Without such a united front, Head said, the consequences may be dire for state arts funding. Read More…

CONTRIBUTE TODAY!

On February 2, 2012, the Alabama Association of Nonprofits, in partnership with the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Razoo Foundation, is doing something in Alabama that’s never been done. With the launch of Alabama Gives Day, these organizations are taking one day to harness the power of individual contributions statewide, connecting new and existing donors with thousands of Alabama nonprofits. Read More…

Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA), has invited ASCA grantees to gather on Wednesday, January 11, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival for a strategy briefing related to the upcoming Legislative Session. Head will discuss ways to be effective arts advocates in people’s home districts. The FY 13 session begins February 7. Read More…

Earlier this month, State Sen. Slade Blackwell (R-Birmingham) presented a $5,000 grant to Terri Sullivan of the Shelby County Arts Council to help support Writing Our Stories at Columbiana Middle School (CMS). The state Education Trust Fund funded the grant.

Designed as a creative writing curriculum for adjudicated youth in the Department of Youth Services school system, Writing Our Stories expanded into the public middle school last year. The program begins its second year CMS this month. Teaching writer Tony Crunk will return to instruct the class and edit its anthology. Read More…

Recognizing the importance of continuing strong leadership, Governor Robert Bentley reappointed four members of the Alabama State Council on the Arts for six-year terms. New terms will be effective January 1, 2012, and continue through the end of 2017. The reappointed members of the Council are Jim Harrison III of Tuscaloosa, Elaine Johnson of Dothan, Rebecca T. B. Quinn of Huntsville, and State Tourism Director Lee Sentell of Montgomery. The Council consists of fifteen members from various parts of the state and appointments are made on a staggered cycle so that appointments are made every two years. Read More…

The Creative Nonfiction category was inadvertently omitted from the 2012 Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards Guidelines. We have corrected the form. Please forgive us for this oversight. Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards and Scholarship Competition…

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Southern Breeze Region will host Springmingle 2012 on February, 24-26 at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center. The conference will feature discussions on how to raise the level of one’s work and to improve a writer’s chances of getting published, sessions with editors and agents who are looking for new talent, and opportunities to meet and mingle with other authors and illustrators of children’s literature. Read More…

The Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) awarded 114 grants totaling $323,560 at its Council meeting in Montgomery on December 9, 2011. This round of grants will support literature, arts in education, folk art, community, performing, and visual arts programs October 1, 2011–September 30, 2012. Also included in this round of awards are folklife apprenticeship grants.

Those organizations receiving literature grants include the Walnut Gallery in Gadsden for its Walnut Poetry Series, the Birmingham Public Library for its Bards & Brews and Word Up! 2012 programs, Alabama Southern Community College for the Alabama Writers Symposium, and the University of Montevallo for the Montevallo Literary Festival. Read More…

The Outreach/Education sub-committee of the Alabama Book Festival planning committee invites the state’s high school students (grades 9 – 12) and university undergraduates to participate in the first Student Readers Group. This new program of the Alabama Book Festival (ABF) will select one Alabama-related book per year for student participants to read prior to meeting the author and discussing the book at the festival on April 21, 2012, at Montgomery’s Old Alabama Town.

This interdisciplinary program seeks to engage high school and college students in Alabama’s culture, literature and history by selecting and encouraging the reading of books (of nonfiction, fiction, or poetry) that connect to or discuss the realities of life in the state. Jim Crow and Me: Stories from My Life as a Civil Rights Lawyer by Solomon Seay Jr. is the inaugural selection for the Student Readers Group. Read More…

Bob Stewart, Executive Director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF), has announced his retirement effective January 31, 2012, capping twenty-five years as AHF head.

Stewart, 58, stated, “After a quarter century of service to the humanities in Alabama, and as one of the longest serving directors of all the state humanities councils in the nation, I decided it was time to pass the baton to new leadership and to explore new directions for myself.” Read More…

Each year, the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama (ACETA) sponsors four awards—three of them for outstanding essays and one for lifetime achievement in literary scholarship. ACETA has announced that competition for the 2012 William J. Calvert Award for an outstanding scholarly or theoretical essay and for the 2012 James Woodall Award for an outstanding pedagogical essay is now open to college English teachers and graduate students. For undergraduates, competition for the Mary Evelyn McMillan Undergraduate Writing Award is also open. Winners of these awards will receive $150 each and will be asked to read condensed versions of their essays at the Saturday, February 25, 2012, session of ACETA’s annual conference, meeting at the University of North Alabama. Read More…

The Lillian E. Smith Foundation is accepting applications for its second annual Writer-in-Service Award, which includes a two-week residency during the summer or fall of 2012, a $500 honorarium, and a $300 travel allowance. The Award is open to U.S. residents working to advance writing and the arts through public service careers or volunteer work. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, arts education, literacy instruction, prison arts and education, English as a second language instruction, art-related therapies, etc. The postmark deadline is February 1, 2012. Read More…

The University of South Alabama’s Jesmyn Ward has won the 2011 National Book Award in Fiction for her novel Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury). The novel is the story of one community’s survival during the turmoil of Hurricane Katrina. Ward joined the USA creative writing faculty this fall. Read More…

Rep. Oliver Robinson (D-District 58, Jefferson) delivered the keynote address at the book event for Let Me Tell You About Me on the Department of Youth Services Vacca Campus on November 3. Robinson, an NBA veteran, encouraged the student writers with stories from his youth.

“About fifteen percent of my life has been real good,” said Robinson. “The rest of it has been pretty difficult. But it didn’t matter that most of the time our mother raised us alone. It didn’t matter that I grew up in the Gate City housing project. I knew deep inside that I was going to be a special person." Read More…

Rep. Barbara Boyd (D-District 32, Calhoun, Talladega) turned to a children’s classic to inspire the student writers at the Alabama Department of Youth Services Chalkville Campus on October 26. Rep. Boyd punctuated her optimistic message with a reading of The Little Engine That Could during the book release for Love To Live.

“My challenge to you from this story is that it doesn’t matter how difficult a thing is or whether people will help you,” she said. “What are you to say when you confront adversity?” She then led the students in a chant of the book’s theme—“I think I can. I think I can.” Read More…

Join the Alabama Writers’ Forum for an evening with 2011 Harper Lee Award recipient Winston Groom on Thursday, November 17, 7-9 p.m. Free and open to the public, the event will be held in The Gold Room at Whitley Hall on the Troy University Montgomery Campus.

Groom will discuss and sign copies of his latest work, Kearny’s March: The Epic Creation of the American West 1846-1848. The book is an historical account of General Stephen Watt Kearny’s Southwestern military campaign during the Mexican War. Books will be available for purchase from Capitol Book & News at the event. Read More…

Slash Pine Projects at The University of Alabama presents Slash Stitch Burn: A Patchwork History of the Druid City on Saturday, November 12, in venues across Tuscaloosa. Each focuses on history, poetry, and prose inspired by each venue and features collaborations among words, music, and visual and performance art. The events are free and open to the public. Read More…

“I don’t think you understand the gravitas of what you are doing,” said Frederick “Freddie” Robinson, addressing the newly published writers in Open the Door 14. “When I was a young man, I didn’t understand that what I did then would affect the rest of my life. As you write, contemplate where you are now, have a vision of where you want to go in life, and maintain that vision. Believe me, if you work for it you will receive it.” Read More…

Irene Latham has won the 2011 Writer’s Digest Self-published Book Award for Poetry. The 19th annual award recognizes her latest volume of poetry, The Color of Lost Rooms. Read More…

Teachers and graduate and undergraduate students of the humanities are invited to submit presentation proposals for The Association of College English Teachers of Alabama’s 64th Annual Conference, Rhythms and Revivals in the Humanities, to be held in the Renaissance city—Florence, Alabama— February 24-25, 2012. This year ACETA is looking for presentations that explore various aspects of renaissance—European, Harlem, pedagogical, or other. Read More…

On December 1, letterpress printer Kyle Durrie will pull her “Moveable Type Truck” into town for a print workshop and open studio event at Railroad Park. Durrie began her journey in Portland, Oregon, where she transformed a 1982 Chevy step van into a mobile print shop. Since June 11, she’s been on the road, making stops in cities across the country to share her love for letterpress. Read More…

The Big Read is accepting applications from non-profit organizations to develop community-wide reading programs between September 2012 and June 2013. The Big Read is a national program designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. Organizations selected to participate in The Big Read receive a grant, access to online training resources and opportunities, and educational and promotional materials designed to support widespread community involvement and participation. Read More…

The University of South Alabama’s Jesmyn Ward has been named a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award in Fiction for her novel Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury). Ward joined the USA creative writing faculty this fall. Read More…

Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer received the Nobel Prize in Literature on October 6. Nominated every year since 1993, he was selected “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality,” according to a Nobel Prize press release. Read More…

The Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative (SELTI) has developed a Kindle app that invites readers to “visit” certain settings in works of fiction. The pilot eBooks include Blind Fate by Patrick Brian Miller, SELTI founder, and Dixie Noir by Kirk Curnutt, the Forum’s board president, according to Teri Greene in an article published in the Montgomery Advertiser. Read more...

The Alabama Writers’ Forum invites readers and writers to take part in the Grand Festival of Art and Books, Saturday & Sunday, October 8-9, in Fairhope, Alabama. The 29- year-old festival of arts adds a book component this year on Saturday, thanks to the vision of Karin Wilson, proprietor of Page & Palette bookstore. Read More…

Fannie Flagg, a Birmingham native, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year. Flagg will receive the award at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville on April 27, 2012, at the annual luncheon. The conference will meet April 26-28. Read More…

Nominations are now open for the next Alabama Poet Laureate. The position was created by the state legislature (Code of Alabama - S 143 - Powell) on May 5, 1931. It recognizes and honors a citizen poet of exceptional talent and accomplishment and seeks to encourage appreciation of poetry and literary life in Alabama. Deadline for nominations to the 2012-2016 term is December 31, 2011. Read More…

As a part of its 50th anniversary celebration, W.W. Norton is happy to announce the first ever Norton Anthology Student Recitation Contest. Between September 15 and November 15, college and high school students worldwide are invited to submit an original video recitation of one of eight preselected works. Top submissions will be featured on the W. W. Norton Web site, where Norton editors, students, and fans will vote on the winners. Winners will receive Barnes & Noble gift cards and will have their name included on the acknowledgments page of a Norton Anthology. Click here for more details.

Southern Circuit—Tour of Independent Filmmakers will screen Concrete, Steel & Paint, a film about crime, restoration, and healing by Cindy Burstein and Tony Heriza at various venues throughout Alabama in September. This complex story raises important questions about crime, justice, and reconciliation and dramatically illustrates how art can facilitate dialogue about difficult issues. Read More…

The Library of Congress today named Philip Levine as the eighteenth U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant for Poetry for 2011-2012. He will assume his duties on October 17 with a reading at the library’s Coolidge Auditorium. Levine succeeds W.S. Merwin. Read More…

The Alabama Historical Association is pleased to call for nominations for the Clinton Jackson Coley Award for Books on Local History. This award goes to the best book or pamphlet focusing on local historical concerns, including but not limited to the history of an Alabama community, town or county, or any institution therein (church, business, non-profit, etc.). Read More…

On Monday evening, September 26, The Alabama Booksmith will host the world premiere screening of Alabama’s Rick Bragg: Out of the Dirt. The producer, the director, and Bragg will attend the screening at the DoubleTree Hotel. The film will begin at 7 p.m., but come early and indulge at the concession stand with popcorn and other theater goodies. Bragg will make comments after the show. Read More…

Huntsville poet Janet Anderson and Books-A-Million have teamed to raise funds to benefit the victims of the April tornado outbreak. Anderson’s new book, After the Tornadoes: Reflections for Recovery, is available at all BAM locations, and profits will go to disaster relief organizations at work in Alabama. Read More…

If you enjoyed Tuesday's "An Evening with Rick Bragg" in Fairhope, please take the next step and join, renew your membership in, or donate to the Forum to support future programs and ongoing services to writers and the literary community. Use the envelope included in your program or our convenient online mechanism. We need your support now more than ever!

At its June meeting in Montgomery, the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) awarded twelve fellowship grants totaling $60,000 and five Arts and Cultural Facilities grants totaling $180,000, for a grand total of $240,000. This year’s Literary Arts Fellowship recipients include Jeanie Thompson of Montgomery and Abraham Smith of Tuscaloosa. Read More...

“An Evening with Rick Bragg” will include a silent auction for individual books or book collections by Harper Lee Award winners from the inception of the award in 1997. These include books by twelve of the fourteen annual winners, including the inaugural recipient, Mobile native Albert Murray, and the 2011 winner, Winston Groom of Point Clear. Signed, first editions include works by Groom, Madison Jones, Rodney Jones, and Sena Jeter Naslund. Bids must be submitted at the event on June 21, 7-9 p.m. at Centennial Hall on the Faulkner State Community College campus in Fairhope. Winners will be determined at 8:50 p.m., and successful bidders can purchase the books onsite. Proceeds from the sold-out event will benefit the programs of the Alabama Writers Forum. Following his talk, 2009 Harper Lee Award winner Rick Bragg will sign his own books, offered for sale by Page and Palette. For a complete list of books, including reserved prices, contact Danny Gamble at gambledanny@bellsouth.net.

The Alabama Writers’ Forum is saddened to announce that eminent writer and Forum friend Wayne Greenhaw passed away on May 31 from complications following heart surgery. Often referred to as the Dean of Alabama Letters, Greenhaw was the author of twenty-two books in three genres, most recently Fighting the Devil in Dixie, his account of covering the Montgomery civil rights movement as a journalist.

Purchase your tickets for An Evening with Harper Lee Award Winner Rick Bragg in support of the Alabama Writers’ Forum on Tuesday, June 21, from 7-9 p.m. at Centennial Hall on the Faulkner State Community College campus in Fairhope, Alabama. SOLD OUT

This April, the Academy of American Poets celebrates the 16th annual National Poetry Month with an array of exciting events, including the publication of Poem in Your Pocket for Young Poets and a star-studded poetry reading at Lincoln Center. National Poetry Month was established by the Academy in 1996 and is now the largest literary celebration in the world.

Winston Groom of Point Clear, Ala., has been named the 2011 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year. Groom will receive the award at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville on May 6 at the annual luncheon.

The Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) has announced a March 1 deadline for its Art and Cultural Facilities and Fellowship applications. Funding covers the period from October 1, 2011-September 30, 2012.