The Alabama Writers’ Forum
The Alabama Writers’ Forum, a partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, works to cultivate our state’s literary culture. We do that through supporting writers at all stages. We encourage our young writers to find their creative voice through the Father Goose Poetry Festival for Kids!–and through our Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards. We support the work of our state’s literary community through our Alabama Authors Directory, First Draft magazine, and other programming and opportunities for writers across the state. And we celebrate our state’s rich literary legacy through the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. We are, above all, a community of writers united by our desire to advance the literary arts in Alabama. If that describes you — join us! There are many ways to get involved.
The Seven Daughters of Dupree
The Seven Daughters of Dupree By Nikesha Elise Williams Gallery/Scout Press; 2026 Hardcover: $30.00 Genre: Historical Fiction Reviewed by Dr. Candice N. Hale Alabama maintains a steady grip on training its daughters to be guardians of family history, hard truths, and stories the family never wrote down but passed down through memory. Although an author may fictionalize a southern town, its values and beliefs often feel familiar to readers. This is exactly what Nikesha Elise Williams does in her new historical fiction novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree, where she imagines an Alabama setting that is at once recognizable and daunting to Southern readers. Williams builds an Alabama landscape where motherhood is venerated, strength is expected, and women bear weight without being asked. While the novel does not provide a real Alabama city, it speaks to the spiritual and emotional expression of Black Alabama womanhood—the inherent duties of silence, loyalty, inheritance, and survival passed through the generations. The Seven Daughters of Dupree examines how Black Southern daughters bear the weight of silence, family legacy, and survival [...]
