We welcome two more talented Georgia authors with their wonderful new first novels. Marc Fitten is the very gifted editor of Chattahoochee Review whose novel Valeria’s Last Stand is a comic feast set in 1990s Hungary. Laleh Khadivi is the author of The Age of Orphans, a novel acclaimed already as a “stunning” work of great originality framed in graphic, poetic language.  This program was originally recorded on April 28th, 2009 at the Decatur Library.

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Related posts:

1. Georgia Debut Author Night 1 of 2
2. Kathryn Stockett
3. Sandra Mackey

We welcome two wonderfully talented Georgia authors who are celebrating their first novels. Sandra Novack’s new novel Precious is a novel you won’t soon forget, a lyrical, finely crafted story about family love, its costs and its consequences.  Susan Rebecca White is the Atlanta-born author of Bound South, a delicious, compelling story of the clash of women caught between old-fashioned Atlanta traditions and 21st century reality.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. Georgia Debut Author Night 2 of 2
2. Kathryn Stockett
3. Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts, correspondent for the highly-rated CBS television news program “60 Minutes,” has written a memoir that is at once a story of success and defying the odds. Step Out On Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Overcome Life’s Obstacles, is a powerful memoir that chronicles his rise from a stuttering black kid in an inner city neighborhood to a premier television journalist. Pitts’ story will resonate with those who have struggled with their own challenges.  Byron Pitts was interviewed by WSB-TV’s Monica Pearson at the Decatur Library on October 13, 2009.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. Patti Digh
2. Robert J. Norrell
3. E. Lynn Harris

The Rosin Sisters (Jan Smith, Ann Whitley and Barbara Panter) are three fiddlers and  friends who love to play and sing together. All have been playing traditional country music in the Atlanta area and beyond for over 25 years. After singing with the all-woman, a capella group, the Divas; they decided to form The Rosin Sisters to further explore their love of singing and fiddle music, especially the rich heritage that comes out of Appalachia and the South.  They came to perform at the Decatur Library on June 25, 2009.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. Brian Ashley Jones
2. Corinne West
3. The Jeff and Vida Band

Donald Ray Pollock reads from his compelling, gritty novel, Knockemstiff, which author Chuck Palahniuk calls one of his favorites.  It’s a “poignant and raunchy account of his Ohio hometown’s sad and stagnant residents,” and the story “spans 50 years of violence, lust, failure and depravity.”  Fans of Palahniuk won’t want to miss this podcast episode!

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. E. Lynn Harris
2. Stephanie Kallos
3. Julie Buckner Armstrong

Corinne West brings a resonant and highly emotive voice to her own hybrid of Americana – roots, rock, folk, new grass, and progressive country.  She began as a five year-old, writing and singing to whomever would listen.  Few songwriters deliver both artistic integrity and popular commercial appeal the way she does. Her expressive vocals and songs pierce to the core and soothe the soul.  Corinne West played at the Decatur Library on June 11th, 2009.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. The Jeff and Vida Band
2. The Rosin Sisters
3. Brian Ashley Jones

Sandra Mackey, prize-winning veteran journalist and author of the national bestseller, The Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein, discusses her latest book, Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict. Critics call her book a “timely, incisive guide to the complexity of the brewing conflict in Lebanon and what it will mean for the Middle East.” Mackey’s book serves as a clarifying lens for viewing the broad picture of today’s challenging Arab world.  This recording was made at the Decatur Library on April 2, 2009.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. E. Lynn Harris
2. Georgia Debut Author Night 2 of 2
3. Patti Digh

Laurie Halse Anderson, one of America’s most popular and honored young adult authors, visits us to talk about her eagerly anticipated new novel, Wintergirls. “In this, her most wrenching, lyrically-written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Anderson explores Lia’s descent into anorexia and her painful path to recovery.” Anderson’s other books include Prom, Twisted and Fever 1793.   This recording was made on March 31, 2009 at the Decatur Library.

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Related posts:

1. Patti Digh
2. Sandra Mackey
3. Byron Pitts

Patti Digh, an internationally known blogger, has a new powerful book, Life is a Verb, drawn from a blog she created after the death of her step-father from cancer. Given only 37 days to live after his diagnosis, her father’s death prompted her to wonder what she would do with her life in that short time. Her book is part-memoir, part how-to, and it will touch your heart deeply.  This recording was made on March 30, 2009 at the Decatur Library.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

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Related posts:

1. Doug Egerton
2. Byron Pitts
3. Sandra Mackey

Unclassifiable but terrific—The Jeff and Vida Band is a bluegrass-influenced duo with a bluesiness at its core and a powerful stage presence. Vida’s powerful vocals and driving 1942 Gibson J-45 guitar with Jeff’s rock-n-roll approach to mandolin and guitar get the crowds’ feet tapping, and “is about as perfect a combination as you’re likely to find.” Performing original songs ranging from Appalachian bluegrass to alternative country, they are one of the Southeast’s premier acoustic roots acts.  The Jeff and Vida Band played at the Decatur Library on May 14th, 2009.

(You can listen by using the player below. In some browsers, you may have to click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript or Flash, you won’t see the player; in that case, click the link below the player to listen.)

MP3 file (12:40)

Related posts:

1. Brian Ashley Jones
2. The Rosin Sisters
3. Corinne West