Short Takes

Congratulations to Frank X Walker, author of the forthcoming TURN ME LOOSE: THE UNGHOSTING OF MEDGAR EVERS! He has been named Kentucky's first African-American poet laureate. His book, TURN ME LOOSE, is a collection of poetry that speaks out on the life and loss of the major civil rights leader, Medgar Evers. 2013 is the 50th anniversary of his death. The book will be available in May.

“Marc Sommers’ account of the plight of Rwanda’s poor youth majority is in many respects a commandingly authoritative portrait of a looming calamity which contrasts sharply with other accounts of the dynamism and resourcefulness of African youth. . . . STUCK is certainly an incisive and sophisticated account of the Rwandan state and policy environment.”—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Flagpole Magazine features THE NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF GEORGIA on the Culture Briefs blog.

"THE NASHVILLE WAY . . . fills a gap in civil rights and southern historiography. It should be of interest to anyone interested in the history of Nashville and the African American struggle for racial justice during the movement for civil rights."—The Courier

THE RISE AND DECLINE OF THE REDNECK RIVIERA author, Harvey H. Jackson III, was recently interviewed on Fox 6 WBRC. Answering questions about the "redneck riviera" and his book, Jackson gives reporter Fred Hunter a brief history and tour of that stretch of beach.
The video is also available for viewing here. A supplemental gallery of photos is here.

"Jackson incisively analyses social change in beachfront communities, including the question of who claims the beach and how. While Jackson is clearly passionate about the Gulf Coast, where he maintains a 1950s beach cottage his grandmother purchases, THE RISE AND DECLINE OF THE REDNECK RIVIERA melds years of research with measured personal observations, deftly parsing the known and the assumed to create an intricate tapestry. Jackson's work would be an important contribution if it was only a case study of coastal tourism, but it is so much more."—Journal of Tourism History 

Tampa Bay Times features EAT DRINK DELTA in a recent article on tamales. The food and travel editor even recommends the two-page tamale recipe found in the book.

"What makes these stories stand out is the depth and range of Levy's perspective. Throughout LOVE, IN THEORY, her voice is convincing, her sentences pithy, poignant, and humorous in rendering her characters' struggles. . . . Levy's characters suffer in love but not in vain, for they marvel at the uncertainties and paradoxes of modern love and invite us to do so with them."—Iowa Review