Short Takes

Congratulations, E.J. Levy! Her book, LOVE, IN THEORY, is one of the Best Indie Books of 2013 according to Kirkus Reviews.

The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame has announced the 2014 inductees! UGA Press author Mary Hood is one of the three new members. The Press published her short story collection, HOW FAR SHE WENT, in the second year of the Flannery O'Connor Short Fiction Award in 1984, followed by AND VENUS IS BLUE in 2001.

The New York Times Disunion blog recently featured a post on author Ambrose Bierce. Apparently, "Bierce was the only major author to have actually been a front-line soldier in the Civil War." Bierce is the author of THE UNABRIDGED DEVIL'S DICTIONARY, which is available from UGA Press.

Although he had managed to survive the war, Bierce knew, as did most of his comrades, that his experience of “seeing the elephant” had permanently damaged him. As he wrote years later, “When I ask myself what has become of Ambrose Bierce the youth, who fought at Chickamauga, I am bound to answer that he is dead.”
Bierce did, however, use his experiences to write some of the finest short fiction of the later 19th century. Usually autobiographical, these narratives of warfare are typically told from a cynical, world-weary point of view that makes clear its author’s skepticism that anything good resides in the human heart. Because of these stories, as well as his acerbic satire “The Devil’s Dictionary,” he became known as “Bitter Bierce.”

Did you miss the Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice documentary that aired on WUGA-TV this past Sunday? Or, did you see it and want to watch it again? Be sure to mark your calendar and catch one (or more) of these other showings:
December 21 at 4:00pm
December 23 at 5:00pm
December 24 at 8:00pm
December 27 at 10:00am
December 29 at 2:00pm
December 30 at 4:00pm
January 1 at 12:00pm
While you are at it, be sure to pick up a copy of Maurice C. Daniels' new book, SAVING THE SOUL OF GEORGIA: DONALD L. HOLLOWELL AND THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, author of the forthcoming BREAKING GROUND: MY LIFE IN MEDICINE, argues that the U.S. should continue efforts to strengthen health care in developing countries in a recent op-ed on Nelson Mandela for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Upcoming events
Friday, January 10

THE VIEWING ROOM by Jacquelin Gorman
Location: Johann Fust Community Library, Boca Grande, FL
Description: Talk and signing

Wednesday, January 22

THE CLOUD THAT CONTAINED THE LIGHTNING by Cynthia Lowen
Location: Greenlight Books, Brooklyn, NY
Description: Talk and signing