Short Takes

Garden & Gun magazine interviews the new U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey in their October/November issue. When asked about BEYOND KATRINA, Trethewey says that poetry should confront you.

Starred review in Booklist of Hugh Sheehy's "fresh yet deeply knowing collection," THE INVISIBLES. "A writer of evocative subtlety and uncanny power. . . Sheehy reveals what's hidden in plain sight to clarion effect."

Congratulations to our designers for winning 9 of the 12 awards from the Southeastern Library Association's Southern Books Competition! The complete list of winners is available here.

UGA Press authors John Inscoe and Drew Swanson weigh-in on the proposed closure of the Georgia State Archives. The state secretary recently announced that the archives would be closed to the public except by appointment-only, and the staff would be reduced from ten employees to three.

Some of James Holland's photographs are on display in the new Altamaha exhibit from the University of Georgia's College of Environment and Design. The opening of the exhibit also coincides with the opening of the new Circle Gallery. The Athens Banner-Herald reports on the September 20 event. ALTAMAHA co-author and UGA professor Dorinda Dallmeyer is quoted.

THE FAITHS OF THE POSTWAR PRESIDENTS author David L. Holmes on religion and its role in the current presidential campaigns: "Religion has not played a role in it that church historians at one time thought it would." (Observer and Eccentric)

Review of Vincent Carretta's PHILLIS WHEATLEY in the latest issue of the Journal of American History. "[Carretta's] discoveries provide not only new information but also newly broadened avenues for exploring Wheatley's unique development as a writer"

In the News: Love, In Theory

One of this year's Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction books is E. J. Levy's LOVE, IN THEORY.

In this funny, brainy, thoroughly engaging debut collection, an award-winning writer looks at romance through the lens of scholarly theories to illuminate love in the information age.

In ten captivating and tender stories, E. J. Levy takes readers through the surprisingly erotic terrain of the intellect, offering a smart and modern take on the age-old theme of love—whether between a man and woman, a man and a man, a woman and a woman, or a mother and a child—drawing readers into tales of passion, adultery, and heartbreak. Incorporating theories from physics to film to philosophy, from Rational Choice to Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class, these stories movingly explore the heart and mind—shooting cupid’s arrow toward a target that may never be reached.

Described by Booklist as "engaging," LOVE, IN THEORY has recently received a lot of positive attention. Some of the review highlights are below. 

"[I]indulge with this clever recipe of intelligent romance."--VOX magazine, which also features an interview with Levy 

"I love Levy's writing. . . . She also makes a lot of fabulous observations with a cynicism and honesty I find quite delightful."--A Reader of Fictions blog

"E.J. Levy’s style is very simple but packs a lot of meaning. Her stories taught me so much about writing. . . .  I was expecting literary romance stories, but got something different (and possibly better?). Perhaps there is more universal truth in sadness than in happiness?"--BooksAreTheNewBlack blog 

Interested in attending one of E. J. Levy's LOVE, IN THEORY events? Check out the many readings that are happening this fall.

October 7, 2012
Location: KGB Bar, New York, NY
Time: 7:00pm
Description: Sunday Fiction Series, reading with Nancy Zafris

October 14, 2012
Location: Politics & Prose, Washington, DC
Time: 1:00pm
Description: Release reading and party

October 16, 2012
Location: Waters Matters Series, Randall Davey Audubon Center, Upper Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM
Time: 7:00pm
Description: Sponsored by Amigos Bravos: Friends of the Wild Rivers

October 21, 2012
Location: SOMOS Sunday Salons, Taos, NM
Time: 3:30/4:00pm (tbd)
Description: Readings and conversations 

November 9-10, 2012
Location: Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
Description: Kenyon Review Literary Festival

Georgia Writers Hall of Fame moves to the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries

Six Press authors will help the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame celebrate its move from the University of Georgia’s Main Library into the newly built Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries on the UGA campus.

Hall of Fame inductees Coleman Barks, David Bottoms, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Terry Kay, and Phillip Lee Williams, in a discussion moderated by Dr. Hugh Ruppersburg, will kick off the celebration to be held Thursday, September 27, at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The Hargrett is now housed in the state-of-the-art Russell Library at 300 S. Hull Street, Athens, GA.

The Georgia Hall of Fame was established in 2000 with the mission of recognizing Georgia writers, their depiction of the state, and their contribution to its culture.

The schedule for the festivities is:

Writers’ Salon and Literary Discussion

10:00 a.m. in Room 285

Ruppersburg will lead a discussion with the above-mentioned Press authors and fellow GWHF inductee Melissa Fay Green, about the history and current state of letters in Georgia.

Exhibition Opening and Tour

11:15 a.m. in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library Galleries

A short video about the hall of fame will be shown and librarians will lead a tour of the collections.

Parking is available in the Tate Center Parking Deck, located at 705 S. Lumpkin Street. Shuttles will be provided between the parking deck and the Library.

ALTAMAHA Exhibit Opening

The Altamaha exhibit opened September 20, 2012 in the new Circle Gallery at UGA's College of Environment and Design. The exhibit features photographs from James Holland and the new book, ALTAMAHA: A RIVER AND ITS KEEPER. The grand opening and dedication featured a reception and book signing.

The exhibit begins with bios of James Holland, Janisse Ray, and Dorinda Dallmeyer.

Visitors enjoying the reception.

Images from the recently published ALTAMAHA book.

The exhibit features photographs, maps, diagrams, and mounted specimen.