Reminder

Now that it is much closer to the weekend, don’t forget to get your tickets for the Wren’s Nest gala backyard, shindig, concert, taco-fest. See our previous post for details.

Southern Literary Trail

Our friends at The Wren’s Nest alerted us to the existence of the Southern Literary Trail, of which they are a featured destination. The Trail celebrates “writers of classic Southern Literature in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

Plan your road trip at the Southern Literary Trail’s new web site.

The Kids Are Alright

Lain Shakespeare and the Wren’s Nest are featured in this month’s Paste magazine.  Check it out.   It’s a fascinating article about the complex issues surrounding the Atlanta home/museum of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus stories.  Also worth checking out: the Wren’s Nest blog regularly posts thoughful pieces about the author’ complicated legacy, race, and life in Atlanta’s diverse West End.  The Wren’s Nest Publishing Company is also hard at work on their second annual publication of high school students’ literary work which is assembled in their summer publishing/workshop camp.   Mr. Shakespeare, Executive Director of the Nest, is 25, and the house/museum was on the verge of disaster when he took over.  Apparently no one bothered to tell him that he can’t do all of these things at his age.   Let’s keep it a secret.

Brock Clarke: The Recap

Monday night was the big Brock Clarke reading (An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England) that we proudly co-hosted along with Wordsmiths and The Wren’s Nest.  You might have read something about that here over the past few weeks. If you weren’t there, you missed a great evening. Here’s a quick recap:

DJ Hacks from Resonator mag set the mood with lots of arson-themed music. Check out the caution tape decorating the reading/tune mixing stage.  It’s all about the details.  This was destined to be the finest arson-themed book reading in the southeast from the get-go.

Just before DJ Hacks started doing his thing, Amelia from The Wren’s Nest rolled in with falafels, humus, and other assorted treats.  If you could find fellow Nest-er Lain’s bottle opener key chain, there was also tasty cold beer.

Brock Clarke read from his book for a good 20-30 minutes (a big chunk of the Robert Frost home scene if you’ve read the book). Following the reading he did some Q&A.  Mr. Clarke revealed that he found the voice of Sam, the protagonist of Arsonist’s Guide, in Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King (which I Bookmooch-ed upon arriving home). He also said that he has been well received at the Emily Dickinson house and Amherst, MA, both of which featured prominently in the novel.  After taking questions, Mr. Clarke signed books for the assembled.

After signing books, Brock (we’re all on a first name basis now) mingled with the crowd, posed for pictures with the beautiful people, and took in the Wordsmiths vibe.  But wait!  There’s more!

Sealions brought the rock to finish up the evening. J Trav, the guitarist there on the left, is also the artist for the outstanding and very cool poster that we used to promote the evening.  I hadn’t seen Sealions live before, so that was a nice way to close out a Monday night.

If you missed it, be sure to catch us next time.