November is National Novel Writing Month, and Georgians are no strangers to the presses. In their own words, here are some of the inspirations and accomplishments that keep notable, locally based authors clacking away at the keys, pitching to publishing houses and connecting with readers.
Credit: Nina Subin
Credit: Nina Subin
Tayari Jones
AJC recommended work: “An American Marriage”
Tayari Jones serves as director of creative writing at Emory University and lives in East Atlanta. Her most recent novel, “An American Marriage,” released in 2018, is the story of a young, Black, upwardly mobile husband and wife who come to Atlanta looking to pursue a promising future. The couple visits a small town in Louisiana, and the young man is arrested for a crime he did not commit. In 2018, the novel was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and a pick for former President Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List. Jones’ first novel, “Leaving Atlanta,” just had its 20th-anniversary reissue.
Credit: Contributed by Tayari Jones
Credit: Contributed by Tayari Jones
Q: What are some notable things you can share about your writing career?
A: “All my life, I loved to read, and I loved to write, but I will say that — in my generation; I was born in 1970 — when girls like to read and they like to write, people don’t necessarily think that it means you’re a writer. … I did not know that writing could be my life’s work until I went to Spelman College, and I met a writer, and she was my teacher. Her name was Pearl Cleage. … She said to me, ‘You know, you can be a writer … .’ I wrote books about Atlanta, and they meant a lot to me, but I wasn’t a best-seller or anything, and then, one day, I was driving in my car, and the phone rang, and it was a blocked call. I answered it, and the person on the other end said, ‘Hi, this is Oprah.’” At first I was very intimidated by this idea that Oprah Winfrey was putting her literal good name on my book, but then I thought about it that all my life, people have lent their good names to me. … And it occurred to me that when other people lent their good names, I wasn’t intimidated by it. I felt protected by it. I felt loved by it. And so that’s how I came to look at the Oprah Seal.”
Q: What else would you like your audience to know?
A: I’m really trying to encourage everyone to write from home. … It’s like as writers, we’re losing our accent. I really want to encourage people to write from where it is that your heart lives because our American literature needs to reflect our American experience in all of its many ways. The other thing … All the things that you think make it hard for you to write, like your age or the fact that you work or you take care of kids or you take care of elders … Understand that your responsibilities and all the things you do — these are your superpower, and they’re what are going to make your work meaningful, and it is exactly the reason that someone else needs to hear your story.
Credit: Contributed by Kathy Bradley
Credit: Contributed by Kathy Bradley
Kathy Bradley
AJC recommended work: “Sifting Artifacts”
“Sifting Artifacts,” which Mercer University Press published in 2022, is a book of essays that provides a new lens for Bradley’s examinations of community, humanity and stewardship. Bradley resideson a farm in Bulloch County. She’s retired from a career practicing law with about half that time spent as an assistant district attorney. She instructed at Georgia Southern University as an adjunct professor, and spent 21 years as a newspaper columnist.
Q: Talk about your writing in its various capacities.
A: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but only began writing “professionally” in 1996 when the editor of our local paper asked me to become a columnist. My first book was published in 2012. … The small press was a very good match for me for a number of reasons, including the fact that I have always (until my retirement) maintained a very stressful professional career while writing. The staff is very attentive to each of its authors and has always been understanding of issues with deadlines.
Q: How does the public respond to you?
A: My readers often tell me that they feel as though they know me. … It is the nature of the personal essay, of course, and I am grateful to know that the readers feel they have established a connection with me. The main aim of my writing is to draw the reader into a greater awareness of the world and his/her own life.
Credit: Lauren Kress
Credit: Lauren Kress
Anthony Grooms
AJC recommended work: “The Vain Conversation”
Grooms’ latest novel, “The Vain Conversation,” published in 2017, recently came out in paperback. The story portrays the 1946 Moore’s Ford Bridge lynchings in Georgia. Grooms also authored the novel “Bombingham.” Recognitions include two Lillian Smith Prizes and awards from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Grooms is retired from a 40-year teaching career in creative writing and American literature. He lives with his wife in Inman Park.
Credit: Ccontributed by Anthony Grooms
Credit: Ccontributed by Anthony Grooms
Q: What are some things we should know about you as a writer?
A: I have been writing since I was a child and was lucky to have parents who encouraged it. As a college student, I tried to turn to the sciences, but found myself coming back to writing classes again and again. Eventually, I was invited to study writing as a graduate student, and I’ve never looked back. … My published stories mostly have been historical fiction set in the Civil Rights Movement period. This was the period of my coming of age and it still strongly incites my fears and hopes.
Q: What would you like to say about how your writing connects you with others?
A: Readers raise complex questions as they explore my characters and the history in which I set them. Many of my readers tell me that they learn something new about history and themselves from my stories. I have also been told by students, usually young men, that my book was the first they had read from cover to cover.
Credit: Contributed by George Weinstein
Credit: Contributed by George Weinstein
George Weinstein
AJC recommended work: “Return to Hardscrabble Road”
“Return to Hardscrabble Road,” a historical novel, came out in late 2022 as the sequel to Weinstein’s “Hardscrabble Road.” The book portrays brothers returning to their childhood home on emergency military leave after their father’s murder. The inspiration behind both books is stories that came from Weinstein’s former father-in-law, who grew up in the Great Depression. Weinstein lives in Marietta and works for the Academy for Advancing Leadership as vice president for business development. He’s also director of the Atlanta Writers Conference and executive director of the Atlanta Writers Club.
Credit: Contributed by George Weinstein
Credit: Contributed by George Weinstein
Q: Can you describe your journey as a writer?
A: After dabbling for years with short stories, essays and articles, I embarked on book-length writing in 2000 and have produced eight novels to date, ranging from historical fiction to mystery, thriller, domestic drama and even a sci-fi comedy. … My novels have been traditionally published by two small presses in Georgia, and I have also self-published a novel.
Q: What impressions do your books typically leave people with?
A: Both books have offered a source of inspiration to readers about getting through tough times with heart, hope and humor. They have enabled readers to understand parents or grandparents who survived the deprivations of the Great Depression.
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