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Welcome to the online home of Revival:Lost Southern Voices strives to celebrate historically excluded, erased, or marginalized Southern voices. During this annual literary festival, presenters discuss Southern authors or artists whose works are out-of-print or do not receive the attention they deserve. We invite the public, scholars, students, writers, and inquisitive readers to join the conversation as we continue to discover and recover these Lost Southern Voices.
Revival: Lost Southern Voices is free and open to the public, presented by GSU Perimeter College in conjunction with Georgia Center for the Book.
Bookmark our new website at https://georgiacenterforthebook.org/ongoing-programs/revival-lost-southern-voices
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Video Sessions of 2021 Lost Southern Voices Festival
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Lost Southern Voices
SHERMAN ADAMS
SHERMAN ADAMS (1937-1985)
JAMES AGEE
James Agee (1909-1955)
James Agee was a film critic for Time magazine, wrote the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel, A Death in the Family, in 1958. He wrote the text following Walker Evans’ photographs published as Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Ross Spears’s film AGEE: A Sovereign Prince of the English Language was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and was awarded a Blue Ribbon at the 1980 American Film Festival.
A.R. AMMONS
A.R. AMMONS (1926–2001)
RAYMOND ANDREWS
RAYMOND ANDREWS (1934-1991)
HARRIETTE ARNOW
HARRIETTE ARNOW (1908 - 1986)
JAMES BALDWIN
JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987)
poet, and activist. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine
to create complex narratives that ran parallel with some of the major political
movements towards social change in mid-twentieth-century America, such as
the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Liberation Movement. His essays, as
collected in Notes of a Native Son, explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and
class distinctions in Western societies, but most notably in mid-20th-century
North America. Disillusioned by American prejudice against Black people, he
left the United States at the age of 24 and spent most of his life in France.
He wanted to distance himself from American prejudice and see himself and
his writing outside of an African American context. In 2018, his novel, If Beale
Street Could Talk, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning dramatic
film. In 2019 the Library of America published Baldwin’s Collected Essays:
Notes of a Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No
Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays.
WENDY BISHOP
WENDY BISHOP (1953-2003)
LARRY BROWN
LARRY BROWN (1951-2004)
ERSKINE CALDWELL
ERSKINE CALDWELL (1903-1987)
ALICE CHILDRESS
ALICE CHILDRESS (1912-1994)
LUCILLE CLIFTON
LUCILLE CLIFTON (1936 - 2010)
JUDITH ORTIZ COFER
JUDITH ORTIZ COFER (1952-2016)
GUY DAVENPORT
GUY DAVENPORT (1927-2005)
DONALD (GRADY) DAVIDSON
DONALD (GRADY) DAVIDSON (1893-1968)
RALPH DENNIS
RALPH DENNIS (1931 - 1988)
JAMES DICKEY
JAMES DICKEY (1923-1997)
ELLEN DOUGLAS
ELLEN DOUGLAS (1921-2012)
W.E.B. DUBOIS
W.E.B. DUBOIS (1868 - 1963 )
HENRY DUMAS
HENRY DUMAS (1934 - 1968)
HARRY STILLWELL EDWARDS
HARRY STILLWELL EDWARDS (1855 - 1938)
JOHN EHLE
JOHN EHLE (1925–2018)
RALPH ELLISON
RALPH ELLISON (1914 - 1994)
WILLIAM GAY
WILLIAM GAY (1941-2012)
Fellow. After his death, two of his novels were found and published posthumously.
JAMES BAKER HALL
JAMES BAKER HALL (1935 - 2009)
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS (1848 - 1908)
ERNEST HARTSOCK
ERNEST HARTSOCK (1903-1930)
ZORA NEALE HURSTON
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1891 - 1960)
KENNETH IRBY
KENNETH IRBY (1936–2015)
GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON
GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON(1880–1966)
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON (1871 - 1938)
SEABORN JONES
SEABORN JONES (1942-2014)
RANDALL KENAN
RANDALL KENAN (1963-)
HORACE KEPHART
HORACE KEPHART (1862-1931)
SYDNEY LANIER
SYDNEY LANIER (1842-1881)
HELEN MATTHEWS LEWIS
HELEN MATTHEWS LEWIS (1924 - )
AUGUSTUS BALDWIN LONGSTREET
AUGUSTUS BALDWIN LONGSTREET (1790 - 1870)
SHARYN MCCRUMB
SHARYN MCCRUMB (1948 - )
CARSON MCCULLERS
CARSON MCCULLERS (1917 - 1967)
RALPH EMERSON McGILL
RALPH EMERSON McGILL (1898-1969)
ALBERT MURRAY
ALBERT MURRAY (1916 - 2013)
MARY NOAILLES MURFREE
MARY NOAILLES MURFREE (1850 - 1922 )
LEWIS NORDAN
LEWIS NORDAN (1939 - 2012 )
PADGETT POWELL
Padgett Powell (1952 - )
ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS
ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS (1881-1941)
dozen major Southern renascence writers. During her career, Roberts saw her public recognition solidified by several major prizes, including the John Reed Memorial Prize in 1928, an O. Henry Award in 1930, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina’s prize in 1931. The Time of Man was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1926; The Great Meadow was nominated for the same award in 1930. Roberts died in Orlando, Florida, in 1941 and was returned home to Springfield for her burial.
LEE SMITH
LEE SMITH (1944 -)
FRANK STANFORD
FRANK STANFORD (1948 - 1978 )
T.S. STRIBLING
T.S. STRIBLING (1881 - 1965)
ELLA GERTRUDE CLANTON THOMAS
ELLA GERTRUDE CLANTON THOMAS (1834-1907)
STEFFEN THOMAS
STEFFEN THOMAS (1906 - 1990)
MARK TWAIN
MARK TWAIN (1835 - 1910 )
BRAD VICE
BRAD VICE (1973 - )
ALICE WALKER
ALICE WALKER (1944- )
MANLY WADE WELLMAN
MANLY WADE WELLMAN (1903 - 1986)
TERRY WHITMORE
TERRY WHITMORE (1947 - 2007)
BRENDA WILKINSON
BRENDA WILKINSON (1946 - )
AMANDA KYLE WILLIAMS
AMANDA KYLE WILLIAMS (1957 - 2018)
JOHNATHON WILLIAMS
JOHNATHON WILLIAMS (1929 - 2008)
KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM
KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM (1918-2011)
Sponsors
Georgia State University College of Arts and Sciences: Department of English, Kenneth M. England Professorship in Southern Literature, South Atlantic Center for the Institute of the Americas.
Georgia State University Perimeter College: The Chattahoochee Review, Department of English, Honors College
This project is supported by Georgia Humanities, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, through funding from the Georgia General Assembly.
Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library is proud to support the “Revival: Lost Southern Voices” festival.
The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library collects and connects stories of human experience, promotes access and learning, and offers opportunities for dialogue for all wise hearts who seek knowledge.
Sponsors
Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library in Downtown Decatur
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030
(404) 370-3070 x 2285
Fax: (404) 370-3091
FAQs
What is the cost to attend Revival: Lost Southern Voices Festival?
Thanks to our generous sponsors, there is no cost to attend the general sessions. The planning committee just requests that you register so we can plan accordingly.
If you wish to attend the Friday reception, which will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and beverages, please pre-order a ticket, the cost is $20.
If you wish to pre-order a gourmet deli lunch for Saturday, the cost is $15.
If you wish to pre-order for both the Friday reception and the Saturday gourmet deli lunch, the cost is $35.
What’s the refund policy?
No refunds are available for the Friday reception or Saturday boxed lunch tickets.
What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Georgia State University’s Dunwoody Campus is located approximately 18 miles northeast of Atlanta, at 2101 Womack Rd. Dunwoody, GA 30338. The Dunwoody Campus offers free visitor parking. Certain restrictions apply. Please visit this Parking & Maps page for more information.
The Festival will take place in and around the auditorium located in Building NC on campus, officially known as NC2100.
Festival News
- Festival Spotlights Lost Southern Voices | Georgia State University News Release
- Garden and Gun Magazine
- Georgia State Literary Festival Showcases ‘Lost’ Southern Writers | Georgia State University News Release
- A Conversation with Gregg Murray, Editor-in-Chief of Atlanta’s “Muse /A” | Arts]ATL
- Ga. Festival Celebrates The ‘Lost’ Southern Authors | WABE 90.1 FM
- Lost Southern Voices Festival Puts Focus on Lesser-Known Writers | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Report Preview: Lost Literary Voices Will Be Revived and Revered this Weekend at GSU | ArtsATL
News
- Georgia State Literary Festival Showcases ‘Lost’ Southern Writers | Georgia State University News Release
- A Conversation with Gregg Murray, Editor-in-Chief of Atlanta’s “Muse /A” | Arts]ATL
- Ga. Festival Celebrates The ‘Lost’ Southern Authors | WABE 90.1 FM
- Lost Southern Voices Festival Puts Focus on Lesser-Known Writers | Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Literature at Lunchtime and Lost Southern Authors Are on the Menu this Week for Atlanta Readers | Saporta
- Report Preview: Lost Literary Voices Will Be Revived and Revered this Weekend at GSU | ArtsATL