 Bainbridge Hosts 2008 Georgia Literary Festival
The 10th annual Georgia Literary Festival will be held in Bainbridge on October 25, marking the first time the event has moved to South Georgia.
Nearly two dozen authors will be featured at the event which focuses on honoring writers with connections to the area. Honored writers at this year's event are Jay Barbree, long-time NBC space program correspondent and author of three books, and the late Caroline Miller, winner of the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, the first Georgia writer to receive a Pulitzer.
The free public event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book and the Georgia Humanities Council with the Decatur County-Gilbert H. Gragg Library and Bainbridge College, the site of the festival. The festival will include readings, book signings, children's activities, poetry workshops, a special performance about Georgia's first Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and vendors and exhibitors from around the Southeast.
The festival will open with a special event on Friday evening October 24, with most activities scheduled during the day on Saturday the 25th. Events are will be held inside and outside at the new Kirbo Center at Bainbridge College, which will observe its official opening on the weekend of the literary festival..
Among the authors who will be speaking at the festival are:
Jay Barbree, NBC News correspondent and a native of Blakely, author of Live from Cape Canaveral: Covering the Space Race, from Sputnik to Today, Destination Mars, and Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon, written with Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton;
Cathy Cox, a native of Bainbridge, former Georgia Secretary of State and now President of Young Harris College;
Michael P. White, highly acclaimed illustrator of The Library Dragon and The Secret of Old Zeb (both written by Carmen Deedy) and Harriet's Horrible Hair Day;
Mary Kay Andrews, bestselling Georgia author whose wildly popular books include Deep Dish, Savannah Breeze and Little Bitty Lies;
Jack McDevitt, noted science fiction writer from Brunswick, author of Cauldron, A Talent for War and Deepsix;
Claire Matturo, popular mystery writer from Cairo whose books include Bone Valley and Sweetheart Deal;
Frye Gaillard, writer-in-residence at the University of South Alabama, and author of Prophet from Plains: Jimmy Carter and His Legacy, and The Dream Long Deferred, the prize-winning book about Habitat for Humanity;
Bobby Dews, long-time Atlanta Braves coach now writer-in-residence at Andrew College in Cuthbert, author of The Crackers: The Early Days of Atlanta Baseball, a short story collection, Legends, Demons and Dreams, and a volume of poetry;
Glynn Marsh Alam is the North Florida author of a half dozen popular mystery novels including Green River Ghost, River Whispers and Deep Water Death
Janice Daugharty, writer-in-residence at Valdosta State University and author of six novels and a short story collection including Just Doll, Like a Sister, Dark of the Moon;
James Kimbrell, director of the creative writing program at Florida State University and author of several volumes of poetry including The Gatehouse Heaven and My Psychic: Poems;
Wynton C. Hall, Bainbridge College faculty member and author of The Right Words: Great Republican Speeches That Shaped History;
Dana Wildsmith, poet and teacher from Bethlehem whose acclaimed books include Alchemy, Our Bodies Remember and One Good Hand;
Philip D. Beidler, professor of English at the University of Alabama, former Vietnam War veteran and author of Late thoughts on an Old War: The Legacy of Vietnam and an expert on Alabama literature;
Sonny Sammons, author of The Keepers of Echowah, a novel about growing up in South Georgia.
The festival also will feature Joye Cauthen in a one-woman performance as Caroline Miller (1903-1992), author of Lamb in His Bosom, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1934. Miller was born in Waycross.
The following accommodations are available in Bainbridge and nearby cities for the festival. Most have special discounted festival rates:
The Charter House Inn
1401 Tallahassee Highway
Bainbridge, Georgia 39819
(229) 246-8550
124 rooms of which 34 newly renovated
Groups rates $62.99 + tax
Commodore Bed & Breakfast
320 Washington Street
Bainbridge, Georgia 39819
(229) 248-0081
4 rooms, non handicapped accessible
Rates from $95.00 + tax
Jameson Inn
1403 Tallahassee Highway
Bainbridge, Georgia 39819
(229) 243-7000
61 rooms, 3 handicapped rooms
High speed wireless Internet access, complimentary continental breakfast
Group rate for festival $68.99 + tax
Western Motel
1925 East Shotwell Street
Bainbridge, Georgia 39817
(229) 248-8668
39 rooms, 1 handicapped accessible room
Rates from $49.95 + tax
The Place to Be RV Park
801 West Shotwell Street
Bainbridge, Georgia 39819
(229) 246-5802
85 sites w/full hook-up: water, power, sewer, cable tv
Days Inn
1407 Tallahassee Highway
Bainbridge, Georgia 39819
(229) 248-6300
42 rooms
Rates from $58.50 + tax
CAIRO (approx 24 miles)
Best Western
2800 US Highway 84 East
Cairo, Georgia 39828
(229) 377-8000
50 rooms, 3 handicapped accessible
Rates from $63 + tax
COLQUITT (approx 21 miles)
Tarrer Inn
155 South Cuthbert Street
(229) 758-2888
Colquitt, Georgia 39837
17 rooms
Updated information for vendors and exhibitors and information will be posted shortly. For information locally, call Bainbridge College, 229-248-2590.
© 2004, Georgia Center for the Book
c/o DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030
Last updated: April 14, 2008
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