Sixth annual Georgia Literary Festival to be held inÊColumbus

Take one of America’s finest African-American authors, add nearly 50 writers from all over Georgia, mix with some friendly ghosts and a little outdoor jazz and you’ve got the delicious ingredients for the sixth annual Georgia Literary Festival August 13-14 in Columbus.

The 2004 festival, a celebration of Georgia’s rich harvest of writers, is a blending of the fun and informative, aimed at family audiences. Most activities at the festival will be held at the Springer Opera House, the state theater of Georgia, and they will be free.

“We’re celebrating four writers who were born in Columbus, but in a sense we’re also using this as an occasion to celebrate many of the good writers who have come out this state,” said William W. Starr, executive director of the Georgia Center for the Book, the sponsor of the literary festival. “And we’re going to have a lot of them present for this event.”

Headlining the weekend activities will be the appearance of Shay Youngblood, the widely acclaimed poet, playwright and fiction writer, at the opening event at 8 p.m. Friday. Her novels include “Soul Kiss” and “Black Girl in Paris.” Currently teaching at the New School for Social Research in New York City, she has directed two videos and written a screenplay.

The festival will also celebrate three other Columbus natives during Saturday’s program; Carson McCullers, author of “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” “Ballad of the Sad Café” and “The Member of the Wedding”; Augusta Evans Wilson, author of one of the most popular novels in antebellum America, “St. Elmo”; and Nunnally Johnson, prize-wining screenwriter and director of such films as “The Grapes of Wrath,” “The Dirty Dozen” and “How to Marry a Millionaire.”

A one-hour program about each of the writers will be presented Saturday by experts on their lives and work followed by driving tours to some of the literary sites around Columbus, including the Carson McCullers Home where visitors will be able to view the only film footage of McCullers known to exist.

The festival also hosts a book fair that runs all day on Saturday at the Springer and features book signings by nearly 50 writers from throughout the region and the state. Books will be available for purchase.

The festival concludes with a free special event Saturday night beginning with a showing of the film made from McCullers’ book, “The Member of the Wedding.” After that, there will be a candlelight stroll to Riverwalk for an outdoor jazz concert on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.

“The festival is for people who like delightful surprises,” Starr said. “We have people who come just for fun and wind up learning some fascinating things about writing in Georgia. And we have people who come to learn more about the writers and who come away having had so much fun in the process.”

Other events during the festival include art shows and special children’s activities scheduled for Saturday morning at the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. Special accommodations packages are available.

Co-sponsors for the event include the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System, Historic Columbus Foundation, Columbus State University, the Columbus Museum, Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Literary Alliance, The Game, the Springer Opera House, Barnes & Noble, Joseph House Art Gallery, SYNOVUS, CB&T, AFLAC and the Rotary Club of Columbus.

Information about the festival may be found at http://www.georgialiteraryfestival.org. Brochures are available from the Georgia Center for the Book, DeKalb County Public Library, 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA 30030, or by calling 404-370-8450, ext. 2225.