Hopefully they will get added to the main directory listing soon. I also follow a few other out-of-town bookshops on Twitter. Are there others that you are fond of that are worth a follow? Please share! I’m always looking for good book conversations.
BookTV is building a network of local content. Birmingham’s part start airing this past weekend and some of the videos are already online. Very cool! Click through and scroll down the left column to see videos filmed in the Alabama Booksmith and around town, all focused on Birmingham’s “literary scene”. The column on the right is from CSPAN’s History TV with even more videos and interviews from a Birmingham perspective.
Mark your calendars for December 3rd, 10:00am-3:00pm. That’s when the sixth annual Local Authors Expo is slated to take place. As always, the event will take place downtown at the Central Library. The expo is always an interesting mix of authors and books. Most of the tables are stacked with books by self-published authors. So authors have a publisher, but most are braving the wilds of literature on their own. Prices and subjects run the gamut, so you’ll want to leave yourself enough time to make the rounds. More than 90 authors have already signed on.
In keeping with the self-published push, they have also invited Liz Reed, of the Birmingham Arts Journal, to lead a 90-minute discussion/orientation for people wanting to get published. The event is called “Every Writer Needs an Editor“. It is free, but they’re asking that you click through that link to reserve a spot, so they can make sure they have enough seats.
I have fond memories of Robert Louis Stevens’ Treasure Island. It’s the first book I remember my father and I reading together while I was learning to read. Which is one reason this weekend’s November 13th STRANDED event has my attention. The event is being held in recognition of Robert Louis Stevens’ birthday, and in following the island theme, the Desert Island Supply Company is wondering “what songs could you not live without if stranded on an island”?
The event runs from 2p.m. until midnight, this Sunday, at the BottleTree. If you buy your tickets early, $20 gets you in the door (it’s $25 at the door) where you’ll hear musicians playing coves of their “desert island” songs. All proceeds got to DISCO, which is a creative writing program for students. Fostering future creative writers is a great way to honor Stevens, who has influenced so many writers since his time.
