ACA Writers’ Series Event

Writers’ Series event featuring Jennifer Horne and Jeanie Thompson, two University of Alabama Press authors as they compare notes on their writing projects about singular Alabama women. They will discuss their journey as authors celebrating women of distinction who both lead colorful, but often lonely, lives. Guests are invited to join the discussion with questions and comments.

Jennifer Horne (of Tuscaloosa), former Alabama State Poet Laureate, recently published Odyssey of a Wandering Mind, the Strange Tale of Sara Mayfield, Author. Mayfield was a creative yet somewhat enigmatic Montgomery resident who spent time at Bryce Hospital under doctor’s care but also traveled the world and met many artists and writers of her time – from Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald to Tallulah Bankhead.

“Sara Mayfield was a strong and resilient Alabama writer and inventor who survived seventeen years in Bryce Hospital and emerged to become an author of national note,” said JD Wilson, Director of The University of Alabama Press. “Jennifer Horne is one of Alabama’s most celebrated living writers, and she tells Sara’s story in mesmerizing detail.”

Jeanie Thompson, a Decatur native now residing in Montgomery and former Executive Director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum, spent a number of years researching and writing The Myth of Water: Poems from the Life of Helen. Thompson portrays Alabama’s internationally known writer and disability activist, Keller, in historical persona poems, in various voices.

Admission to this event is free and books will be available for purchase and signing.