News

I am happy to let everybody know that I will be moving to D.C. next year for six months! January through June. I’ll be a writer in residence at George Washington University. It’s such a great school, such a great city, terrific department. Who could ask for anything more?

Okay, for some of you this may sound familiar. But here’s the *official* announcement: The Untelling has been awarded the Lillian C. Smith Award for New Voices. I’m pretty excited about it. Lillian Smith was a writer with a conscience, which, I think, is the most important attribute of a writer. Past winners include Alice Walker, Maddison Smartt Bell, Ernest Gaines. The awards ceremony is October 15th in Athens, GA.

That AJC reported recently that there are tapes which may link white supremacists groups to the Atlanta Child Murders. I actually remember these tapes being played on the news about fifteen years ago. It’s a trip to see how reading the names brings back memories. The missing child mentioned in this article is Lubie Geter. Just reading the name makes me remember. While in Atlanta this weekend I met two women who wanted to talk to me aboout growing up in ATL during this terrible time. Everytime I talk to people whose childhoods overlapped with my own I write their stories down in the book I carry with me in my heart.