Chattanooga has a wealth of literary talent in many genres. To raise awareness and celebrate local authors’ achievements, SoLit will feature nine local published authors at the Chattanooga Author Showcase on Aug. 25 at 6:00 p.m. at the Stove Works Museum, 1250 E. 13th St. The featured authors represent many genres, including fiction, non-fiction, memoir, essay, poetry, short story, young adult, and children’s books. The reception will provide opportunities to talk with authors, purchase their books, and hear them read excerpts from their recent works. The event is free, but donations are encouraged to support the event and SoLit’s programs. Registration is required at https://www.southernlitalliance.org/chattanooga-author-showcase.
SoLit is asking that event attendees register in advance. Click here to register.
The featured authors at the showcase include the following:
Natalie Lloyd
Young Adult and Children’s genre
Natalie Lloyd is the New York Times bestselling author of nine young adult and children’s books, including the most recent, The Hummingbird. Her earlier work The Snicker of Magic won multiple awards, including a Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance children’s book finalist and the New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice.
KB Ballentine
Poetry
KB Ballentine teaches high school and college students creative writing, theatre arts, and literature. She has an M.A. in Writing and an M.F.A. in creative writing and poetry. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and publications, and she is the author of seven poetry collections, including Edge of the Echo . Her work also appears in several journals and anthologies. She has received many awards, including the Blue Light Press Book Award, the Libba Moore Gray Poetry Prize, and the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. She was also a finalist in the 2021 Local Distinguished Author Award by SoLit.
Rita Lorraine Hubbard
Non-fiction and Children’s Non-fiction
Rita Hubbard is a former special education teacher from Chattanooga and author of African Americans in Chattanooga and the children’s books Hammering for Freedom and The Oldest Student. All three of her books feature stories about Chattanoogan African Americans throughout history. The Oldest Student received Amazon.com’s Best Nonfiction Children’s Book of the Year by Amazon.com and was a nominee for the 2020 Cybil Award.
Audrey Keown
Fiction and Mystery
Audrey Keown is the author of a mystery series set in Chattanooga history. Murder at Hotel 1911 and Dust to Dust are inspired by the Read House in 1911. Fresh fiction says the series is “An exciting and entertaining mystery with an eye-opening glimpse into the life of someone struggling with an anxiety disorder.” For ten years, she wrote professionally for periodicals, which sharpened her storytelling skills for cutting into fiction writing.
Sam Elliott
Non-fiction and History
Sam Elliott is a local attorney turned author and practices primarily in the field of litigation and local government representation with the firm Gearhiser, Peters, Lockaby, Cavett & Elliott, PLLC. His love of history, particularly the Civil War, has led to multiple books, including John C. Brown of Tennessee: Rebel, Redeemer, and Railroader published by The University of Tennessee Press, as well as The Chattanooga Campaign, Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West, and Isham G. Harris of Tennessee. He has been a member of the Tennessee Historical Commission since 2005. He was also a finalist in the 2021 Local Distinguished Author Award by SoLit.
Earl Braggs
Poetry and Memoir
earlsbraggs.com
Earl Braggs is a U.C. Foundation and Battle Professor of English at the Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His fifteen books include poetry collections such as his most recent work Obama Children. He also published a memoir, Boy Named Boy. Among his many awards are the Anhinga Poetry Prize, the Cleveland (Ohio) State Poetry Prize, the C&R Poetry Prize, the Jack Kerouac International Literary Prize, and the Knoxville News Sentinel Poetry Award, and the Gloucester County Poetry Prize. Braggs’ novel was a finalist for the James Jones First Novel Contest. In addition, Earl was the winner of the 2021 Local Distinguished Author Award from SoLit.
Paul Luikart
Short Story
Paul Luikart is the author of the short story collections Animal Heart (Hyperborea Publishing, 2016), Brief Instructions (Ghostbird Press, 2017), and Metropolia (Ghostbird Press, 2021), in addition to The Museum of Heartache. This multitalented renaissance man serves as an adjunct professor of fiction writing at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and is also a visual artist in abstract painting.
Dana Shavin
Essay and Memoir
Dana Shavin is an author, essayist, and three-time award-winning columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Her essays have been nominated for inclusion in Best American Essays and for a Pushcart, and she is the past editor of the Chattanooga Jewish Federation magazine, The Shofar. In addition, Dana has published two books, including her most recent Finding the World: Thoughts on Life, Love, Home, and Dogs, a collection of her most popular articles during 20 years as a columnist at the Times Free Press.
Eleanor Cooper
Historical Fiction
Dr. Eleanor McCallie Cooper prepared to be a teacher at first, but she discovered she was an educator not in the classroom but in the community. She worked for several non-profits, including co-founding EARTHWORK: Center for Food and Land in the San Francisco Bay Area and directing Chattanooga Venture. Her writing has focused on family stories on the edge of traumatic historical events that portend personal change and social turmoil. Her recent book Dragonfly Dreams is a middle-grade historical fiction.
About SoLit
Founded in 1952, SoLit has evolved into a literary arts hub for Chattanooga. Previously known as Southern Lit Alliance, the organization’s mission is to deliver literary arts experiences that engage young people and adults in a life-long love of reading, writing, and community conversation. SoLit reaches 6,000 children and adults each year with programs such as literature festivals, writing workshops, book therapy groups, writing contests for children K-12, youth programs, and outreach to underserved communities. At SoLIt, we believe literature has the incomparable power to inspire, connect, and uplift. The benefits of reading literature are far-reaching and include improved critical thinking skills, empathy for others, vocabulary, writing ability, imagination, and cultural literacy. SoLit shares stories that matter. For more information, go to southernlitalliance.org.