Celebrated author Rick Bragg comes to Newnan in June for the Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation’s fourth iteration of Southern LitFest. The two-day festival on June 5-6 supports the Newnan Carnegie Library and its numerous programs.
With this year’s LitFest theme of “READ ALL ABOUT IT: Journalists-turned-Authors, Saluting the First Amendment,†the Carnegie Foundation was pleased to secure Bragg as the headline speaker.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist-turned-author whose books about his Southern upbringing have been New York Times bestsellers, Bragg will speak about his career in journalism and as the author of numerous books during the festival’s culminating event at Wadsworth Auditorium on June 6 at 7 p.m.
“Rick Bragg’s career in journalism honed his writing chops to enable him to produce book after book since publishing his first memoir in 1997,†said NCLF member and LitFest Chair Jackie Kennedy. “That book, ‘All Over But the Shoutin’,’ is quintessential Rick Bragg: personal, passionate and probing.â€
“All Over But the Shoutin’†tells the story of Bragg’s upbringing and journey to his career in journalism. Ava’s Man and The Prince of Frogtown followed “Shoutin’†to create Bragg’s trilogy of nonfiction memoirs about his Alabama upbringing and family.
Other books by Bragg include “The Speckled Beauty†about his dog and family; “Somebody Told Me,†a collection of his newspaper columns; “The Best Cook in the World†with recipes from his mother; and “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story,†a biography on the famous singer.
Bragg joined the staff of The New York Times in 1994 and through the years covered a plethora of national stories, including the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. He won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for this and other articles that judges called “elegantly written stories about contemporary America.â€
A Harvard University Nieman Fellow, Bragg serves as a professor of writing at the University of Alabama. His column appears in Southern Living and Garden & Gun magazines.
Other notable former journalists-turned-authors who will speak about their work at LitFest include Ronda Rich, Dink NeSmith and his son, Eric NeSmith.
Rich is set to speak at Newnan Carnegie Library at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6. A former newspaper sportswriter, she started a weekly newspaper column in 2003 that eventually was published in more than 50 newspapers.
Her popular books include “What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should),†“St. Simon’s Island†and “My Life in The Pits,†a critically acclaimed memoir about her work as a reporter and publicist for NASCAR racing.
At 3 p.m. on June 6, Dink and Eric NeSmith will speak together, each about his work in journalism and books.
Eric has served as publisher of The Bitter Southerner since 2015, two years after the Athens-based independent media company was founded. Originally a digital-only magazine, The Bitter Southerner publishes three print magazines annually and publishes books under its BS Publishing imprint. The website publishes feature stories and photographic essays.
Eric inherited his journalistic chops from his father, Dink, who co-owns Community Newspapers, based in Athens, which publishes more than two dozen newspapers in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. Dink’s book, “The Last Man to Let You Down,†tells the story of his Depression-era father who worked as an undertaker.
His friend Rick Bragg says about the book: “If remembering is an art form, then this book is art.â€
To return the favor, Dink will introduce Bragg at the headline event at Wadsworth.
Other festival events include a panel discussion featuring three authors with local journalism connections: former Newnan-Coweta Magazine editor Angela McRae, former reporter for The Newnan Times-Herald Jeff Bishop and former NTH columnist Kathryn Smith. Beth Neely will moderate the discussion at The Burkley Social at 21 Jackson St. on June 5 at 6 p.m.
On June 6, “A Patriotic Saturday Morning†at 10 a.m. at Carnegie Library kicks off that day’s events with high school students performing skits about the power of the press and its impact on American history.
The performance is tailored for children but will entertain and inform all ages.
All LitFest events are free except the presentation by Rick Bragg on June 6. Even though other events are free, reservations are required. To purchase tickets for Rick Bragg, or register for the other events, visit Eventbrite.
