For many Americans, the month of November concludes with a Thanksgiving feast.  However, for book lovers in the Charlotte area, the month also begins with a literary feast known as Verse & Vino. Sponsored by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, the year’s Verse & Vino celebration will kick off on November 4, 2021, at 7:00 p.m.  As was the case last year, this year’s celebration will be a virtual event, but it will include opportunities for attendees to gather in person.

Teleia White, the library Foundation’s Director of Individual Giving, leads the planning for this year’s Verse & Vino. In commenting on this year’s event, she said, “We’re building on the success of last year’s virtual event and adding more opportunities for live interaction and group celebrations. Verse & Vino is a critical fundraiser and this year is special because it kicks off two weeks of opportunities to celebrate and support Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, as we close Main Library and welcome the future together.”

All of the authors featured at this year’s Verse & Vino event are best-selling authors, and all have new books that they will discuss during their presentations.  Janet Evanovich, a writer who is best known for her contemporary mystery novels featuring a determined sleuth named Stephanie Plum, will talk about Game On, the latest volume in her Stephanie Plum Series.  Alka Joshi, a writer with deep connections to India, will talk about The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, which is set in India in 1969.  Alex Michaelides, a native of Cyprus who studied at Cambridge University, will discuss his novel The Maidens, a psychological thriller involving a classics professor at Cambridge University. Heather Morris, the author of the bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz, will focus her presentation on Three Sisters, a new novel that is inspired by a true story of three sisters who escape Auschwitz and eventually make it to Israel where they struggle to build a future for themselves.  Bryant Terry, a James Beard Award-winning chef and chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, will talk about Black Food, which is both a cookbook and a celebration of Black culinary traditions. Finally, Wanda M. Morris, a prominent attorney who currently lives in Atlanta, will discuss her debut novel, All Her Little Secrets, a murder mystery set in Atlanta.   

Verse & Vino is both an important fundraiser for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and a celebration of libraries, literacy, books.  For more information about participating in this year’s Verse & Vino event, please click on the following link:  https://foundation.cmlibrary.org/verse-vino/ 

As a long-time supporter of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, I believe that participating in Verse & Vino is a wonderful way to engage in our Storied Charlotte community and support our storied public library.

I regularly teach a children’s literature course at UNC Charlotte, and a few weeks ago one of the students waited to speak to me after class.  “Are you going to talk about Judy Blume’s books?” she asked.  I told her that I would talk about Judy Blume during an upcoming class session, and she responded by telling me how much she loves Blume’s books.  She then told me that she recently worked as an extra in the film version of Blume’s 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, which was filmed in Charlotte during the spring and summer.  We talked about her experiences working as an extra, and she agreed to share her experiences with the rest of the class.  This past week she told the whole class about how much fun she had acting in one of the scenes in the movie, and I could tell that the entire class enjoyed hearing about her adventures as a budding movie star. 

The production company Lionsgate began filming of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret in Charlotte, and several of the surrounding communities in April 2021 and continued filming until the beginning of July.  The filming brought some famous movie stars to Charlotte, including Kathy Bates, who plays the role of Margaret’s grandmother, and Abby Ryder Fortson, who plays the role of Margaret.  Since the film takes place in the early 1970s, the filming also involved shooting street scenes filled with cars from the 1960s and early ‘70s.  As a result, several area car collectors had the pleasure of having their cars included in the film.  Although the filming wrapped up this past summer, Lionsgate does not plan to release the film until 2022.

The fact that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was filmed in the Charlotte area has a special meaning for me, for it causes me to reflect on the day I met Judy Blume to interview her about the efforts to censor her books.  We met on June 10, 1985, in her home on the top floor of an attractive high-rise in New York City. I can pinpoint the date because I jotted it down on the cassette tape that I used to record the interview. When I listen to the tape now, I am almost embarrassed by how nervous I sounded at the start of our conversation, but I had never interviewed a famous author before, nor even been inside a building that had a doorman. Blume quickly put me at ease by telling me a bit about her family and offering me a beverage. Then, for the next several hours, we talked about censorship. At that time, I was in the middle of writing my first book, Children, Culture, and Controversy, and I was conducting research for a chapter about the various attempts to ban children’s books written by Blume and other controversial authors.

When I asked her questions about the campaigns against her books, she answered in ways that went beyond herself. She often drew connections between her own experiences with book censors and the experiences of other children’s authors whose books had also been banned. She talked about her commitment to children’s intellectual freedom and their right to read a variety of books. She told me about the National Coalition Against Censorship and suggested I interview its then-director, the late Leanne Katz. She also suggested I talk with other authors of censored children’s books. I followed up on her suggestions, and this eventually led to my collection of interviews titled Trust Your Children: Voices Against Censorship in Children’s Literature.  I would have never written this book if it were not for Blume’s suggestion and encouragement.

I will always treasure my memories of my trip to New York to interview Judy Blume, and I continue to value my connection to Blume and her children’s books.  I have long wished that I could reciprocate her gracious hospitality.  In fact, I tried to bring her to Charlotte to speak, but we could not work out the details.  However, now that her classic novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has been filmed in Charlotte, I am pleased that Storied Charlotte has its own special connection to Judy Blume.    

Michael A. Almond’s debut novel, The Tannery, pairs up perfectly with Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.  Both are historical novels set in the South during the Jim Crow era.  Both deal with the impact of racial prejudice on the court system.  Both include highly principled lawyers who fight for justice even though the odds are stacked against them.  And both provide readers with insider depictions of life in small Southern communities.  It might not seem fair to compare The Tannery to Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird since Lee’s novel is recognized as one of the most important novels in the history of Southern literature, but The Tannery stands up to the comparison. Michael has created a riveting novel that combines the excitement of a legal thriller with the complexities of a well-researched work of historical fiction.  Michael’s depiction of North Carolina’s bigoted past is unflinching and disturbing, but his portrait of his native state is not entirely negative.  His story has its bigots, but it also has its heroes.

In writing The Tannery, Michael drew on his experience and contacts as a long-time Charlotte resident.  He moved to Charlotte in 1976, a year after he graduated from the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He spent many years with the Charlotte law firm of Parker Poe, and because of this background, he has a deep understanding of the intricacies of the legal system.  This background helped him when writing the courtroom scenes in The Tannery.  His many Charlotte contacts also helped him when he decided to try his hand at writing a novel.  As he was writing The Tannery and preparing to submit it to publishers, he sought feedback from the writing community in Charlotte, and he readily acknowledges the help that he received from these writers.  For more information about his career and his debut novel, please click on the following link:  www.michaelalmondbooks.com

I recently contacted Michael and asked him for more background about his decision to write The Tannery.  Here is what he sent to me:

My debut novel, The Tannery, will be released by Koehler Books on October 19, 2021.  The book is a work of historical fiction, a murder mystery/legal thriller set in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in the pivotal year of 1900 amidst the turbulent world of post-Reconstruction political, social, and racial conditions in the South at the dawn of the Jim Crow era.  When I began researching and outlining the novel back in 2007, I had no idea that the themes of Black voter suppression and intimidation, vigilante “justice,” and White Supremacy that drive the story would resonate so vividly in today’s polarized environment.

I am a lifelong resident of North Carolina, raised in the small town of Pilot Mountain in the Piedmont foothills, and I came of age during the Civil Rights upheavals of the 1960s.

My decades-long career as an international business lawyer was entirely spent in Charlotte.  Back in 1976, I turned down offers from law firms in larger cities, convinced that Charlotte was about to make its case and stake its claim as a leader in global trade, business, finance, and investment.  It turns out that this was the right idea, at the right time, in just the right place.

I am a voracious reader, getting through 40-50 books a year, and somewhere along the way I began to wonder…perhaps there is a book in me?  I am not a historian, but I am a huge fan of Southern history and historical fiction, so the genre appealed to me as I began thinking about what sort of story I wanted to tell.

Budding authors are always told to “Write what you know.” So in researching and outlining The Tannery, I drew heavily from my own personal background and experience.  I grew up in Surry County, next door to Wilkes, and I was generally aware of Wilkes’ rich and compelling history: Daniel Boone, the Overmountain Men, Tom “Dooley,” the Fort Hamby Gang, Eng and Chang Bunker (the original “Siamese Twins”), the C.C. Smoot & Sons Tannery (the largest steam leather tannery in the Southeast), the devastating Yadkin River floods, and of course, moonshine!  Maybe I could build a story around that?

Last April, after 13 years of historical research, plotting, and outlining, I proudly presented my wife, Helen Ruth, with what I thought was the final outline for the book.  Exasperated, she looked me in the eye and said, “Listen, Michael, all of your friends and I are tired of hearing about your research and outlining.  We are stuck at home in the middle of a pandemic, so you have no excuse.  Either go upstairs and write the book or be quiet about it!”  So, I did.  Overcoming the terrifying image of a blank computer screen before me, I began to write.  And five months and 125,000 words later, The Tannery was complete.

In my experience, readers of historical fiction always want to learn something new, but they are also interested in just where the “historical” ends and the “fiction” begins, the line between reality and imagination.  My goal was to write a fast-paced, suspenseful, compelling, and, most of all entertaining story with lots of twists, turns, and surprises, all the while weaving in the historical details that hopefully enrich the narrative.  The keys to successful historical fiction, I believe, are authenticity and context.  In a sense, then, The Tannery is a sort of “time machine,” transporting readers to a different time and place, aiming for a deeper understanding of the post-Reconstruction South and exposing some of the darker, more shameful forces and personalities at work in 1900 North Carolina.

The Tannery is by no means autobiographical, but the book does draw upon my own personal and professional experiences as an international attorney and long-time resident of Charlotte.  Local venues in the book include Wilkes County, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Charlotte, but many scenes take place in such far-off places as Oxford, London, Alsace, Baden-Baden, and Argentina.  My international travels over the years also suggested many of the fictional characters (and the languages they speak, as well as many of the meals they consume!) who appear in the book alongside such historical personalities as Charles B. Aycock, Cameron Morrison, and Josephus Daniels.  I expect that many of my Charlotte friends, who have patiently listened to my stories and anecdotes over the years, will smile and recognize much of the Michael Almond they know in The Tannery!

Once the novel was completed, I faced the challenge of getting the thing published.  And here I must salute the incredible community of local Charlotte authors and others in our local Book World who so generously contributed their time, wisdom, and resources to help me, as a novice, navigate what is an always challenging and sometimes bewildering publication and marketing process.  Kudos and much appreciation to Mark Ethridge, Mark de Castrique, Millie and Tom Cox, Kim Wright, Kimmery Martin, Tracy Curtis, Tommy Tomlinson, Leslie Hooten, Bess Kercher, Frye Gaillard, Frances and Bill Thompson, Landis Wade, Judy Goldman, Karen Beach, and Judith Sutton!”

Since retiring from his career as an attorney, Michael and his wife divide their time between their farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Charlotte.  However, he still considers himself a Charlotte writer, and so do I.  As the keeper of Storied Charlotte’s ever-expanding library, I am pleased to add The Tannery to the collection of historical novels by Charlotte authors.

The Southern Literary Messenger, one of the first literary journals associated with the American South, made its debut in August 1834 in the city of Richmond, Virginia. A year later, a young Edgar Allan Poe signed on as an assistant editor and regular contributor. Many of Poe’s most famous works originally appeared in The Southern Literary Messenger, including his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, which first came out in installments in the Messenger. Poe is but one of many Southern writers who have established their reputations and credentials by contributing to literary journals. Such literary journals and magazines have played significant roles in the history of Southern literature. 

Over the years, Charlotte has served as the home for several notable literary journals, such as that Southern Poetry Review, which was based in Charlotte for many years. The list of literary journals that are currently published in Charlotte include The Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine (a UNC Charlotte student-run magazine that made its debut in 1970), The Main Street Rag (a print magazine that has been publishing poetry, short fiction, essays, interviews and other features since 1996), and Qu: A Literary Magazine (a publication of the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte that has been releasing issues since 2015). Soon, however, a new Charlotte-based literary journal will join this list.

This new journal is a project of the Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, more commonly known as Charlotte Lit. In just five years, Charlotte Lit has carved a unique spot in the Charlotte arts scene, hosting more than fifty classes annually and bringing big-time writers like poet Terrance Hayes to town for special events and classes. They’re entering new territory now with a major writing contest and journal. I asked co-founders Kathie Collins and Paul Reali for the details.

“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of an annual writing contest and journal, both called Writers/South,” wrote Collins. “With prizes totaling $10,000, plus publication, the contest and journal will be game-changers not only for Charlotte Lit but also for North Carolina and the surrounding region. Our mission is to be the premier creative writing center in this pocket of the southeast. To achieve that, we really needed to expand our reach.”

“We’re fortunate,” added Reali. “It’s very difficult for regional journals to attract big-name judges and offer significant cash prizes. Thanks to a generous Charlotte Lit patron, a good friend who wishes to remain anonymous, we’re able to enter the contest market with a splash. This patron has been actively supporting our mission for several years and understands how essential it is to our growth for us to ‘spread the words’ beyond Charlotte.”

Writers/South will award a first-place prize of $1,500 in each of four categories—fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and flash. Attractive cash prizes also go to second place, third place, and honorable mention winners. The judging panel is filled with familiar names and rising stars: Ron Rash for fiction, Nickole Brown and Jessica Jacobs for poetry, Tara Campbell for Flash, and Stephanie Elizondo Griest for nonfiction. Poet and University of South Carolina professor Michael Dowdy rounds out this dream team as journal editor. All winners will have their entries published alongside writing by this year’s judges in the inaugural issue of Writers/South: Journal of Charlotte Lit, to be published May 1, 2022.

In keeping with Charlotte Lit’s regional ambitions, the contest is open to writers in North Carolina and its four border states: Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. Submissions are open from September 1 to December 1. Winners will be announced March 1. Contest winners will be honored and have an opportunity to read at a May event that also honors the first inductees into the new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Literary Hall of Fame (which is a story for another day).

Writers should stop by https://www.charlottelit.org/ to learn more about the Writers/South Awards and how to enter. Collins said, “We can’t wait to read what you’re writing!”

In my role as the writer of the Storied Charlotte blog, I thank Kathie Collins and Paul Reali for their inside scoop on the founding of Writers/South. Just as The Southern Literary Messenger played a major role in the writing career of Edgar Allan Poe and other nineteenth-century writers from the South, I am sure Writers/South will soon play a major role in the careers of many contemporary writers who call Storied Charlotte home.

Bill Hill and I go way back.  We arrived at UNC Charlotte within two years of each other.  Bill came in 1982 as a communications studies professor and debate coach, and I came in 1984 as an English professor with a specialty in children’s literature.  Shortly after we met, we discovered that we both liked to play ping pong.  Nearly every week we played fast-and-furious ping pong games during our lunch breaks, and we’ve been friends ever since.  Over the years, our careers followed along similar paths.  We both served as program directors, department chairs, and associate deans.  Bill retired a few years ago, but we still stay in touch on a regular basis.

Another point Bill and I have in common is that we both pursued unusual careers before we entered academia.  During the 1970s and early ‘80s, I worked as a professional puppeteer, and around the same time period, Bill pursued a career in the professional roller derby world.  I’ve long enjoyed hearing Bill’s inside stories from his roller derby years, and I’ve often thought that these stories would be of interest to a wide audience.  Well, I am pleased to report that Bill’s roller derby stories are included in Jim Fitzpatrick’s new book titled Ad-Lib to the Blow Off!:  The True Story of Professional Roller Derby. 

One of the chapters in Fitzpatrick’s book is titled “Bill Hill: The Debater and the Skater.”  This chapter traces Bill’s involvement in roller derby, from watching roller derby on television with his father, to skating with the Chicago Pioneers and other teams, to working as a commentator for ESPN’s coverage of roller derby.  This chapter is chockfull of stories from Bill’s roller derby days.  I especially enjoyed the stories about how Bill entered the world of professional roller derby, including a story about hitchhiking to San Francisco so that he could participate in a roller derby training program.  The chapter concludes with a reflection from Bill about his skating career:

Needless to say, Roller Derby changed my life.  I have often said that I learned as much or more being on the road skating as I did in school.  I grew quickly when I joined Roller Derby; it was an experience and a prerequisite for getting along. … I constantly think about the places, the people, the feel of the track, the sounds of the audience.  Yes, I miss all the night drives, … I miss the bumps and the bruises, I miss the people, … I miss doing the TV.  It may sound strange, but nothing can replace those things because there is simply nothing else like life in Derby.

Of course, Ad-Lib to the Blow Off! is not just about Bill’s connections to roller derby.  Jim Fitzpatrick covers the entire history of roller derby in his book. In writing this book, Jim turned to Bill for research and editorial help.  Bill also provided the foreword to the book.  I contacted Jim and asked him for more information about the book and Bill’s role in making this book a reality.  Here is what Jim sent to me:

I fell in love with Roller Derby and the San Francisco Bay Bombers as a small boy in 1968 and had a childhood dream to become a professional skater. Fast forward a number of years and I was able to live out my dream which ended up lasting 36 years (in a variety of roles which included skater, referee, track crew member, trainer, assisting in promotion, coach/general manager)! Things didn’t quite pan out as I had envisioned but it was a wild roller coaster ride that I would definitely take again if I had it to do over.

Over the years I became a collector and historian of the sport and a little over a decade ago began writing my book in order to preserve its history before it was too late. I reached out to Bill Hill for his insights into his time as a professional skater, from rookie to one of the top player coaches. Bill also gave me valuable assistance with editing and organizing the book.

As for my book, I feel one doesn’t need to be a fan of Roller Derby to enjoy it. It offers something(s) for a wide variety of audiences. The original Roller Derby’s rich history began during the Great Depression and survived through three wars (WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War), as well as decades of radical changes in society. Just when Roller Derby reached its peak in popularity and its future looked bright, in the blink of an eye it shut down. For years the fans, participants, and media were led to believe the sport succumbed to the oil crisis and gas rationing of the early 70s. In reality, the actions of a member of the Chicago Outfit (Al Capone’s Mob) were what actually led to the league’s demise. Since then, countless attempts to revive the sport have come and gone. Many were poorly executed or run. A few were totally bizarre reinterpretations of the game involving huge money and major TV deals but stood absolutely no chance of succeeding since those in charge lacked the understanding of what made the original sport so successful. Many of the attempts “muddied the water” as to what the original Roller Derby was and tarnished its reputation.

The book also gives an unprecedented look inside the sport, from not only the business end but the skaters’ point of view. In order to do that, I had to shatter kayfabe (a term that was used in professional wrestling in which events were portrayed as “real” even though they were staged) and be the first to expose what really went on and how much of the sport was legitimate and how much was “set.” Numerous personal and touching insights are included which expose the hazards, hardships, and sacrifices skaters and personnel endured for the honor of being a part of Roller Derby. The allure of performing in an amazingly entertaining but extremely dangerous spectacle, in front of huge crowds and on television, was so powerful that most look back upon it as the best time in their life.

Barnes & Noble Press published Ad-Lib to the Blow Off!, and they have more information about the book on their website:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ad-lib-to-the-blow-off-jim-fitzpatrick/1139822756 Fitzpatrick includes the stories of many skaters in his book, and I enjoyed reading about these other skaters.  Nevertheless, the skater’s story that interests me the most is Bill’s story.  In a sense, this book captures a side of Bill that most of his professional colleagues at UNC Charlotte never saw during his long career as an administrator.  I think of Bill’s skater self as his alter-ego.  In his role as a Senior Associate Dean, Bill represented the interests of the university and behaved as one would expect an upper-level university administrator to behave.  However, having played ping pong with him many times, I saw another side of Bill—a more rebellious, go-for-broke side.  In a way, the multiple sides of Bill are like the multiple sides of Charlotte.  The Chamber-of-Commerce side of Charlotte is all business, but the Storied Charlotte side of the city is far more interesting.