Letters About Literature entries for Alabama will be accepted until Jan. 11, 2019.
Every spring Alabama’s literary community gathers in Monroeville, Alabama to celebrate the state’s rich literary heritage at the Alabama Writers Symposium. Some of Alabama’s most celebrated writers and scholars lead discussion sessions, readings and workshops on themes ranging from Literary Gumbo to Murder, Mystery and Mayhem and everything in between. Since the inaugural event in 1998, writers and scholars participating in the event have included Fannie Flagg, Rick Bragg, Kathryn Tucker Windham, Mark Childress, Cynthia Tucker, Carolyn Haines, Winston Groom, Sena Jeter Naslund, Brad Watson, Wayne Flynt, Trudier Harris, Mike Stewart, Daniel Wallace, JeanieThompson, Kirk Curnutt, Don Noble, Mary Ward Brown, Warren St. John, Sue Brannan Walker, Wayne Greenhaw, George Plimpton, Sonia Sanchez, Tom Franklin, Sonny Brewer, Gin Phillips, Michelle Richmond, John Hafner, Watt Key and Ace Atkins and dozens more.
Annual event highlights include the presentation of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer and the Eugene Current-Garcia Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Literary Scholar, both made possible through a generous grant from George F. Landegger. Delicious food, art exhibits, music, booksellers and author signings round out the event’s entertainment.
All events take place in Monroeville on the campus of Coastal Alabama Community College, at the Monroeville Community House and the Monroe County Museum downtown. In 1997, the Alabama legislature designated Monroeville and Monroe County as the Literary Capital of Alabama in recognition of the region’s remarkable literary heritage, making Monroeville the perfect setting for the annual celebration of Alabama writers. Among the writers who at one time or another have called Monroeville and Monroe County home are Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Mark Childress, Rheta Grimsley Johnson and Cynthia Tucker.
Alabama semi-finalists, families, and teachers are invited to attend the Letters About Literature Award Ceremony on Saturday, May 11 at 11 a.m. in Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, room 205, on the campus of The University of Alabama. Guest speaker will be the author of Alabama’s bicentennial book for young readers, Charles Ghigna. 
Mark your calendars for the 19th Library of Congress National Book Festival, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, at the Washington Convention Center. Follow the excitement via our hashtag, #NatBookFest.
The Alabama Writers Hall of Fame will be held March 9, 2020, in the Bryant Conference Center, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The event is sponsored by the Alabama Center for the Book housed in the University Libraries at The University of Alabama, and the Alabama Writers’ Forum.
Seven authors will be inducted in this class. Their names will be announced soon.