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Submitted by The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home
March 14, 2024 – The Book Lady Bookstore is pleased to announce the authors participating in Savannah Local Authors Day as part of Flannery O’Connor’s 100th Birthday Party and Fair in the Square on Sunday, March 23, 2025, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Lafayette Square. This annual event is hosted in conjunction with The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the South’s greatest writers. The event is free and open to the public.
The 2025 authors include:
- Aberjhani (poetry and memoir)
- Beehive Press (a Savannah-based southern history publisher begun by Mills B. Lane)
- Christopher Berinato (Savannah Morning News cultural events contributor, plus “Secret Savannah” guide book author)
- Helen Bradley (fiction)
- Vicki-Lynn Brunskill (fiction and essays)
- Don Cellini (poetry, translation)
- Amy Paige Condon (biography, journalism, southern foodwriting, writing craft)
- Rosemary Daniell (poetry, memoir, essays)
- Susan Earl (fiction)
- Enchanted Lion Press with Flannery O’Connor-inspired children’s book author Amy Alznauer and illustrator Ping Zhu
- Deborah Grahl (romance and romantic mystery)
- Chad Faries (poetry and memoir)
- Andre Frattino (graphic fiction and nonfiction writing and illustration)
- Kevin Grogan (nonfiction memoir)
- Charles Hoskins (Savannah African-American history)
- Beverly Jennings (southern and coastal history)
- Jessica Leigh Lebos (nonfiction essays, memoir, journalism)
- Danelle Lejeune (poetry, and co-director of Ossabaw Island Writers’ Retreat)
- Sherri Lewis (poetry)
- Ann Lilly (children’s books)
- Dawn Major (fiction/horror)
- Maudlin Pond Press (a group of six fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, nature, photography authors, including Ben Goggins, Cathy Sakas, Jack Anderson, Will Strong, Carol Elizabeth Cox, Jeffrey Sakas)
- Kevin McCarey (travel and short fiction)
- Andrew Meyer (film producer, record executive, and raconteur)
- Tony Ray Morris (poetry, and associate editor of Southern Poetry Review)
- Kerry Peresta (suspense)
- Christine Poythress (poetry)
- Maggie Redmon (nonfiction)
- Susan Diamond Riley (island mysteries)
- Elizabeth Robin (poetry)
- Marc Thomas (poetry)
- Patricia West (Gullah and regional African-American history)
- Jenn Wiggins (suspense/family drama)
In addition to the book fair, attendees will enjoy a performance by Moon River Opera, a popup art show by Panhandle Slim, Flannery-inspired crafts by Live Oak Public Library and Starlandia, vintage merch from Vintage Vortex, and birthday cake in celebration of O’Connor’s 100th birthday. Attendees are invited to dress up as Flannery to compete in a Flannery look-alike contest.
The birthday party will culminate in a promenade around Lafayette Square and birthday cake. Bring handmade signs and sing along.
For more information about the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home and the birthday party, please call 912-233-6014 or email janie@flanneryoconnorhome.org. For more information about Local Author Day, please contact Joni Saxon-Giusti at The Book Lady Bookstore at books@thebookladybookstore.com.
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ABOUT FLANNERY O’CONNOR:
Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia on March 25, 1925 and is the author of the acclaimed novels Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, as well as 31 short stories and numerous essays. Perhaps best known as a pioneering Southern gothic author who often wrote about morally flawed characters, O’Connor remains an important voice in American literature.
She lived in Savannah until 1938 and drew inspiration from her childhood experiences in Georgia’s First City until her death from lupus in Milledgeville, Georgia on August 3, 1964. She received the National Book Award for Fiction posthumously in 1972 for The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor.
ABOUT THE FLANNERY O’CONNOR CHILDHOOD HOME:
The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, located at 207 E. Charlton Street in the heart of Savannah, Georgia, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the South’s greatest writers. An established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home has been meticulously restored to reflect the authentic period furnishings of a Depression-Era
Savannah rowhouse and to offer insight into the years that O’Connor lived in Savannah from 1925 to 1938. The Home proudly presents a series of free readings as well as other events throughout the year. For more information, please visit flanneryoconnorhome.org.
ABOUT THE BOOK LADY BOOKSTORE:
Begun in 1978 by the inimitable Anita Raskin, the Book Lady Bookstore is Savannah’s only full-service independent bookstore offering a broad range of new, gently used, rare, and out-of-print books. Joni Saxon-Giusti, who worked at The Book Lady with Mrs. Raskin for many years, is now at the helm of this beloved Savannah bookshop and continues the work of expanding the city’s rich literary legacy. For more information, visit thebookladybookstore.com.