The Southern Lit Alliance’s signature event, the Celebration of Southern Literature, will return to Chattanooga for its seventeenth year on April 18-20, with events based around the works of world-renowned Southern writers.

This year’s schedule for the Celebration of Southern Literature, described by writer and critic Louis D. Rubin as “the leading literary event of the South,” has a lineup of literary greats, such as Richard Bausch, Ron Rash, Roy Blount, Jr. and a keynote address by award-winning playwright Beth Henley, officials said.  

Additional event highlights include a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate Natasha Trethewey and a performance of selections from the off-Broadway musical, Good Ol’ Girls, adapted from the fiction of Lee Smith and Jill MCCorkle, featuring songs by Matraca Berg and Marshall Chapman, all of whom will be at the session.  

Numerous readings and panel discussions focusing on topics such as “What is Southern These Days?”, “How Literature Saves Us,” and “Ecstasy and Fact: How Poems Work,” will set the tone for the three-day event.

“The 2013 Celebration will bring more than 50 distinguished authors to Chattanooga, providing a unique opportunity for attendees to interact with some of the greatest writers of our time,” said Susan Robinson, executive director of the Southern Lit Alliance.

Since 1981, the Celebration of Southern Literature has been a destination for bibliophiles around the country, offering three days of panel discussions, readings, workshops and fellowship. In addition, writers also visit with Chattanooga high schools, teachers and book clubs throughout the week of the event. 

The Celebration has a partnership with the Fellowship of Southern Writers, an organization of Southern writers that holds its biennial meetings in conjunction with the Celebration. The FSW was founded in 1987 by 26 Southern writers, including Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, Cleanth Brooks, William Styron, Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Shelby Foote, Elizabeth Spencer, Fred Chappell, Ernest J. Gaines and George Core.

Celebration events, readings and panel discussions are open to the public, and several ticketing options are available. For more information and to register, visit SouthernLitAlliance.org or call 800.267-4232 to request a brochure.