Karen White
Southern Lit Alliance is welcoming New York Times bestselling author Karen White to speak at the FocusLit fundraiser on Thursday, June 24, at 5:30 p.m. The event will take at the Peyton venue on Broad Street. Ms. White will be reading from her new novel, Dreams of Falling, to be released on June 5.
In addition to the discussion and book signing, event guests will enjoy special low country hors d'oeuvres and treats by Events for Taste, wine and Ms. White’s own special drink she calls the Queen Bee.
Tickets for the event are $60 per person. VIP tickets are $125 and include an intimate dinner with Ms. White after the main event. FocusLit is presented by First Tennessee Bank.
After playing hooky one day in the seventh grade to read Gone With the Wind, Ms. White knew she wanted to be a writer—or become Scarlett O'Hara. In spite of these aspirations, Ms. White pursued a degree in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, after leaving the business world, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer and wrote her first book. In the Shadow of the Moon was published in August, 2000.
Ms. White has been nominated for numerous national contests including the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Book of the Year, and has twice won the National Readers’ Choice Award. Many of her 24 novels have appeared on various bestseller lists; the most recent The Guests on South Battery and The Night the Lights Went Out were New York Times bestsellers in 2017, along with receiving top rankings on the New York Times ebook list, Bookscan, and USA Today.
Tinged with Southern Gothic, her new book Dreams of Falling is "an emotionally fraught story surrounding friends, mothers and daughters, and the dark mysteries of the past waiting to be uncovered."
Ms. White hails from a long line of Southerners but spent most of her growing up years in London, England and is a graduate of the American School in London. When not writing, she spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking. She currently lives near Atlanta with her husband and two children, and two spoiled Havanese dogs.
Southern Lit Alliance is a longstanding literary arts organization in Chattanooga, founded in 1952. The mission is to deliver literary arts experiences that encourage people to read and write. The organization engages audiences through innovative literary arts experiences and educational enrichment in local schools and underserved communities in Chattanooga. For more information about Southern Lit Alliance and FocusLit, please visit www.southernlitalliance.org or call 777-4221. Southern Lit Alliance is funded by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.