OA Authors at the Arkansas Literary Festival
Spring has spread its wings in Arkansas, and THE OA was proud to welcome the 2010 Arkansas Literary Festival, which took place Thursday, April 8–Sunday, April 11 in downtown Little Rock. Several members of the OA team moderated panels: Publisher Warwick Sabin presented Jonathan Mahler, whose new book THE CHALLENGE: HAMDAN V. RUMSFELD AND THE FIGHT OVER PRESIDENTIAL POWER provoked a lively discussion, and associate editor Sara Camp Arnold hosted THE OXFORD AMERICAN's Southern Food Issue panel, featuring a trio of contributors: Brett Anderson, Sam Eifling, and Lolis Eric Elie.
We were excited about some other panels that involved OA contributors, including associate publisher Matt Baker, who presented a selection from his excellent debut novel, DRAG THE DARKNESS DOWN; Kevin Brockmeier; Alice Randall; and Katherine Whitworth.
In case you missed the Festival this year, we're featuring OA pieces by the aforementioned authors.
Brett Anderson is the restaurant critic and a feature writer for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. His writing has appeared in Gourmet, the Washington Post, and Food & Wine, among others. He has won two James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards and eleven writing awards from the Association of Food Journalists. *Sponsored by The OA.
Read Anderson's "Sushi's Great White Hope" from Issue 68.
Sam Eifling’s 2004 profile of a South Florida competitive eater was a finalist for a Bert Greene Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. A native Arkansan, he’s proud to live in a state where marshmallow-capped sweet potato casserole is considered a side dish. *Sponsored by The OA.
Read Eifling's "What do Arkansans Eat?" from Issue 68.
Alice Randall is the author of three novels (Rebel Yell, The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades) and a bunch of country songs. Her dining table sits eighteen and she fills it up often. She lives in Nashville with her husband and, for a little while longer, over a thousand cookbooks that belong to her daughter Caroline, away at college.
Read Randall's article on Linda Martell from Issue 67.
Matt Baker was born in Indiana and grew up in Kansas. He lives in Little Rock and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas. He is the author of a novel, Drag the Darkness Down. His work has not been translated into any languages.
Read Baker's "Ode to the Dixie Association" from Issue 61.
Lolis Eric Elie, author of Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbeque Country, produced a television documentary based on his book. His documentary, Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans chronicles the civil rights movement of the 1800s. He is currently writing Of Bondage & Memory. He is a metro columnist for the Times-Picayune. *Sponsored by the Historic Arkansas Museum.
Read Elie's "The Origin Myth of New Orleans Cuisine" from Issue 68.
Little Rock-based writer, editor, and fact-checker, Katherine Whitworth thinks the world could do worse than simply to feed itself well. Ever the dilettante, she has recently begun studying fashion design. One of her essays is found in Cornbread Nation 5.
Read Whitworth's "Ode to a Catfish House" from Issue 57.
Kevin Brockmeier has published six books of fiction, including The View from the Seventh Layer and The Brief History of the Dead, translated into fifteen languages. His new novel is forthcoming from Random House in the spring of 2011. He lives in Little Rock and has participated in the Arkansas Literary Festival each year since it was founded.
Read Brockmeier's "The View from the Seventh Layer" from Issue 64.
