The state of Alabama is well-known as the home of athletic and musical heroes. Close behind those two categories are writers, including novelists, nonfiction writers and poets.
Well-known Alabama writers include a lengthy and impressive list:
Cabot Barden, Rick Bragg, Katie Britt, Fannie Flagg, Steve Flowers, Brenda Gantt, Walt Merrill, Zora Neale Hurston, William March, Angela Johnson, Mark Childress, Sena Jeter Naslund, Ace Atkins, Richard North Patterson, Daniel Wallace, Winston Groom, Sonia Sanchez, T. S. Stribling, Jennifer Horne, Walker Percy, Sara Mayfield, Mollie Evelyn Moore Davis, James Haskins, Idora M. Plowman, Jim Hilgartner, Frances Nimmo Greene, Elise Sanguinetti, James Agee, Caroline Lee Hentz, Noah Ludlow, Louise Clarke Pyrnelle, Lella Warren, Eugene Walter, Octavia Walton Le Vert, Joe David Brown, H. E. Francis, Helen S. Woodruff, Robert R. McCammon, Homer Hickam, Jeanie Thompson, Tom Franklin, Lauren K. Denton, Michelle Richmond, Mary Ward Brown, Ellen Tarry, Howell Raines, Wayne Greenhaw, Irene Latham, Rodney Jones, Zelda Fitzgerald, E. O. Wilson, Patti Callahan Henry, Wernher Von Braun.
In addition to that long Alabama list, there is a bevy of writers from one small town – Monroeville. It lays claim to being “the literary capital of Alabama.”
Monroeville writers include:
Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Mark Childress, Rheta Grimsley-Johnson. Riley Kelly, Mike Stewart, and William Barret Turner.
The literary leadership of the state had started with the two blockbuster authors from Monroeville:
Harper Lee, real local name "Nelle Harper Lee," was the best-selling author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," based loosely on her South Alabama hometown of Monroeville.
Then, there came Truman Capote's true crime story In Cold Blood, which read like a novel. It popularized a new literary genre: creative nonfiction.
After "To Kill a Mockingbird" hit the bestseller lists, won the Pulitzer Prize, and was made into a popular movie starring Gregory Peck, the city of Monroeville began to hold literary events that centered on the book. Those events included plays reenacting the courtroom trial depicted in the book, held in the historic courtroom in the center of Monroeville.
From February 27 through March 1, that same courthouse, which is now "The Courthouse Museum," will be one of several venues for the annual Monroeville Literary Festival. It long ago expanded beyond just the two local celebrity authors, now deceased, and includes writers from all over Alabama. Many will be there at the festival doing book signings.
The 2025 festival theme is "Join us in Monroeville for Alabama’s most exciting weekend for people who love to read."
You can make an entire Thursday through Saturday of it, taking in the whole experience, or select which authors you want to hear and meet and which events to attend.
Activities begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 27, and end on Saturday, March 1.
You can attend readings, discussions, and book signings for free, but registration is required. Ticketed meal events must be purchased and paid in advance.
Click here to register for free events or to purchase tickets via Eventbrite.
Two unusual and artsy events have partnered with the literary festival this year. Starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, February 27, these free events kick off the weekend. Plein air painting will be done right before your eyes at ‘The Shop at 66.’ A free Meet-the-Artists reception will be there at 4:30 p.m. Details on the plein air events can be found here.
Also on the 27th, the Alabama roots band The Pine Hill Haints will perform a free concert at 6:30 p.m. in the courtroom of the Old Courthouse Museum.
The Haints’ music combines true Alabama storytelling with traditional music-making – and they are as much fun to watch as they are to listen to. For more than 20 years, the Haints have performed music they consider to be “dead” in the modern world. They call it “Ghost Music.” They’ve built a cult following across the U.S. and Europe with thrilling concerts and a unique sound. The band utilizes traditional American folk music instruments such as a fiddle, harmonica, tenor banjo, mandolin, saw, washtub bass and accordion. And it’s free.
Details on the entire three days of literature, art and music are at https://www.monroevilleliteraryfestival.com/
"Novels can hallow a place, cast a glow upon it and inspire bookish pilgrims—and there are always visitors, who'd read the book or seen the movie." - Smithsonian Magazine
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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