English

School of Arts and Letters

Visiting Authors

The North Georgia College & State University Visiting Authors Program hosts contemporary writers to discuss their work with our students and community, offering illuminating perspectives on human experience—revealed through their poetry, fiction, essays, and memoirs—as well as insights about the writing and publishing processes.

Spring 2012
Frank X Walker - 100 x 130Photo by Rachel Eliza GriffithsFrank X Walker, Poet

Focus Works:  Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate this Ride (2010), Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York (2003), Black Box: Poems (2005)

Support/Affiliation:  Supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts

Author Website:  http://www.frankxwalker.com/



Fall 2011
Sonya Huber, Memorist

Focus Work:  Opa Nobody (2008)

Support/Affiliation:  With grant funding from the Georgia Humanities Council, which is supported through funds appropriated by the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author Website:  http://www.sonyahuber.com/

Additional Website:
  1. http://www.northgeorgia.edu/NorthGeorgiaNews/articles.aspx?id=4294976190


Sonya Huber - 100 x 130
Fall 2010
Silas House, novelist and non-fiction writer

Focus Works:  Eli the Good (2009), Something's Rising (2009), Clay's Quilt (2001)

Support/Affiliation:  In partnership with the Georgia Appalachian Studies Center

Author Website:  http://www.silashouse.net

Additional Website:
  1. http://www.northgeorgia.edu/North_Georgia_News/Articles/Announcements/Student_Announcements/Award-winning_Kentucky_novelist_to_speak_at_North_Georgia.aspx


Fall 2010
Scott Miller, singer and songwriter

Author Website:  http://www.thescottmiller.com



Spring 2010
Laila LalamiLaila Lalami, novelist

Focus Work:  Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005)

Support/Affiliation:  Supported by the Hoag Lecture Series

Author Website:  http://lailalalami.com

Additional Websites:
  1. http://lailalalami.com/2010/03/page/2/
  2. http://northgeorgia.edu/NorthGeorgiaNews/articles.aspx?id=7664
  3. http://northgeorgia.edu/NorthGeorgiaNews/articles.aspx?id=7807


Fall 2008
Anne Dismukes Amerson

Focus Work:  Dahlonega’s Gold (2008)

Author Website:  http://irememberdahlonega.com/index.html



Fall 2007
Jackie CooperJackie K Cooper

Focus Work:  The Bookbinder (2006)

Author Website:  http://www.jackiekcooper.com/



Spring 2007
Diane Gabaldon, Novelist

Focus Work:  Outlander (1992)

Support/Affiliation:  In conjunction with the Dahlonega Literary Festival

Author Website:  http://www.dianagabaldon.com/



Diana Gabaldon
Fall 2006
Brain CorriganBrian Corrigan, Novelist

Focus Work:  The Poet of Loch Ness (2005)

Author Website:  http://www.brianjaycorrigan.com/bio.html

Additional Website:
  1.  http://faculty.northgeorgia.edu/ANGailey/


Spring 2006
Margaret Edson, Playwright

Focus Work:  Wit (1999)

Author Website:  http://faculty.smu.edu/tmayo/witguide.htm



Fall 2005
Terry KayTerry Kay, Novelist

Focus Works:  The Valley of Light (2003), To Dance with the White Dog (1991)

Author Website:  http://www.terrykay.com/



Fall 2004
Linda G Niemann, Memoirist

Focus Works:  Railroad Voices (1998), Boomer: A Railroad Journey (1992)

Author Website:  http://works.bepress.com/linda_niemann/



Linda Niemann
Spring 2004
Natasha Trethewey, Poet

Focus Works:  Belocq’s Ophelia (2002), Domestic Work (2000)

Author Website:  http://creativewriting.emory.edu/faculty/trethewey.html



Fall 2003
Lorraine Lopez, Fiction Writer

Focus Work:  Soy la Avon Lady and Other Stories (2002)

Author Website:  http://www.lorrainelopez.typepad.com/



Lorraine Lopez
Fall 2003
John Stone, Poet

Focus Work: 

Author Website:  http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-775

Additional Website:
  1.  http://nancysimpson.blogspot.com/2009/02/poems-by-physician-poet-john-stone.html


Spring 2003
Janisse Ray, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Focus Work:  Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (2000)

Author Website:  http://janisseray.weebly.com/



Fall 2002
Judith Ortiz CoferJudith Ortiz Cofer, Poet, Essayist, and Fiction Writer

Focus Works:  Woman in Front of the Sun (2000), The Latin Deli: Telling the Lives of Barrio Women (1993), Silent Dancing (1991)

Author Website:  http://judithortizcofer.english.uga.edu/



Spring 2002
Lynn Hinton, Novelist

Focus Work:  Friendship Cake (2001)

Author Website:  http://www.lynnehinton.com/



Lynne Hinton
Fall 2001
Amy Blackmarr - 100 x 130Amy Blackmarr, Memoirist

Focus Works:  Above the Fall Line (2003), Going to Ground (1997)

Author Website:  http://amyblackmarr.com/



Spring 2001
Michael Bishop, Poet, Novelist, and Short Fiction Writer

Focus Work:  Time Pieces (1998)

Author Website:  http://www.michaelbishop-writer.com/



Michael BishopPhoto by Jeri Bishop
Fall 2000
Lee AbbottLee  Abbott, Novelist

Focus Work:  Living after Midnight (1991)

Author Website:  http://www.wiredforbooks.org/leekabbott/



Spring 2000
Le Ly Hayslip, Novelist

Focus Work:  When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (1989)

Author Website:  http://www.wic.org/bio/lhayslip.htm



Fall 1999
Fred Chappell, Author and Poet

Focus Works:  More Shapes Than One (1992), I Am One of You Forever (1987)

Author Website:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/fred-chappell



Spring 1999
Jill McCorkle, Novelist

Focus Work:  Final Vinyl Days and Other Stories (1998)

Author Website:  http://www.jillmccorkle.com/



Jill McCorkle
Spring 1998
Bette Bao Lord, Memoirist

Focus Works:  In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (1984), Spring Moon (1982)

Author Website:  http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/12443-1/Bette+Bao+Lord.aspx



Spring 1997
N. Scott  Momaday, Poet and Novelist

Focus Work:  The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969)

Author Website:  http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/momaday/momaday.htm



Spring 1996
Ernest GainesPhoto by Joseph SanfordErnest Gaines

Focus Works:  A Lesson Before Dying (1993) , A Gathering of Old Men (1983), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971)

Author Website:  http://library.louisiana.edu/Gaines/