Minick to be featured at next Southbound
Writer Jim Minick is the next featured author in the Southern Lit Alliance’s Southbound Series on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 2 p.m. Southbound will meet in the Arts Building, 301 E. 11th St.
Minick will read from his latest book, “Fire Is Your Water” (Swallow Press, 352 pp.), lead a discussion with the audience, followed by a book signing. Coffee, tea and soft drinks will be served
“Fire Is Your Water” provides an insider’s glimpse into the culture of Appalachia, without giving into sentimentality.
In the novel, sacred chants are Ada Franklin’s power and her medicine. By saying them, she can remove warts, stop bleeding and draw the heat from burns. At age 20, her reputation as a faith healer has defined her in her rural Pennsylvania community.
But on the day in 1953 that her family’s barn is consumed by flames, her identity as a healer is upended. The heat, the roar of the blaze and the bellows of trapped cows change Ada. For the first time, she fears death and doubts God. With the loss of her belief goes her power to heal.
Then Ada meets an agnostic named Will Burk and his pet raven, Cicero. The jealous raven, a Greek chorus of one, punctuates the story with its judgments on the characters and their actions, until a tragic accident brings Ada and Will together in a deeper connection.
Tickets to Southbound are $10 per guest. A copy of “Fire Is Your Water” can be purchased for an additional $22.
Reservations are recommended since seating is limited. Make reservations online at www. SouthernLitAlliance.org or call Lynda LeVan at 423-777-4221.