The great thing about reading is that you never know just what you’ll find with the turn of the next page. Well, I just turned the next page only to learn that Lauren Groff, acclaimed author of Fates and Furies and Arcadia, will be the presenting speaker at this year’s Mid-South Book Festival presented by Literacy Mid-South, the organization whose mission it is to stamp out illiteracy in our area.
“Literacy Mid-South is thrilled to welcome Lauren Groff to the 2016 Mid-South Book Festival,” said Kevin Dean, executive director of the organization. “Ms. Groff’s latest book, Fates and Furies, was one of the most highly recommended books last year, and it was even President Obama’s choice for the best book of 2015. Lauren Groff is an engaging, personable speaker and will be an inspiration to up-and-coming writers and book lovers. We are so thankful to our sponsors who are ensuring that Ms. Groff’s presentation is free and open to the public.”
Indeed, it isn’t just Obama who loves a good book. Fates and Furies was Amazon’s number one book of 2015, and the New York Times said, “Lauren Groff is a writer of rare gifts, and Fates and Furies is an unabashedly ambitious novel that delivers — with comedy, tragedy, well-deployed erudition and unmistakable glimmers of brilliance throughout.”
Courtney Miller Santo, Memphis author of The Roots of the Olive Tree and Three Story House, began her review in the Winter Reading issue of The Memphis Flyer: “Deep into Lauren Groff’s compelling third novel, where marriage is as much of a character as either spouse, the wife realizes ‘that there is no such thing as sure. There is no absolute anything.’ This knowledge is what makes Fates and Furies such a gripping story . . .”
Last year’s festival saw 80 authors and 5,000 attendees, and this year’s is shaping up to be even bigger and better. Groff will be appearing on September 10th. Stay tuned here and in The Memphis Flyer for more updates and announcement as the event grows nearer.
