Revival: Lost Southern Voices, a festival for readers, celebrates historically excluded, erased, or marginalized Southern voices. During this annual conference, invited presenters discuss Southern authors or artists whose works are out-of-print or otherwise do not receive the attention they deserve. We invite the public, scholars, students, writers, and inquisitive readers to join the conversation as we continue to discover and revive these Lost Southern Voices.
Learn more about the origin of this festival for readers here.
*This year’s festival is over. Thank you to all who joined us! Stay tuned for the links to the recorded sessions. Check out the full program for the festival here. If you attended, please let us know what you thought by taking this brief survey.
Keynote, 7 p.m. — Northside Tavern: The Mostly True Account of the Golden Age of Atlanta’s Most Exquisite Blues Dive Screening and Q & A
With an introduction and Q & A by Consulting Producer Terri Capote
Panel 1, 10 a.m — Southern Educators, Authors, and Activists: Selected Writings of McClellan, Gaines, and Moody
Peter Schmidt presents George Marion McClellan
Matthew Teutsch presents Ernest J. Gaines’ Of Love and Dust
Stephane Dunn presents Essie Mae Moody
Moderated by Jennifer Colatosti
Panel 2, 1 p.m. — The Lyrical South: Poetry, Blues, and Children’s Literature
Eli Arnold presents Daniel Whitehead Hicky
Jim O’Loughlin presents Eddie Bowles
Aleshia Showen O’Neal presents Charlie May Simon
Moderated by Alison Law
Panel 3, 3 p.m. — Georgia Poets Laureate Through the Years
Jim Clark presents Bettie Sellers
William Walsh presents David Bottoms
Moderated by Monica Weatherly
*With brief opening remarks by Dr. Pearl McHaney, co-founder of RLSV
Panel 4, 1 p.m. — Homeward Bound: The Legacy of Thomas Wolfe
Rosemary D. Cox presents Thomas Wolfe
Tim Tarkington presents Thomas Wolfe
Ted Wadley presents Thomas Wolfe
Moderated by Andy Rogers
*Coffee Break with Southern Snacks
Panel 5, 3 p.m. — Sankofa Serenade: Remembering the Words and Works of Maud Cuney Hare
Jené Watson presents Maud Cuney Hare
Moderated by Janell Walden-Agyeman
Featuring Creole folk songs arranged by Maud Cuney Hare
The 2023 conference was held March 22 — 25, 2023 and consisted of virtual and in-person (but live-streamed) panels. View the program for the festival here.
Enjoy the Keynote from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023, featuring Dr. Maryemma Graham in conversation with Dr. Pearl McHaney.
Enjoy “Appalachian Floodwaters: Lost Voices, Dialects, and Places” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
Enjoy “Diverging Southern Roads: Lost Voices in Verse” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
Enjoy “Voices of the American and Global South” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
Enjoy “Tennessee-born Writers and the South” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
Enjoy “The Literary Landscape of Author/Artist William Gay: A Conversation with Team William Gay” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
Enjoy “Claiming ‘Our Own Literary Ancestors’: Honoring Our Mentors” from Revival: Lost Southern Voices 2023.
The 2022 conference was held virtually. View each of the panels below!
Learn more about the history Revival: Lost Southern Voices.
Literature, Art, and Music from Lost Southern Voices
Rediscovering Frank Yerby
“It’s Never Been Over”: Generational Trauma and the Atlanta Child Murders
These Bones Are Not My Child: The Life and Work of Toni Cade Bambara
The Life and Work of John Oliver Killens
The Day Atlanta Stood Still: Atlanta and The Legacy of the Orly Plane Crash
The 2021 conference was held virtually. View each of the panels below!
Art vs. Artist: Works of Merit and the Controversial Authors Who Wrote Them
Condensed Careers: Poetry, Scandal, and Southern Gothic
Unruly Women in Southern History
Reading Baldwin in the Twenty-first Century
Reckoning with the South throughout the Twentieth Century
Follow us on Twitter @RevivalLost
Follow us on Instagram @RevivalLSV
Follow us on Facebook @RevivalLostSouthernVoices
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View the old website for this festival here to learn more about past featured lost voices and presenters.
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