A coalition of Southern literary organizations and leaders has announced the Deep South Convening on the Future Success of American Writers, scheduled for May 24, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The event aims to address the historical gaps in literary infrastructure across the Southern United States.
The initiative brings together Hub City Press, Alabama poet laureate Ashley M. Jones, and author John T. Edge to facilitate dialogue between writers, funders, and nonprofit organizations. The convening will focus on examining existing support systems for Southern writers and identifying resources needed for their success.
"For every $16 spent on literary arts funding in New England, $4 is spend in the South," Meg Reid, executive director and publisher of Hub City Press in Spartanburg, S.C.,, said, referencing a study from Southern Methodist University and AlternateROOTS. "Furthermore, you talk to funders and they say they're not getting the applications that they need, even though they have goals about funding better, more representatively, geographically. And people don't know about the funding because they're not seeing it represented in their region, which then means that there's sort of an ouroboros happening here."
The event will feature several prominent literary figures, including W. Ralph Eubanks, current president of the Authors Guild, and Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of American Daughters. Chiwoniso Kaitano, executive director of MacDowell, will discuss leading the nation's first artist residency program, and Crystal Wilkinson, author of the culinary memoir Praisesong for the Kitchen, will offer keynote talks.
The organizers have structured the event to be accessible, waiving registration fees for all 100 attendees. "The collective aim of the convening is to listen to writers speak about what they need to thrive," the organizers stated in their announcement. "We are looking for it to attract a combination of writers, nonprofit workers, residency coordinators, and publishers and other groups," Reid added. "Basically anyone who is engaged with trying to create literary organization here in the South."
The event is backed by several institutional sponsors, including the Alabama Humanities Alliance, South Arts, the University of Alabama Birmingham Honors College, and the University of Mississippi Office of the Provost. Applications are currently being accepted through Submittable and being made on a rolling basis, with some travel stipends available.
"The big idea of the convening is to get people both from this region and outside—funders and those who would benefit—in the same room, in order to learn about each other's work and figure out how we can forward," Reid explained. "This is especially important, now more than ever."
