The Lillian E. Smith Center, located in Clayton, has been selected as one of seven sites in Georgia on the tri-state (Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia) Southern Literary Trail, a project uniting homes of writers and literary landmarks into one tri-state pathway. The Southern Literary trail in Georgia features Lillian E. Smith, Margaret Mitchell, Joel Chandler Harris, Erskine Caldwell, Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor and Carson McCullers.
The weekend of March 14-15 will recognize Lillian E. Smith, with events including:
Presentations and open discussions by two recognized scholars and writers:
- Rose Gladney, recognized for her scholarly, pedagogical, and writing talents, served on the American Studies faculty of the University of Alabama until her retirement. She continues her professional contributions as a participant and presenter at various conferences and symposiums. She is the author of the award winning HOW AM I TO BE HEARD: Letters of Lillian E. Smith.
- Will Brantley, professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University, is author of FEMININE SENSE IN SOUTHERN MEMOIR, which was awarded the 1992 Eudora Welty Prize. (this book addresses the significance of six writers identified with the Southern Literary Renaissance: Lillian Smith, Ellen Glasgow, Eudora Welty, Lillian Hellman, Katherine Ann Porter, and Zora Neale Hurston).
Showings of two documentary films:
- Miss Smith of Georgia
- Miss Lil’s Camp
Guided tours of the Lillian E. Smith Center, which was Smith’s home place and the site where she did most of her writing. This includes her living spaces, her library, cottages from the camp she directed, a small house museum where she did her final writing, and her gravesite.
Supper based on Lillian Smith’s family recipes (reservation only)
Exhibit at the Rabun County Historical Society
Special features on southern writers at the Rabun County Library, with the month of March focusing on Lillian E. Smith
Special display at Prater’s Main Street Books
Area restaurants featuring Lillian E. Smith family recipes during March
For more information and group reservations, please contact the CVB at 706-982-4754.
You can download a .pdf file of the Southern Literary Trail brochure
