Have you been on any Literary Road Trips? Taking any trips soon? Please share your trip with us! We might want to go too! Just send us your story and some pictures at [email protected]. Thanks!
Green Gables
by Nancy Dickinson
When I was invited to accompany a friend on a Canadian Maritimes cruise, I jumped at the chance when I saw it would take me to Prince Edward Island and the setting of the Anne of Green Gables books.
The first person I saw as I walked into the Charlottetown terminal was Anne herself! Then my friend and I boarded a bus that took us to several sites on PEI, and, after visiting the coastline that was so loved by author Lucy Maud Montgomery, we arrived at Green Gables.
As you know, Anne was a fictional character, but Green Gables was inspired by a real place, the home of relatives of Lucy Maud. The home is now a Federal Historic Building, and the Cavendish (Avonlea) site is a National Historic Site of Canada. There is a replica of what Matthew's barn might have looked like, and the house and gardens are available for viewing. The house has been decorated down to the last detail from the books. In one of the bedrooms, there is a dress with puffed sleeves hanging on the closet door, and, in another room, Marilla's shawl is lying on the bed. There is also a path through the haunted woods and a lover's lane. One interesting fact is that the house did not originally have green gables. But when the house opened to the public as the inspiration for the books, there was an outcry from the fans, and the gables were painted green.
This literary field trip is well worth taking, so if you have a chance to go to Prince Edward Island, don't miss a side trip to Cavendish and Green Gables!
When I was invited to accompany a friend on a Canadian Maritimes cruise, I jumped at the chance when I saw it would take me to Prince Edward Island and the setting of the Anne of Green Gables books.
The first person I saw as I walked into the Charlottetown terminal was Anne herself! Then my friend and I boarded a bus that took us to several sites on PEI, and, after visiting the coastline that was so loved by author Lucy Maud Montgomery, we arrived at Green Gables.
As you know, Anne was a fictional character, but Green Gables was inspired by a real place, the home of relatives of Lucy Maud. The home is now a Federal Historic Building, and the Cavendish (Avonlea) site is a National Historic Site of Canada. There is a replica of what Matthew's barn might have looked like, and the house and gardens are available for viewing. The house has been decorated down to the last detail from the books. In one of the bedrooms, there is a dress with puffed sleeves hanging on the closet door, and, in another room, Marilla's shawl is lying on the bed. There is also a path through the haunted woods and a lover's lane. One interesting fact is that the house did not originally have green gables. But when the house opened to the public as the inspiration for the books, there was an outcry from the fans, and the gables were painted green.
This literary field trip is well worth taking, so if you have a chance to go to Prince Edward Island, don't miss a side trip to Cavendish and Green Gables!
Literary Discoveries in Portugal
While on a recent trip to Portugal, Genetta Adair visited the magnificent Biblioteca Joanina (Joanine Library, in English). This Baroque library was completed in 1728 and is considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. Built above an academic prison at the University of Coimbra, it functioned as the university library until the mid-1990s.
Named for Portuguese King João V (King John V, in English), this literary treasure contains 60,000 volumes dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries, including a 15th century manuscript of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and Hebrew texts hidden during the Portuguese Inquisition.
The floor above the academic prison operated as a book deposit for the Noble Floor. This second floor was used to clean, catalogue, and preserve the ancient books.
The richly decorated Noble Floor features exotic carvings and painted ceilings above two stories of gilded balustrades and shelves constructed with wood from the tropics. To protect the leather-bound books from bugs, a colony of bats live in the library, eating insects every night.
In keeping with literary discoveries, Genetta found a free little library with contemporary books in both English and Portuguese just down the hall from her room at the Hotel Avenida Palace in Lisbon.
Named for Portuguese King João V (King John V, in English), this literary treasure contains 60,000 volumes dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries, including a 15th century manuscript of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and Hebrew texts hidden during the Portuguese Inquisition.
The floor above the academic prison operated as a book deposit for the Noble Floor. This second floor was used to clean, catalogue, and preserve the ancient books.
The richly decorated Noble Floor features exotic carvings and painted ceilings above two stories of gilded balustrades and shelves constructed with wood from the tropics. To protect the leather-bound books from bugs, a colony of bats live in the library, eating insects every night.
In keeping with literary discoveries, Genetta found a free little library with contemporary books in both English and Portuguese just down the hall from her room at the Hotel Avenida Palace in Lisbon.
If you can't go to Arizona for the Tucson Festival of Books in the spring, you might be able to make it to Bowling Green, KY! Kayla Stierwalt recently attended the SOKY Book Fest, an annual event held in March or April each year. Held at the Knicely Conference Center on Nashville Rd., it's almost just up the street! Here's Kayla's report.
by Kayla Stierwalt, Bowling Green correspondent
Bestselling author Sharon Cameron guided writers through making a working skeleton of a story idea using W questions. I thought through a concept I had in mind before slipping out for my own creative writing class. It felt good to participate in a workshop that had a similar structure and takeaways as my own sessions. As Sharon emphasized, this approach prevents a novel from languishing in its current draft.
I later had the opportunity to chat with Sharon Cameron, and she was as engaging as a person as she was as a workshop teacher and author. We smiled through a discussion about the variety of styles she writes, and my heart sighed when she said her husband helped with engineering type details as I recalled a conversation earlier that week with a writer-teacher friend whose husband is an engineer (Mark Watney is still my engineer boyfriend stand in). I thanked her for the workshop, and she wanted to know if I found it helpful. This gave me an opportunity to return the affirmation of a helpful session that she gave me, and I shared how I enjoyed the space to revisit an idea I had let languish and how her approach validated my teaching. We both seemed happy for the confidence boost, and I appreciated the nudge to share how my story unfolds.
by Kayla Stierwalt, Bowling Green correspondent
Bestselling author Sharon Cameron guided writers through making a working skeleton of a story idea using W questions. I thought through a concept I had in mind before slipping out for my own creative writing class. It felt good to participate in a workshop that had a similar structure and takeaways as my own sessions. As Sharon emphasized, this approach prevents a novel from languishing in its current draft.
I later had the opportunity to chat with Sharon Cameron, and she was as engaging as a person as she was as a workshop teacher and author. We smiled through a discussion about the variety of styles she writes, and my heart sighed when she said her husband helped with engineering type details as I recalled a conversation earlier that week with a writer-teacher friend whose husband is an engineer (Mark Watney is still my engineer boyfriend stand in). I thanked her for the workshop, and she wanted to know if I found it helpful. This gave me an opportunity to return the affirmation of a helpful session that she gave me, and I shared how I enjoyed the space to revisit an idea I had let languish and how her approach validated my teaching. We both seemed happy for the confidence boost, and I appreciated the nudge to share how my story unfolds.
Planning Ahead for Next Spring!
by Beth Frerking, our special Tucson Correspondent
If a year is too long for you to wait from one Southern Festival of Books to the next, there’s a way to soak up some sunshine and good bookish things in the spring.
The Tucson Festival of Books is held on the University of Arizona campus for a weekend each year in March. The festival pretty much has the place to itself because the students are on Spring Break. This is a good thing because it draws close to 130,000 people. It’s huge!
The festival debuted in 2009 and since then has grown to be one of the largest in the country. There’s something for all genres and all ages. I spent some time volunteering in the culinary tent this year and heard Mariana Nuño Ruiz talk about her beautiful book, Dining with the Dead: A Feast for Souls on the Day of the Dead, and demonstrate some of the recipes. A couple of the big draws were Bernie Sanders and Tucson native Linda Ronstadt. Mystery fans will be happy to know that J.A. Jance presents every year. All of the events are free, but you can reserve tickets in advance to guarantee a seat in your favorite sessions.
There’s lots to do and it covers a lot of real estate, so my best advice is to make a plan before you arrive and be sure to save time to enjoy the music and food. There’s an excellent app to help plan.
For more information check out https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/
It’s a beautiful time of year in Tucson and you can’t beat the author line-up. Hope to see some of you here!
Beth is a former President and current member of WNBA Nashville.
by Beth Frerking, our special Tucson Correspondent
If a year is too long for you to wait from one Southern Festival of Books to the next, there’s a way to soak up some sunshine and good bookish things in the spring.
The Tucson Festival of Books is held on the University of Arizona campus for a weekend each year in March. The festival pretty much has the place to itself because the students are on Spring Break. This is a good thing because it draws close to 130,000 people. It’s huge!
The festival debuted in 2009 and since then has grown to be one of the largest in the country. There’s something for all genres and all ages. I spent some time volunteering in the culinary tent this year and heard Mariana Nuño Ruiz talk about her beautiful book, Dining with the Dead: A Feast for Souls on the Day of the Dead, and demonstrate some of the recipes. A couple of the big draws were Bernie Sanders and Tucson native Linda Ronstadt. Mystery fans will be happy to know that J.A. Jance presents every year. All of the events are free, but you can reserve tickets in advance to guarantee a seat in your favorite sessions.
There’s lots to do and it covers a lot of real estate, so my best advice is to make a plan before you arrive and be sure to save time to enjoy the music and food. There’s an excellent app to help plan.
For more information check out https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/
It’s a beautiful time of year in Tucson and you can’t beat the author line-up. Hope to see some of you here!
Beth is a former President and current member of WNBA Nashville.
Laura Ingalls
by Nancy Dickinson
In September 2022 I took the great American road trip! I had never been to Wisconsin, Minnesota, or North Dakota so I started planning a trip there back in 2021. As I decided where I wanted to visit, I realized that my route was going to take me to Ingalls country.
My first Ingalls stop was Pepin, Wisconsin, and the Little House in the Big Woods. I ate dinner in a very popular restaurant on Lake Pepin, probably very near where Pa Ingalls traded when he came to town and where the Ingalls crossed the frozen Mississippi on their way to Kansas. Then I drove out to the site where the Ingalls lived and where Laura was born. It’s about eight miles from Pepin and there aren’t many woods around anymore. A reproduction of the cabin has been constructed by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society.
After visiting MN and ND, I dropped down into South Dakota and went to De Smet, The Little Town on the Prairie. There I was able to visit the Ingalls homestead, go inside the Surveyors' House where the family spent their first Dakota winter, and visit the house where the family finally settled after Laura married Almanzo. The LIW Memorial Society does an amazing job of maintaining the sites and giving guided tours.
Finally, my last stop was in Walnut Grove, MN, where I visited the Banks of Plum Creek. The family who owns the property today has posted signage and made this a very worthwhile visit. It may have been my favorite because it’s so beautiful there and I could imagine Laura and Mary playing in the creek and Pa working in the field.
I wish I could post all my favorite pictures I took on this pilgrimage, but here are a few. Let me know if you are interested in any details. It was a great trip!
In September 2022 I took the great American road trip! I had never been to Wisconsin, Minnesota, or North Dakota so I started planning a trip there back in 2021. As I decided where I wanted to visit, I realized that my route was going to take me to Ingalls country.
My first Ingalls stop was Pepin, Wisconsin, and the Little House in the Big Woods. I ate dinner in a very popular restaurant on Lake Pepin, probably very near where Pa Ingalls traded when he came to town and where the Ingalls crossed the frozen Mississippi on their way to Kansas. Then I drove out to the site where the Ingalls lived and where Laura was born. It’s about eight miles from Pepin and there aren’t many woods around anymore. A reproduction of the cabin has been constructed by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society.
After visiting MN and ND, I dropped down into South Dakota and went to De Smet, The Little Town on the Prairie. There I was able to visit the Ingalls homestead, go inside the Surveyors' House where the family spent their first Dakota winter, and visit the house where the family finally settled after Laura married Almanzo. The LIW Memorial Society does an amazing job of maintaining the sites and giving guided tours.
Finally, my last stop was in Walnut Grove, MN, where I visited the Banks of Plum Creek. The family who owns the property today has posted signage and made this a very worthwhile visit. It may have been my favorite because it’s so beautiful there and I could imagine Laura and Mary playing in the creek and Pa working in the field.
I wish I could post all my favorite pictures I took on this pilgrimage, but here are a few. Let me know if you are interested in any details. It was a great trip!
