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Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home Presents Virtual Readings with #FlanneryFridays

Tuesday, February 16th, 2021

The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home Foundation presents #FlanneryFridays, a weekly series of virtual readings featuring local poets and authors reading from their favorite pieces of writing by Savannah's own Flannery O'Connor.
 
Starting Friday, Feb. 19, virtual readings and musical selections by The Sweet Thunder Band will be uploaded to our YouTube channel once a week in the following order:
 
Feb. 19: Laura Davenport reading "The Nature and Aim of Fiction" from Mystery and Manners
 
Laura Davenport is the author of "Dear Vulcan" (LSU Press) and the chapbook "Little Hates" (Dancing Girl Press). Her poems have appeared in Best New Poets 2009, Crab Orchard Review, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Connotation Press: An Online Artifact and Sow's Ear Poetry Review, among others. She lives in Savannah, Georgia and works at the Savannah College of Art and Design. You can find Laura at davenportlaura.com.
 
Feb. 26: The Sweet Thunder Band performs "Way Down In The Hole" by Tom Waits
 
 
March 5: Tony Ray Morris reading "The Turkey"
 
Tony Ray Morris is the associate editor of Southern Poetry Review, and director of the Ossabaw Island Writers’ Retreat. He has published four books of award-winning poetry, and his debut novel, "Deep River Blues," was released in 2020. He lives with his wife, four children, two cats and a dog in a farmhouse nestled in the Southeast.
 
March 12: The Sweet Thunder Band performs "Everything is Broken" by Bob Dylan
 
March 19: Miho Kinnas reading five letters from Flannery to other authors
Miho Kinnas' newest work, "Move Over, Bird" is the followup to her collection, "Today, Fish Only," both published by Math Paper Press of Singapore. Her poems have appeared in journals based in Japan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, Singapore and various regions in the U.S. Recently her poems were translated into Arabic in Yemen. She holds an MFA in poetry from City University of Hong Kong & currently lives in Hilton Head Island, SC.
 
March 26: The Sweet Thunder Band performs "Ring Them Bells" by Bob Dylan
 
April 1: Aaron Belz reading "Good Country People"
Aaron Belz's fourth book of poems, "Soft Launch," was just published this fall 2019 by Persea Books. Publishers Weekly opines, “…[Belz] acutely observes his fellow humans—especially millennials—and uses these observations to weave text-speak and startup jargon into rich moments that feel entirely human.” Belz is originally from St. Louis and moved to Savannah last summer with his partner, journalist Araceli Cruz. His other works include the collections "The Bird Hoverer" (BlazeVOX, 2007), "Lovely," "Raspberry" (Persea 2010), and "Glitter Bomb" (Persea 2014).
 
The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home Board of Directors would like to give a huge thanks to The Sweet Thunder Band!
 
The Sweet Thunder Band:
Andrew Sovine-Wolfe - guitar / audio engineer
Jenna Lynn Watkins - vocals
Kit Tillis - bass guitar
Phillip Price - accordion
Rachelle (Rae Rae) Abney - harmonica
Andrew Hartzell - drums
Andy Young - videographer
 
During COVID, the FOCH has shifted to tours of the home by appointment only. All tours must be booked online at least 24 hours in advance.
Groups are limited to four visitors, and must wear masks and practice social distancing.