2023 STORYFEST NEWS & UPDATES |
2023 STORYFEST: Friday, Nov. 3-Sunday, Nov.5 Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center 1101 Lincoln St., Columbia, SC 29201 |
Small Towns and Strong Stories: |
July 20, 2023 In high school, straight-A student Holly Goddard Jones wore rock T-shirts, flannel and black eyeshadow. She wrote editorials for the school paper about escaping her small Kentucky hometown. After earning a BA from the University of Kentucky and an MFA from Ohio State University, she wrote stories and novels – and placed many of her characters in a small, fictional Kentucky town. The critics took notice. “Jones writes with grace and ease,” Publishers Weekly said of her first short story collection, Girl Trouble: Stories. Her next three books – The Next Time You See Me, The Salt Line and Antipodes – won rave reviews from fellow writers. “Holly Goddard Jones is one of our greatest storytellers – period – and Antipodes is a testament to her continued mastery, wit and grace. Brimming with unparalleled empathy for their characters, these stories prove, once again, that Goddard Jones knows us better than we know ourselves,” said award-winning Florida author David James Poissant. “Holly Goddard Jones writes like a force of nature; her prose is strong, solid and full of power,” said award-winning Kentucky author Silas House. “Her voice is miraculous in its ability to be singular even while she takes on eclectic premises and themes. Goddard Jones is one of our best writers, and Antipodes is her best book yet.” Jones’s work has appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories, New Stories from the South and Tin House magazine. She received The Fellowship of Southern Writers’ Hillsdale Prize for Excellence in Fiction. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Jones will discuss short story writing at 2023 Storyfest, SCWA’s fall writing conference, in downtown Columbia. She’ll also teach a Saturday afternoon craft class. Don’t miss the chance to hear her! Register now for the Nov. 3-5 conference in Columbia. To learn more about Jones, visit her website at Holly Goddard Jones. |