Join CAC for 'Afternoon with Authors'

The is pleased to announce the third and final book signing and reading of its 2012 “Afternoon with Authors” series, featuring novelist Andrew Badger, at the Cultural Arts Center on Sunday, April 22, from 3 until 5 p.m. Badger will read from his novel, Yesterdays Are Forever, and his poetry chapbook, Out on a Limb, both published last year. This event is free and open to the general public.

A former professor at Delta State University in Mississippi, Andrew Badger received his Master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. He currently leads the Douglas County Writers and Poets Group, a Cultural Arts Council satellite; and he was instrumental in the success of the first Turner Cassity Literary Festival in last July. Since his graduate studies were in Linguistics, Badger used to consider himself a grammarian. After just one party he learned that no one chit-chats with a grammarian.  His greatest successes came as a professor and teacher, especially as a Senior English teacher.  Many of his former students earned their doctorates, and many have published professional papers. His most recent book, Yesterday Are Forever, presents the revealed mysteries of a long marriage between two retired professors, the Masters. The wife encourages the husband to write his autobiography, but as the narrative develops it is her story that holds the hidden secrets of their relationship.  It is gripping tale of deception and intimacy told with tenderness and wisdom.  Equally engaging are many of Badger’s poems, which also often consider domestic harmony and strife as well as larger philosophical musings.

“We are so pleased to present such a gifted writer for the conclusion to our 2012 Afternoon with Authors initiative,” stated CAC Director Laura Lieberman. “We think our local writers and readers will find his reading at the Cultural Arts Center truly inspiring and undoubtedly thought-provoking. Afternoon with Authors continues to grow and improve–this year we had wonderful children’s book writer and musician Ricardo St. Michael Jolly in March and a great number of African American authors during Black History Month. As a result of the popularity of these events we are now working to develop our second literary festival, scheduled for the second weekend in July, which should be a significant new offering to our local cultural scene.”