2009 Official Alabama Vacation Guide - (Page 14) taking Alabama’s literary trail literary license on DURING THE YEAR OF ALABAMA HISTORY, YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW THE ALABAMA LITERARY TRAIL TO THE MUSEUMS AND HOMETOWNS OF SOME OF THE NATION’S FOREMOST WRITERS, AUTHORS, AND STORYTELLERS. PLAYS, MOVIES, TOURS, AND DISCUSSION PANELS HELD IN VARIOUS COMMUNITIES WILL EXPLORE THE MASTERWORKS OF SOUTHERN LITERATURE AND HONOR THEIR AUTHORS. by Marilyn Jones Stamps For more information on specific events, visit www.southernliterarytrail.org or see the Alabama Calendar of Events at www.alabama.travel. “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,” MONROEVILLE Like any journey, one needs a starting point, and what better place to begin a literary tour of the state than in Monroeville, the “Literary Capital of Alabama”? Novelist Harper Lee calls it home and writer Truman Capote spent his childhood here. To Kill a Mockingbird is retold each spring in the historic Old Monroe County Courthouse and the Alabama Writer’s Symposium takes place each May on the campus of Alabama Southern Community College. The Old Courthouse Museum is located on the square at 31 N. Alabama Ave. 251-575-7433. www.tokillamockingbird.com Scott worked on his novel Tender Is the Night and Zelda began her only published novel, Save Me the Waltz—is open to the public. A 30-minute documentary about the couple’s lives is available for viewing, along with photographs and other memorabilia. 919 Felder Ave. 334-264-4222. www.fitzgerald-museum.com “GRITS ON THE SIDE,” DOTHAN Dothan is home of the Understudy Dinner Theater and its award-winning play, Grits on the Side. Written by local writer, Ron Devane, and performed in a cabaret setting, the play is an original review featuring songs and skits about Southern stereotypes. 137 Oates St. 866-206-2337, 334-792-1268. “COME HOME, IT’S SUPPERTIME,” BRUNDIDGE When you “Come Home” to supper at Brundidge’s historic We Piddle Around Theatre downtown, you are in for a treat. Alabama’s Official Folklife Play and the winner of the 2008 Governor’s Tourism Award, the play entertains you each spring and fall with toe-tapping music and a bushel of stories about ordinary people growing up in the Great Depression. Main St. 334-735-3125, 334-670-6302. www.piddle.org “THE MIRACLE WORKER,” TUSCUMBIA Playwright William Gibson was born in The Bronx, but the source of his most epic drama, The Miracle Worker, comes home to the northwest Alabama town of Tuscumbia. Celebrating over 30 years of outdoor performances as “Alabama’s Official Outdoor Drama,” the play is performed every summer on the grounds of Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller and the site of “the miracle” performed by her teacher Anne Sullivan. 300 W. North Commons. 256-383-4066. www.helenkellerbirthplace.org PHOTOS: ATD/PORFIRIO SOLORZANO AND ATD/JEFF GREENBERG . ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, MONTGOMERY Follow the Literary Trail to Montgomery, home of the world renowned Alabama Shakespeare Festival and its award-winning Southern Writers’ Project, which celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the American storyteller and fosters plays that delve into Southern issues and the AfricanAmerican experience. 800-841-4273. 1 Festival Dr. www.asf.net “CONECUH PEOPLE…THE EXPERIENCE,” UNION SPRINGS Conecuh People…the Experience is a poignant story of a boy’s coming of age in rural Alabama in the 1950s. Performed in the historic Red Door Theatre downtown, it portrays the life of Bullock County’s own Dr. Wade Hall. In addition to the play, “the experience” includes tours of historic sites, quilt displays, art exhibits, and dinner. Corner of Prairie St. & Blackmon Ave. 334-738-TOUR (8687). www.unionspringsalabama.com ALBERT MURRAY AND RALPH ELLISON, TUSKEGEE Albert Murray was born in Escambia County and educated at Tuskegee Institute, where he taught alongside Ralph Ellison. An African-American literary and jazz critic, novelist, and biographer, Murray is respected as the premier writer of blues music and personalities. Scholar and writer Ralph Ellison entered Tuskegee Institute on a music scholarship but was drawn to the literary genre. Ellison wrote several short stories in his lifetime, but only one novel, the critically acclaimed SCOTT & ZELDA FITZGERALD MUSEUM, MONTGOMERY Located in a 1909 house in Montgomery’s Old Cloverdale District, the Fitzgerald museum is the only one in the world dedicated to the memory of Scott and Zelda. Only the first floor—where 14 w w w. a l a b a m a . t r a v e l http://www.southernliterarytrail.org http://www.alabama.travel http://www.fitzgerald-museum.com http://www.tokillamockingbird.com http://www.piddle.org http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org http://www.asf.net http://www.unionspringsalabama.com http://www.alabama.travel
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.