Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger

O. Henry Award-winning author Lee Smith began selling her stories as a young girl for a nickel to her neighbors in the Appalachian coal mining town where she was raised. Since then, those God-haunted landscapes, spirited women, and turning points have found their way into the 12 novels and three short story collections she has published since her first book, “The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed,” in 1968.

While teaching and raising two sons, Smith penned such works as “Saving Grace,” “The Last Girls,” “Fair and Tender Ladies,” and “Cakewalk.” She received the 1999 Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her latest book, a 14-story collection, “Mrs. Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger,” was released in March 2010. Now a retired English professor from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, she lives with her husband, journalist Hal Crowther.

The Savannah Book Festival is a nonprofit organization that hosts a weekend-long celebration each year of the written and spoken word. The fourth annual festival will be held February 18-20, 2011. The festival is free and open to the public at Telfair Square in the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia.

Sponsors

This author’s appearance at the 2011 festival has been graciously sponsored by:

• Southern Scribe
• Mr. and Mrs. Norma and Mike Powers

Podcasts

This author has taken part in the 2011 festival’s pre-event podcasts with CityTrex.