Fellow swamp enthusiasts, it’s a very special time here in Statesboro, a time with which Southerners are intimately familiar. It’s a time of azaleas and the oft-celebrated magnolia. It’s a time when the very world is abloom, even the swamps (though they may be abloom with flame). It’s a time when the tall pine trees do their tall pine tree dance in the wind, seeking that other very special tall pine tree with which to make little baby pine trees. It’s a time in which even the cleanest sidewalk will, five minutes after being washed clean, be bright yellow and green. It’s a time of beauty and it’s a time of terror. It’s a time survivable only through massive doses of Benadryl, Chloraseptic, and hand sanitizer.
In other words, it’s spring. And God help us all.
In order to inspire you through the antihistamines and remind you that there’s beauty out there in the world, even if you can’t see it through all that pollen, I give you some photographs from the March edition of the Burning Swamp Reading Series. Enjoy — and if you have an extra box of Kleenex, would you want to share with me?
Jared Yates Sexton attempts to calm a fevered crowd frenzied at the very thought of the awesome that is to come.
Thomas Klein reads from his translations and his modernizations of Southern folk tales.
James Devlin reads the heroic tale of a young boy battling his fears.
Peyton Callanan reads a series of poems about love and lust and everything in between.
Amanda Schumacher reads from the first chapter of her YA novel.
Tangled cords and Chucks — nothing could more say “Burning Swamp Reading Series” than this.
Since March is the month of St. Patrick’s Day, Emma Bolden decided to don her finest suit of green.
The Burning Swamp Reading Series 