Bookmark with Susan Gregg Gilmore

Susan Gregg Gilmore's southern roots are evident in her two novels, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen and The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove. While many Southern novelists claim Lee Smith's influence, Gilmore is the sole Bookmark guest who can claim Smith for seventh grade English. "She taught us we all had a story," Gilmore said.
NPR's Alan Cheuse said Gilmore's first novel was a "stand-out coming of age novel. Her second was part of TARGET’s Emerging Author Program. Special thanks go to Jacksonville State University for hosting Bookmark at its annual literary conference On the Brink and Gena Christopher for her generosity.

Bookmark with Darnell Arnoult

When author Darnell Arnoult was celebrated by Northeast Alabama Community College's Arts and
Humanities Speaker's Forum, she and Don Noble had a conversation about writing her novel, Sufficient Grace. According to the book jacket, "Sufficient Grace brings Southern warmth, wit, and even a touch of down-home cooking to a beautifully paced story filled with pitch-perfect characters and a magical sense of an unforgettable place." According to Don Noble, the culinary journey was indeed an unexpected delight. Special thanks to Dr. Joan Reeves, Dr. Julia Everett and the Library staff of the Cecil B. Word Learning Resource Center and everyone at Northeast Alabama Community College for their warmth and hospitality!

Bookmark with Clyde Bolton

 Beloved sportswriter Clyde Bolton talks with Don Noble about his latest book, a memoir "Hadacol Days: A Southern Boyhood" (New South Books). Like the elixir that soothed any number of ailments, Bolton weaves his memories with a warmth that similarly aims to sooth. After pharmacy classes proved unsuccessful, Bolton worked his way from LaGrange, Ga., to Anniston, Gadsden and Montgomery before he began sportswriting in 1961 for The Birmingham News. Bolton also managed to write six novels and a dozen nonfiction books that, not surprisingly, featured sports--such as auto racing, basketball and, of course, Auburn and Alabama football. While this is an interview it is also obvious that this is also a conversation between old friends.

Bookmark with Kerry Madden

Though not of the infamous Madden football family, Kerry Madden grew up with a football-coach father. Madden discusses what it was like to change teams frequently and how this influences her work, especially her young adult novels. As a creative writing professor and editor of the award-winning PoemMemoirStory, Madden's conversation with Don Noble sparkles with the energy that fuels her prolific work. Special thanks to Gena Christopher and Jacksonville State's writing conference "On the Brink" for their hospitality and their library staff for being such patient hosts!

Bookmark with Richard Tillinghast and Julia Tillinghast

Translation is not often the topic of conversation between Don and his guests, much less Turkish translation discussed by father and daughter co-translators. But poets Richard Tillinghast and Julia Tillinghast do just that. After discussing the complexities and delights of working together, they alternate their voices and read. A special thank you goes to Auburn University's Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities for allowing us to tape at Pebble Hill.