Dana Carpenter speaks on her historical fiction novels: The Bohemian Trilogy
Associate Professor Dana Carpenter spoke at the Southern Festival of Books upon the release of her third novel, Book of the Just.
Anna Moseley |
Author Dana Chamblee Carpenter, associate professor of English, is speaking at Nashville’s 30th annual Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of Written Word! just in time to celebrate the release of the final book in her award-winning Bohemian Trilogy, Book of the Just.
The festival takes place Oct. 12 – 14. Carpenter will speak at the Nashville Public Library at 1 p.m. on Oct. 12.
This festival features more than 200 authors from all genres throughout the nation. Activities include readings, panel discussions and book signings.
Carpenter teaches creative writing and American literature at Lipscomb, and over the past five years has written a historical fiction series called the Bohemian Trilogy.
The first novel in the series, Bohemian Gospel, won the 2014 Killer Nashville Claymore Award, which is the top award at a Nashville writer’s conference for thrillers, mystery and historical thrillers genre. The second novel in her series, The Devil’s Bible won the Silver Falchion in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror category as well as Best Overall Novel at Killer Nashville.
Carpenter’s novel was announced by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as an Okra Pick. The Okra Pick list has 18 books on it, each selected by southern bookseller as a “You’ve Got to Read This” novel. Her award-winning short fiction has also been featured in The Arkansas Review, Jersey Devil Press, Maypop, Dead Ends: Stories from Gothic South and in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded.
Book of the Just completes the story of Mouse, a young girl with unusual abilities who is the main character throughout the series. The final piece to the trilogy came out on Oct. 2 and is set in 13th century Bohemia.
Carpenter said the story of Mouse first came to her in a daydream-like vision on a road trip back to Arkansas, and although she didn’t know it would become a series in that moment, she knew Mouse “had a story to tell.”
“The Bohemian Trilogy gives us a nice arc,” said Carpenter. “From discovery of who she is in Bohemian Gospel and wrestling with guilt of what she does in The Devil’s Bible to facing her most dangerous temptation and most desperate quest for redemption in Book of the Just.”
At the Southern Festival of Books, Carpenter, along with authors Kathleen Kaufman and Wayetu Moore, will speak on a panel titled “Ancient Voices, Long Memories: Transgenerational Novels.”
“All of our novels cover expanses of time, reaching back over the ages, and we all weave history and fiction and magic together in similar ways,” said Carpenter. “I'll talk about the powerful storytelling that comes from such intersection, and the lessons we can learn from ancient stories."
Want to know more about Lipscomb’s Department of English and modern languages? Visit english.lipscomb.edu.