UNCA Writers at Home Spring Series Kicks Off with Readings by Anthony Abbott and Neal Thompson

UNC Asheville's Writers at Home spring series kicks off with readings by local authors Anthony Abbott and Neal Thompson at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18, at Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St. Writers at Home is part of the Great Smokies Writing Program. The reading is free and open to the public.

Abbott taught English at Davidson College for over three decades and is the Charles A. Dana Professor of English Emeritus. He is the author of three books of poems: "The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat" (1989), "A Small Thing Like a Breath" (1993) and "The Search for Wonder in the Cradle of the World" (2000). His first novel, "Leaving Maggie Hope," won the Novello Award for 2003. He has served as president of the North Carolina Writers Network and as president of the Charlotte Writers Club. 

Thompson is a veteran journalist who has worked for the Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer and St. Petersburg Times, and has written for numerous national magazines, including Outside, Men's Health and The Washington Post Magazine. His first book, "Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard-America's First Spaceman," goes on sale in March. He lives with his wife and two sons in Asheville, where he is writing a book about moonshine, NASCAR and the South.

For more information, call UNCA's Literature and Language Department at 828/251-6411.

Media Contacts:

• Tommy Hays, Great Smokies Writing Program Director, 828/251-6604
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526