UNC Asheville's Writers at Home 2008-09 Series kicks off at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, at Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., downtown Asheville. Local authors Geneve Bacon, Toby Heaton and Heather Newton will read from their new book "Irons in the Fire: Stories from the Flatiron Writers." A book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Bacon, Heaton and Newton have been writing together for more than 12 years. In 2007 as the Flatiron Writers, they won a Regional Artist Project grant from the state and local arts councils to publish their short story collection "Irons in the Fire: Stories from the Flatiron Writers."

Bacon, an award-winning writer of short fiction, is currently at work on a novel. Heaton's current writing projects include a novel, a collection of short stories and a children's book. Newton, a lawyer by trade, has published six short stories and has placed in a number of prestigious writing competitions, including the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize.

For more information, call Tommy Hays, UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program Director, at 828/254-1389.