Frye Gaillard has recently had the privilege of contributing
to two different books featuring the work of good friends. Gaillard edited and
wrote the introduction for The Poetry of
Faith: Sermons Preached in a Southern Church by Steven Dill, who is one of
the South’s most distinguished ministers. Released in April 2013, The Poetry of Faith features twenty of
Dill’s meditations, beginning with “a Christian apology for slavery,” which he
was asked to deliver to an African-American congregation in Alabama. “The
poetry of Dill’s preaching,” Gaillard wrote in the book’s introduction, “caught
the quick of my imagination and quietly, inevitably made me think.” In
addition, Gaillard wrote a companion essay for renowned photographer Don
Stukey’s collection, This Old Wheel Will
Roll Around Again: A Pictorial History of the South, 1950-1990. Sturkey,
former Southern Photographer of the Year during his time at the Charlotte Observer, recently donated his
catalogue of photographs to the University of North Carolina’s Wilson Library
in Chapel Hill. The library in turn commissioned Gaillard to write an essay for
this book, which features some of Sturkey’s strongest images. “Don Sturkey is
the best of the best,” said Gaillard. “What an honor to write this ‘verbal
illustration’ for his photographs.”
The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir, by Frye Gaillard
Frye Gaillard’s latest book from NewSouth Books offers a reader’s tribute to the writings that enriched and altered his life. In a series of carefully crafted, often deeply personal essays, Gaillard blends memoir, history and critical analysis to explore the works of Harper Lee, Anne Frank, James Baldwin, Robert Penn Warren, John Steinbeck, and many others. As this heartfelt reminiscence makes clear, the books that chose Frye Gaillard shaped him like an extended family. Reading The Books That Mattered will make you study your own shelves to find clues into your own literary heart.“An exuberantly written account of one writer’s leap toward understanding life’s intersection with literature.”
- Kirkus Reviews
Now Available!
The Quilt and the Poetry of Alabama Music, by Frye Gaillard and Kathryn Scheldt
