Published: October 02, 2009 08:53 pm      

Author Silas House to read, sign new novel on Monday

On Monday, Kentucky author Silas House will be reading from and signing his new novel “Eli the Good,” at 6 p.m. in the gallery of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College. Joining House will be special guest musician Deborah Payne.

Silas House is the author of three novels: “Clay’s Quilt” (2001), “A Parchment of Leaves” (2003), “The Coal Tattoo” (2004). He also wrote a play, “The Hurting Part” (2005), and a creative nonfiction book about social protest co-authored with Jason Howard, called “Something’s Rising” (2009).

“Eli The Good” is his fourth novel. A new play, “Long Time Traveling,” premiered in April 2009.

House serves as Writer-in-Residence at Lincoln Memorial University, where he also directs the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival. He is a contributing editor for No Depression www.nodepression.net magazine, where he has done long features on such artists as Lucinda Williams, Nickel Creek, Buddy Miller, Kelly Willis, Darrell Scott, Delbert McClinton and many others.

He also is one of Nashville’s most in-demand press kit writers, having written the press kit bios for such artists as Kris Kristofferson, Kathy Mattea, Leann Womack and many others.

House is a two-time finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Prize, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Novel of the Year, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Chaffin Prize for Literature, the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and others.

Recently, House was selected by the subject to write the foreword for the biography of Earl Hamner, creator of “The Waltons.” In 2005, he also wrote the introduction for the new HarperCollins edition of Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses.

The Loyal Jones Appalachian Center is located in the Bruce Building on Main St/Hwy 595, one block from Boone Tavern near the College Square. For more information, call 985-3140.