The Blue Moon Café’ in Moreland opens its doors Saturday, Aug. 20, and shines ethereal light on a lesser-known award-winning novelist with a wonderful evening of music and drama “Celebrating Caroline Miller,” Georgia’s first Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Members of the highly energetic and dedicated staff of the Caroline Miller Museum will stage an evening of entertainment heralding this author.
In 1933 this young woman in her thirties won publication of her first novel. Caroline Miller collected oral histories from locals in her community and fashioned together a riveting tale set in frontier south Georgia during the early 1800s following its unforgettable characters through the hardships of life during those days. Miller’s storytelling is very exciting, and showcases her exquisite prose and imagination. Her novel, “Lamb In His Bosom” was an enormous success. Published in several languages, it won the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the prestigious French honor, Prix Femina. The work inspired other authors, including Margaret Mitchell.
During the last several years Baxley, Miller’s hometown, created a museum dedicated to the author in the house in which she penned the novel. With significant support from the community, executive director Laurie Jo Upchurch and a board of directors, crew of volunteers, and civic leaders marshaled together the museum. The museum regularly stages programs to dramatize the award winning work as well as those to showcase local oral histories in dramatic form.
During 2015, the Caroline Miller Museum was added to the Southern Literary Trail, which is a tourism trail of 33 houses museums in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi dedicated to twentieth century novelists like Erskine Caldwell, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner. (www.southernliterarytrail.org)
At the invitation of the Moreland Cultural Arts Alliance (MCAA), which operates the Erskine Caldwell Museum, members from the Caroline Miller Museum will bring their show to Moreland Aug. 20. The evening will include acoustic music by Station 7 featuring, banjo, guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, and more.
Members of Caroline Miller’s family will share memories of the author, and actors will perform excerpts from the novel. Members of the museum staff will also share stories about the facility.
The Blue Moon Café’ is a program of the MCAA, which will “open” occasionally and feature experiences blending several cultural arts. “Celebrating Caroline Miller” is the inaugural Blue Moon Café program.
Admission to the Blue Moon Café’ “Celebrating Caroline Miller” is free to the public. Light refreshment is available for purchase. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. featuring a warm-up reading from local authors’ works; main show starts at 7 p.m. The Blue Moon Café is located at 7 Main Street in Moreland.
The Moreland Cultural Arts Alliance, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and promote the heritage of the Moreland community and to celebrate the writing of Erskine Caldwell and Lewis Grizzard.
For more information, contact Carol Chancey at 678-492-3161 or info@morelandadvetnure.com.
