Author Erica Wright of Knoxville, originally from Wartrace, says she has some memorable moments of visiting Shelbyville Bedford County Public Library as a child. Now a prolific author, Wright will be guest speaker during the 2025 Friends of the Library Luncheon on Oct. 14 at noon in the Blue Ribbon Circle on the Celebration grounds.
The SBCPL’s 10-year anniversary celebration, at its current location, makes this local author’s visit even more of an important milestone, according to Library representatives.
Wright, who lives now in Knoxville with her family, has written several fiction books, including the “Kat Stone series” as well as collections of poems.
Her latest book, “Hollow Bones,” is a mystery novel full of enthralling twists and turns. An eerie Appalachian town. A fatal fire. Three women whose fates intertwine . . . Essa Montgomery and her brother Clyde were brought up in New Hope, a serpent-handling church in Vintera, W. Va., until the shocking deaths of both their parents closed the church down. Now 20, reclusive Essa lives alone in her childhood home in the shadow of New Hope, which to her horror has been taken over by a new charismatic, unsettling pastor who continues the dangerous practice.
Wright's “Hollow Bones” has been called "an incredibly rich work of literature."
Her essay collection “Snake” is part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series and was one of LitReactor's Best Books of 2020. Her crime novel “Famous in Cedarville,” received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. She is also the author of the poetry collections, “Instructions for Killing the Jackal” and “All the Bayou Stories End with Drowned.”
Author Wright was the poetry editor at Guernica Magazine for more than a decade and currently teaches at Bellevue University.
Friends of the Library welcomes her home to their special event, noting the author and her family were some of the SBCP Library's biggest supporters during her time living in Bedford County.
Tickets, until sold out, are $20 each at the SBCP Library on Jefferson Street. A full table for 8 can be purchased for $160. Sponsorships for the Library are also available for $300, which will include 8 tickets.