Short story author to speak at Bevill State
Harris
to share tales of fictional county between Walker, Tuscaloosa
ELIZABETH HIGGINS
The Daily Mountain Eagle
Published April 07, 2008
Author Jimmy Carl Harris will read from his short story collections
that are set in fictional Nall County, which falls between Walker
County and Tuscaloosa
County, and speak about writing the
stories at Tuesday’s Read Alabama at Bevill State Community College.
The event will begin at 4 p.m. in Bevill Hall on the Jasper Campus with
refreshments served at 3:30.
Harris grew up in Fairfield and now
lives in Birmingham.
After high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and
fought in two wars where he earned the rank of Sergeant Major. Later, he
became an Assistant Professor at Southeastern
Louisiana University,
but moved on to concentrate on writing.
Harris said the titles of his books Wounds that Bind and Walking
Wounded lead most people to believe the books are about war. Actually, he
said, the use of the word “wounds” refers to emotional or spiritual wounds as
well as physical in some cases.
“I use that as a very broad category,” Harris said. “Quite often what
I’m writing about is emotional wounds rather than physical wounds or a combination
of the two. It may not be a military setting. An abused spouse is very much
someone who’s suffering emotional and probably physical wounds as well.”
Harris’ stories and characters are based on his own experiences and
people he’s met while living in the south and serving in the military. He
says on his Web site “I write about strong women, weak preachers and brave
Marines.”
“It’s quite common for me to have a woman as one of the main
characters or perhaps the main character in one of the stories. It comes from
my experience as a teacher and as a writer. I’ve been around a lot of
accomplished women who were talented and strong in their own right,” Harris
explained.
Harris said he has been asked many times by preachers about the
comment “weak preachers.”
“They’ve said, ‘why not write about good preachers?’ I said, ‘Because
good preachers aren’t interesting,’” he said jokingly. “So, I will
occasionally write about someone who has perhaps fallen from grace or may
have some all too human ambitions.”
Harris said most of his books are about and for everyday people, as
stated in the dedication to Walking
Wounded:
To all who wake up tired but go to work,
Who wake up hurt but fix breakfast
anyway,
Who wake up afraid but keep on keeping
on,
To the walking wounded.
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