Lit Chat with Local Author Daniel Powell
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Release Date: 10/09/2025
Lit Chat Author Talk with Osa Atoe at Duval Comic and Zine Fest
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Osa Atoe is an artist, teacher, and ceramicist operating Pottery by Osa, producing small-batch handmade ceramics. Currently residing in Sarasota, Florida, Osa previously lived in Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans, Louisiana. It was these two cities where she primarily made her punk zine, Shotgun Seamstress. Osa is also a punk musician who performed in numerous bands including VHS, New Bloods, and Firebrand. Read the Book Place a hold on in the Library's online catalog. Did you know that any book by a featured Lit Chat author counts toward the ? Join in on the fun! . --- Never...
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Lit Chat with Local Author Daniel Powell
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Are you a fan of Southern Gothic, ghost stories, speculative fiction, or horror? Do you love supporting local authors? Are you hoping to follow in their footsteps and publish your own short stories or novel? This summer, we brought two Jacksonville authors together for a "spirited" discussion at the Library. They'll talked about Daniel's writing process, what inspires him, and what he's working on next. Daniel Powell teaches a variety of writing courses at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He enjoys reading and writing stories across a broad spectrum of genres, but he has an...
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Lit Chat Interview with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Kevin Sack
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Few people beyond South Carolina’s Lowcountry knew of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston—Mother Emanuel—before the tragic events on the night of June 17, 2015. Although the shooter had targeted Mother Emanuel to agitate racial strife, he could not have anticipated the aftermath or the outpouring of forgiveness from victims’ families. Kevin Sack is a veteran journalist and Jacksonville native who has written about national affairs for more than four decades and has been part of three Pulitzer Prize–winning teams. His debut book, , is a sweeping history of the...
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Lit Chat Interview with Fantasy Author Django Wexler
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Are you a fan of Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, or epic fantasy worlds? In this Lit Chat, local author Michael Regina interviews celebrated fantasy author Django Wexler, the featured guest at this year's Jax Pop Con. Django shares insights into his writing process, his love for tabletop games, and the inspiration behind his latest novel, "How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying." Check out Django's books from the library: https://jaxpl.na4.iiivega.com/search?query=django%20wexler&searchType=agent&pageSize=10 Learn more about Django Wexler on his website:...
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Lit Chat Interview with USA Today Bestselling Author Kelly Mustian
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
A Haunting Southern Story Set in the Wild Mississippi Delta Four years after Kelly Mustian's USA Today bestselling debut novel, The Girls in the Stilt House, started appearing on "must-read" lists and earning starred reviews, the author is set to release her much-anticipated second novel on April 1, 2025. Like her first, The River Knows Your Name is already gathering buzz as a tumultuous and "well-woven mystery." Emily Matchar, author of In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, wrote, "You won't be able to put the book down until the last puzzle piece of their dual-timeline family mystery...
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Lit Chat Interview with Historical Fiction Author Jennifer Coburn
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
A Tale of Resistance... Based on a Real Story Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with other young resistance members, they vow to disrupt the filming and derail the increasingly frequent deportations to death camps in the east. From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale about...
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Lit Chat Interview with Rebecca Brenner Graham
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Interview with a Debut Author This January, we spoke with the author of Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany. Released on January 21, 2025, this new book is a fascinating portrait of the progressive female trailblazer and US Secretary for Labor who navigated the foreboding rise of Nazism in her battle to make America a safer place for refugees. As Hitler rose to power, thousands of German-Jewish refugees and their loved ones reached out to the Immigration and Naturalization Service—then part of the Department of Labor—applying for...
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Lit Chat Interview with Civil Rights Activist & Author Rodney Hurst, Sr.
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
Black and Brilliant Local Author As the sixteen-year-old President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, he was one of the leaders of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations that culminated in the infamous and violent Ax Handle Saturday. Hurst's first book, the award-winning It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke®!, tells that story. Hurst’s fourth book, Black and Brilliant (written for 12-18 year-olds), dives deeper into bigotry, segregation and racism he experienced as a pre-teen and a teenager in Jacksonville. The book also reflects on the legacy of Black America and the many...
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Lit Chat Interview with Author Sheila Athens
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
A First Coast Romance Sheila Athens writes smart contemporary fiction set where the South meets the Sunshine state. Her stories are about women seeking to find the peace we all deserve. Readers are drawn to her work because they believe that everyday heroes can make a difference in our world. Featured Book: Mae Van Dorn's Perfect Storm All thirty-four-year-old Mae Van Dorn wants is to live alone. But she soon finds herself living with her estranged brother in a town she’s never been to and working for the founder of the local megachurch, though she’s as misanthropic as they come. An...
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Lit Chat Interview with Author and Filmmaker Morgan Jerkins
Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library
A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots New York Times bestselling and National Magazine Award-winning author Morgan Jerkins will be at the Main Library this October to discuss , the powerful story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration, and the displacement of black people across America. She will be the first featured Lit Chat author in the Library's new . The project, in part, seeks to expand the Library's African American History Collection and the associated Digital Community Archive and to make...
info_outlineAre you a fan of Southern Gothic, ghost stories, speculative fiction, or horror? Do you love supporting local authors? Are you hoping to follow in their footsteps and publish your own short stories or novel? This summer, we brought two Jacksonville authors together for a "spirited" discussion at the Library. They'll talked about Daniel's writing process, what inspires him, and what he's working on next.
Daniel Powell teaches a variety of writing courses at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He enjoys reading and writing stories across a broad spectrum of genres, but he has an affinity for horror, science fiction, and fantasy. He lives with his wife and children near the Timucuan Preserve, where you can frequently find him jogging those haunted trails. Some of his works include Down in the Sawgrass Boneyard, These Strange Worlds: Fourteen Dark Tales, and In the Walls and Other Stories.
Read Daniel's Work
Place a hold on Daniel's books the Library's online catalog. Note: If you don't like waiting on holds, you can also find several of his e-books on BiblioBoard Library. Several of his books were given a "Select Award"—meaning his books don't just appear in the Indie Florida collection, they are available and recommended to readers nationwide.
Did you know that any book by a featured Lit Chat author counts toward the Jax Stacks Reading Challenge? Join in on the fun! Find out what authors we're hosting in the next few months.
Interviewer Tim Gilmore is a prolific local history author who has written extensively about Jacksonville. As the writer and creator of www.jaxpsychogeo.com, a project that explores place and catalogs the Southern Gothic, he has told more than 700 stories of strange and historic locations in and around Jacksonville, Florida.
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