10/29/2026
Join us tomorrow night, Friday 10/30 at 6pm, for an evening with author Scott Gould and his new book, ‘Beneath a Fallen Sky.’ ☄️📖 Scott will be in conversation with local poet and our very own bookseller, Maggie Olszewski.
Scott Gould is the author of seven books. His honors include an Eric Hoffer Award for Fiction, a Memoir Prize for Books, an IPPY Award for Fiction, the Larry Brown Short Story Award and the S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in Prose. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, Pangyrus, Crazyhorse, Pithead Chapel, Garden & Gun, and New Stories from the South, among others. He lives in Sans Souci, South Carolina.
Maggie Olszewski is a Smith College graduate. At Smith, she majored in English and Film & Media Studies. Previously, she attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, where she participated in the school’s intensive creative writing program. She was selected as one of 2018’s Top 15 Foyle Young Poets of the Year by the Poetry Society of London. Her chapbook, Laika, was published by Black Sunflowers Poetry Press in 2021.
About the book:
May 1910. As Halley’ s Comet hurtles toward Earth, panic grips the mountains of northeast Alabama. Experts predict the end of all life, and in Fort Payne, four townsfolk face their final days. Charlie McCracken continues his mail route up Sand Mountain, caring for an elderly Cherokee woman who escaped the Trail of Tears. His aunt Zona baptizes terrified townsfolk for a quarter each, preaching her improvised scripture. Sheriff Tyus Wetley struggles to hold his anxious town— and his marriage— together, while brothel madam Elva Shugart seeks redemption as the heavens prepare to fall. Over four harrowing days, their paths collide in unexpected and sometimes violent ways.
‘Beneath a Fallen Sky’ is a sweeping, unforgettable portrait of fear, faith, and the resilience of hope when the world seems poised to end.
📍 734 Harden St · Free, no registration required
