Discussions of short stories by hometown literary lion Thomas Wolfe have been held annually January through April since 2015. The program will continue virtually this year, offering participants a choice of two time slots on the second Thursday of each month. Tom Muir, historic site manager at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, says that the discussions are like participating in a book club, and adds that Wolfe’s stories are “much easier than taking on one of his novels.”
Author Terry Roberts opens the event on January 14 with “The Lion at Morning.” Subsequent stories in the series are “No More Rivers” with Dan and Ana Clare on February 11, “The Far and the Near” with Brandon Johnson on March 11 and “Katamoto” with Ellen Brown on April 8. Discussions for two different audiences will be offered at 6 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. “We want to preserve the discussion—not go to the feel of a webinar—and make it so that everyone in each discussion can see each other on Zoom gallery view,” says Jim Stokely, founder of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, which sponsors the event.
“Many readers fall in love with Wolfe’s sprawling sentences and his expansive view of American life, while others struggle with the enormousness of scale,” Stokely says. “Discussing Thomas Wolfe’s short stories is a wonderful way to discover Thomas Wolfe.”
The selected stories are available in The Complete Short Stories of Thomas Wolfe, edited by Francis E. Skipp. Copies of the book are available at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial gift shop and at area bookstores.
“The good news is that you don’t have to attend all of the meetings or even multiple meetings,” Muir says. “Just read any of the selected short stories, show up at the corresponding meeting and be prepared for an informative and provocative conversation.”
Register by sending an email to twstories@wilmadykemanlegacy.org. The Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site’s gift shop is located at 52 North Market Street in downtown Asheville. For more information, call 828.253.8304.
