Romance novelist Juila Quinn to headline 2025 Southern Voices Festival

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The headliner for the 2025 Southern Voices Festival at the Hoover Public Library in February is Julia Quinn, a New York Times bestselling novelist who authored the popular Bridgerton book series that later was made into a Netflix series.

Quinn, whose real name is Julie Pottinger, is scheduled to speak on Friday, Feb. 21. She has written almost 40 books, all romance and mostly novels. She has had 19 consecutive New York Times bestsellers. In March 2021, all eight of her Bridgerton novels were on the NYT list at the same time, a record (at that time) for an adult fiction author.

In the United States alone, there are more than 20 million copies of her books in print.

Quinn, a graduate of Harvard, briefly attended the Yale School of Medicine before deciding to pursue a full-time writing career, according to her website. She sold her first book, “Splendid,” at the age of 24 and has been working with the same editor and publishing house her entire career.

Her books have been translated into 42 languages, the most recent of which is Ukrainian. Quinn has more than 533,000 followers on Instagram and 405,000 followers on Facebook. In 2016, she taught the inaugural romance workshop at the Yale Summer Writers Conference.

In 2020, Netflix premiered its “Bridgerton” series based on her novels, and there have been three seasons of the show thus far, with a fourth season coming. All eight of the Bridgerton novels focus on different siblings in the noble Bridgerton family as they search for love, adventure and happiness in early 1800s England.

“We’re really excited,” Southern Voices chairwoman Carrie Steinmehl said of having Quinn as this year’s keynote speaker. “There is a huge following for that.”

This past summer, the library held a “Bridgerton ball” that drew more than 200 people, who dressed in early 1800s high-class British attire to celebrate the novels and Netflix series.

“I think we’ll get a good crowd [for Quinn’s keynote speech,]” Steinmehl said. “And I hope that people dress up if they so choose. It will be interesting to see how many are fans of just the show and how many are fans of the books and the show.”

The Southern Voices authors conference on Saturday, Feb. 22, will feature fiction writers Kimberly Brock, A.J. Finn, Chris Pavone, Steven Rowley, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Stacy Willingham and nonfiction author Tommy Tomlinson.

The musical act for Southern Voices is the McCrary Sisters, who will entertain audiences in the Hoover Library Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 19-20, with gospel music that melds traditional gospel with contemporary influences of classic soul, Americana, blues, rock and R&B.

One change for Southern Voices this year is that the reception for the featured visual artist, Tony Bingham, will be held the previous week on Thursday, Feb. 13. Bingham, who does large-scale photography and sculptures, is scheduled to give a free lecture at 5:45 p.m., followed by a reception until 7:30 p.m. His work will be on display at the Hoover Public Library from Feb. 6 to March 31.

Tickets for “An Evening with Julia Quinn” cost $40, while tickets for the authors conference cost $45. They go on sale Jan. 15 and are expected to sell out quickly. The Hoover Library Theatre holds 250 people. If more than 50 people put their names on a waiting list, the library will sell additional tickets for the Saturday authors conference, with seating in the Library Plaza and each author speaking in both locations at different times, Steinmehl said.

Tickets for The McCrary Sisters are $38 and went on sale with the rest of the Library Theatre season in late August. The Thursday, Feb. 20, performance already is sold out, but tickets for Wednesday, Feb. 19, were still available as of Dec. 22.

Here is more information about each of the authors speaking at the Saturday conference and this year’s featured artist, based on information supplied by the Hoover Public Library.

Steven Rowley, a humorist, is the New York Times bestselling author of “Lily and the Octopus,” a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016; “The Editor,” named by National Public Radio as one of the Best Books of 2019; “The Guncle,” winner of the 22nd Thurber Prize for American Humor; “The Celebrants,” a “Today” show Read with Jenna Book Club pick; and “The Guncle Abroad.” His fiction has been published in 20 languages. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs. “People who are fans of his enjoy his books because they’re fun and lighthearted,” Steinmehl said.

Kimberly Brock, a historical fiction writer, is the bestselling author of “The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare,” which was shortlisted for the prestigious Townsend Prize for Fiction, and “The River Witch.” Her latest novel is “The Fabled Earth,” which was released by Harper Muse on Oct. 1. Brock, a previous recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year Award, is the founder of the Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops, including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. A native of north Georgia, she now lives near Atlanta. She runs in the same literary circles as previous Southern Voices authors Patti Callahan Henry and Kristin Harmel, Steinmehl said.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin, another historical fiction author, likely will be paired with Brock at Southern Voices. He comes highly recommended by former Southern Voices author Steve Yarbrough. His most recent book is “The American Daughters,” which Publishers Weekly called "a vibrant picture of antebellum New Orleans." He is also the author of the story collection “The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You,” which was a New York Times Editors' Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and longlisted for the Story Prize. His first book, “We Cast a Shadow,” was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the PEN America Open Book Prize. It also was a New York Times Editors' Choice and was longlisted for the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, the Center for Fiction Prize and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the William Faulkner–William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition Award for Novel‐in‐Progress. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Oxford American, Garden & Gun, Kenyon Review and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America. A New Orleans native, Ruffin is a creative writing professor at Louisiana State University.

A.J. Finn, best known for his 2018 blockbuster debut “The Woman in the Window,” has made a significant mark in the psychological thriller genre. His Hitchcockian storytelling earned him international acclaim, with the book published in more than 40 languages and adapted into a Netflix film starring Amy Adams. The Hoover Public Library tried to get Finn for Southern Voices in 2017 after now-retired Hoover librarian Patricia Guarino saw him at a book festival, but he was so popular that he was booked up, Steinmehl said. A former editor and literary scholar, Finn draws on his academic background in English literature to craft stories rich in suspense and emotional depth. He is known for being an “unreliable narrator,” Steinmehl said. That means he sometimes intentionally misleads readers by lying or misrepresenting the truth. His second novel, “End of Story,” was published in 2024.

Stacy Willingham is the New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of “A Flicker in the Dark,” “All the Dangerous Things” and “Only If You’re Lucky.” Her fourth thriller, “Forget Me Not,” is scheduled to be published in August 2025. Her debut, “A Flicker in the Dark,” was a 2022 finalist for the Book of the Month’s Book of the Year Award, Goodreads Choice Best Debut Award, Goodreads Choice Best Mystery & Thriller Award and ITW’s Best First Novel Award and the winner of Strand Magazine’s Best Debut Award. All of her novels have been selected as Amazon Editors’ Picks and Book of the Month selections, and her books have been translated into more than 30 languages. Before turning to fiction, she was a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies. She earned her bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia and master’s degree in writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Chris Pavone, an international thriller writer, is the author of “The Paris Diversion,” “The Travelers,” “The Accident” and “The Expats.” His novels have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, and he has won both the Edgar and Anthony awards and had books optioned for television and film and translated into two dozen languages. Pavone grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell University and worked as a book editor for nearly two decades. He lives in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island with his family.

Tommy Tomlinson, the only nonfiction writer coming to Southern Voices this year, has authored two books: “The Elephant in the Room,” a 2019 memoir about being overweight in America, and “Dogland,” a 2024 book about the Westminster Dog Show and the bond between dogs and people. He spent three years following a champion show dog and his handler to competitions as research for the book. Tomlinson hosts a podcast called “SouthBound” through the NPR station in Charlotte. He also has a newsletter called “The Writing Shed.” Tomlinson has written for publications that include Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes and Garden & Gun. He was a longtime reporter and columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in commentary.

The McCrary Sisters are daughters of the late Rev. Samuel McCrary, a founding member of the legendary gospel quartet The Fairfield Four. They sing gospel music that melds traditional gospel with contemporary influences of classic soul, Americana, blues, rock and R&B. Since forming their own group in 2011 and releasing their recording of “Amazing Grace” in 2021, The McCrary Sisters, dubbed “Nashville music royalty” by NPR, continue to share their family legacy, which has included performances with artists such as Bob Dylan, Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Stevie Wonder, the Black Keys, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and many more.

Tony Bingham is a multi‐disciplinary artist who lives and works in Birmingham. Through his found and original audio work, large‐scale photography and sculpture, Bingham references various sites that offer opportunities to consider and memorialize African‐American life. Bingham received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Antioch College, a master’s degree in film and community media from Goddard College and a master’s degree in fine arts from Georgia State University. In 2024, he was awarded the Southern Prize and Alabama Fellowship for Visual Arts from South Arts. Bingham taught humanities and studio art at Miles College in Fairfield from 2006 to 2024.

For more information or to purchase tickets, go to southernvoices.info.

2024 Southern Voices Festival

An Evening with Julia Quinn

Friday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $40

Saturday authors conference

Saturday, Feb. 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Tickets: $45

The McCrary Sisters in concert

Wednesday-Thursday, Feb. 19-20, 7 p.m.

Tickets $38

Artist Tony Bingham

Work on display Feb. 6-March 31

Lecture and reception, Thursday, Feb. 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Free

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Jan. 15, 10 a.m.

southernvoices.info or 205-444-7888