Mark Barr - Watershed
At the October edition of Writers at the Wrecking Bar, Hub City Press author Mark Barr will discuss his debut novel, Watershed, an engrossing post-Depression-era story of a rural Tennessee town's struggle to come to grips with the personal and societal effects of new technologies.
Musical guest Bill Taft will kick off the evening's festivities at 7 p.m. At 7:30, Barr will appear in conversation with Atlanta’s own Jessica Handler, author of The Magnetic Girl.
This event is free and open to the public. If you are unable to attend, you can order a signed copy of Watershed here:
About the Book
Set in 1937 in rural Tennessee, with the construction of a monumental dam serving as background—a cinematically biblical effort to harness elemental forces and bring power to the people—Watershed delivers a gripping story of characters whose ambitions and yearnings threaten to overflow the banks of their time and place.
Nathan, an engineer hiding from his past, and Claire, a small-town housewife, struggle to find their footing in the newly-electrified, job-hungry, post-Depression South. As Nathan wrestles with the burdens of a secret guilt and tangled love, Claire struggles to balance motherhood and a newfound freedom that awakens ambitions and a sexuality she hadn’t known she possessed.
The arrival of electricity in the rural community—where violence, prostitution, and dog-fighting are commonplace—thrusts together the federal and local worlds, in an evocative feat of storytelling in the vein of Kent Haruf’s Plainsong, and Ron Rash’s Serena.
About the Author
Mark Barr has been awarded fellowships from Blue Mountain Center, I-Park Artists Enclave, Jentel Arts, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Millay Colony, and Yaddo, and holds an M.F.A. from Texas State University. He lives with his wife and sons in Arkansas, where he develops software and bakes bread.
About Writers at the Wrecking Bar
A Cappella Books presents Writers at the Wrecking Bar, a series of live author interview events showcasing some of the country’s freshest voices in literary and contemporary fiction, presented at our neighborhood brewpub. Each program includes writers in conversation with an arbiter of Atlanta’s book scene, giving the audience a chance to experience and participate in the Q&A, and get a signed copy of the book. Select events will feature performances by notable local musicians.
Held upstairs in the Marianna Room of the Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Writers at the Wrecking Bar hosts a cash bar with signature cocktails inspired by the books, starting at 7 p.m. The author conversation and book signing follow at 7:30 p.m.
