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April 24-26, 2026

Word of South

Dan Ames

Dan Ames is a USA TODAY bestselling crime novelist, living in Estero, Florida. He is originally from Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism. Dan’s stories include mysteries, thrillers, westerns and a novel set in Italy during World War II, based on a true story. His novels have topped […]

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Neil Alday

Making his second appearance at Word of South, Neil Alday’s songs are wonderful earworms. As the front man of socialburn, he brought national attention to the music scene in Tallahassee. He has played as a solo act since 2012, opening for the Old 97s, Lucero, American Aquarium, Blackberry Smoke, Chris Knight, and Drivin N’ Cryin. […]

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Robert Olen Butler

Robert Olen Butler has published sixteen novels and six volumes of short fiction, one of which, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His most recent novel, Paris in the Dark, was published in 2018. He has also published a volume of his lectures on the creative process, […]

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Gale Massey

Gale Massey’s stories and essays have appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, Walking the Edge, Sabal, Seven Hills Press, Connotation Press and other places. She has received scholarships and fellowships at The Sewanee Writers Conference and the Eckerd College conference Writers in Paradise. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her novel, The Girl […]

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D.M. Aderibigbe

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D.M. Aderibigbe’s first book, How the End First Showed won the 2018 Brittingham Prize in Poetry, and the 2018 Florida Book Award Silver Medal for Poetry. His poems have appeared in The Nation, Poetry Review, Callaloo, jubilat, World Literature Today, and elsewhere. He’s received fellowships from The James Merrill House, Banff, OMI International Arts Center, […]

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