by Tracy Horenbein
Tallahassee is once again abuzz with talk about the upcoming Word of South festival, taking place on April 4- 6. Each year, the city hosts a unique blend of musicians and writers, exploring their relationship on stage together.
Amidst the chatter and strategizing about who everyone wants to see, I had the pleasure of visiting with writer and Word of South alumnae Paula Walborsky. I spoke with Walborsky in her home, over coffee, and under the watchful eye of her distinguished tuxedo cat Figaro.
Walborsky has called Tallahassee home for decades. She was given the choice to attend one of the two Florida colleges that existed at the time and decided to attend Florida State University. “I chose FSU because Tallahassee had an airport, and my father said he did not want to be schlepping me back and forth,” she said.
This year, Walborsky will moderate the Midtown Reader Stage, discussing the Florida Book Awards with writers who have won the award. The guests converging won awards for best work by authors for nonfiction. Among those are silver award winner Barbara Drake-Vera, for her book “Melted Away.” Joining her is fellow silver award winner for Florida nonfiction, Evan Bennett, who wrote “Tampa Bay: The Story of an Estuary and its People.”
Walborsky is especially excited to talk with gold award winner Raymond Arsenault about his book, “John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community.” “He’s such a brave man,” said Walborsky. “He really tells it like it was.”
In addition to the notable group of authors Walborsky will be moderating at Word of South, I asked her what other books she had been reading lately. “Anne Tyler and Ann Patchett,” she said. “I read everything I can find by both of them.”
While we’re on the subject of great female authors, Walborsky herself is best known for her essays “Unpacking Paula, Volumes 1, 2, and 3.” The collections are not novels, she says, but collections that should be considered “pointillist writing.” They are collections meant for waiting. “For anything. The doctor, the dentist. Godot.” She has also been a frequent voice during public radio pledge drives and an occasional contributor to the Tallahassee Democrat over the years.
Read more on the Tallahassee Democrat.
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