Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) in Rainsville, Alabama, held its annual Arts and Humanities Speakers Forum on March 6, 2025, with writers Silas House, Jill McCorkle, and Jamie Quatro. The focus of this year’s forum was “A Focus on Fiction.”  

After a presentation by each author, Dr. Don Noble, recipient of the 2017 Governor’s Arts Award and professor at the University of Alabama from 1969 to 2001, moderated a conversation with the three authors. As a professor of English at UA, Dr. Noble was known for his engaging teaching style which was evident in his ability to foster a thoughtful discussion with House, McCorkle, and Quatro.  

Dr. David Campbell, President of NACC, began the Arts and Humanities Speaker’s Forum in 1993. Since that first year, the Forum has hosted such writers as Tom Franklin, Silas House, Michael Knight, George Singleton, Mark Powell, Janisse Ray, Mary Hood, Dori Sanders, Thomas Cook, Ron Rash, Pam Duncan, Sena Jeter Naslund, Robert McCammon, and Taylor Brown.  

Over 250 were in attendance for the morning session and 75 were in attendance for the afternoon Master Classes. In addition to the NACC student body, faculty, and staff, there were faculty and students from Pisgah High School, Calhoun Community College, and Chattanooga State Community College. Acclaimed North Carolina author, Jill McCorkle, remarked, “The whole experience was such a positive, uplifting one!  What you are doing at Northeast not only matters but it matters in all the most important ways.  I keep thinking of what Silas said from the podium about humanity, and I came away from this whole experience feeling completely immersed in a level of devotion and generosity that gave me a real and much needed boost!  What you and Dr. Campbell and your whole team there are providing along with a stellar education, is a sense of pride and dignity.” 

Joan Reeves, Chair of the English and Fine Arts Division, noted, “This event has always been such an important one for our students, faculty, staff, and community. Dr. Campbell showed great vision when he created this forum in 1993, and the generous support of the college has been instrumental in allowing us to bring three of the South’s best writers to northeast Alabama. The college’s commitment to literary engagement and intellectual enrichment ensures that our students and community can learn from and be inspired by some of the most influential voices in contemporary literature.” 

The NACC chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta does have some signed copies of books by these authors available. For more information, contact Joan Reeves at 256-638-4418 or 256-228-6001, ext. 2231, or by email reevesj@nacc.edu .