All Souls Book Group

An Introduction to the Kay Falk Literary Project and to the Book Study Resources

What is the Kay Falk Literary Project?
The Kay Falk Literary Project is essentially a book group, called the All Souls Book Group, which meets on average twice a month at the Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville, NC, as part of the cathedral’s teaching mission. The group reads fiction—short stories and novels—non-fiction—memoir and essays–and poetry. The Kay Falk Project also includes a fund for inviting writers to the cathedral, either to read their own literature, give a talk about someone else’s, or both. The writers who have read and/ or lectured at All Souls as part of the Kay Falk Project include memoirist Norah Gallagher, fiction writers Peter Turchi, Kevin McIlvoy, and Gail Godwin, and poets Gary Hawkins, Landon Godfrey, Sebastian Matthews and Mark Jarman.

Who are the members of the All Souls Book Group?
The All Souls Book Group is open to anyone in the larger Asheville community who wants to join it. I’d say that about two thirds of our members are parishioners at All Souls, the remaining third friends of those members, or friends of friends, who bring to discussion other religious affiliations, or no religious affiliation. Some of our meetings have been very large—we’ve had as many as forty at the table—others much smaller: an especially thoughtful discussion about the poetry of George Herbert held only seven.

(Click here to read more on the practice and mission of the Kay Falk Literary Project)

Emilie White leads the All Souls Book Group
Emilie White grew up in Princeton, NJ, and received a B.A. from Northwestern University, an M.A., in Art History, from U. C. Berkeley, and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She has served as an instructor of Art History, Composition, and Creative Writing, at U.C. Berkeley, New Mexico State University, and Warren Wilson College, where she was the 2001–2002 Beebe Fellow. Her fiction has appeared in Colorado Review and has received two nominations for a Pushcart Prize. Her favorite writers include Anton Chekhov, Elizabeth Bishop, Gustave Flaubert, George Herbert, Deborah Eisenberg, Alice Munro, and William Trevor. She lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband and daughter.