Old Enough
In Old Enough, twenty-one women artists and writers write about the experience of aging. Gay, straight, unmarried, partnered, widowed, Black, white, Latinx, retired, and working, these women are not squeamish about the challenges of growing older, including ageism, health concerns, and loss. And they are frank about how received notions of female aging can be restrictive and diminishing. But in lyrical, sometimes wry, often inspiring essays they explore what growing older can offer: self-knowledge, insight, and acceptance. Striking portraits by award-winning photographer Carolyn Sherer, who is also a contributor to the volume, accompany each essay.
At the heart of this invigorating collection is the bold championing of creative practice. Some contributors look back to their girlhood to recall their first powerful connections to art, while others show how they have refreshed their commitment to maintaining a practice. However, all are still driven to create and to investigate, to stay committed to the processes that work while finding new ways to stay creatively alive. Old Enough aims to honor the limitless variety, depth, and scope of being “old enough” and will resonate with readers who want to understand and find purpose, meaning, and comradery in their creative journey.
JAY LAMAR worked in arts and humanities outreach at Auburn University, where she was the founding director of the Alabama Center for the Book, before becoming executive director of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. She has been a writer and editor for almost thirty years and is coeditor of The Remembered Gate: Memoirs by Alabama Writers. She lives in Auburn, Alabama.
JENNIFER HORNE served as the twelfth Poet Laureate of Alabama, 2017–2021. She is the author of three collections of poems, a short story collection, and a biography, Odyssey of a Wandering Mind: The Strange Tale of Sara Mayfield, Author, and has edited or coedited five volumes of poetry, essays, and stories related to the South. Horne has taught creative writing in a variety of settings and has been recognized for her work by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Alabama State Poetry Society, and the Tuscaloosa Arts Council, among others. She lives in Cottondale, Alabama.
CAROLYN SHERER is an American photographer interested in issues of identity. She works in series, making individual images to create a composite portrait of often-marginalized communities. Her past work has featured people with disabilities, people living with HIV, and multiple projects related to the LGBTQ community. She lives in Homewood, Alabama.
KATIE LAMAR JACKSON is a freelance writer and photographer with four decades of experience working as a journalist, author, editor, and educator. Her work has been published in myriad newspapers, magazines, and essay collections and covers a diverse array of topics—gardening, wildlife, the environment, arts and culture, history, biography, and travel among them. She has authored or coauthored eight nonfiction books. After more than twenty-five years at Auburn University, she retired as communications director for Auburn's agricultural and natural resource programs. She currently lives in Opelika, Alabama, where she is working on a variety of creative nonfiction projects.
Emmy-winning writer and producer WENDY REED’s work includes regional documentaries and the TV series Bookmark and Discovering Alabama. Her books include An Accidental Memoir: How I Killed Someone and Other Stories and All Out of Faith and Circling Faith. She has taught in Honors Colleges and is passionate about compelling science-writing, critical thinking, combatting disinformation, and books. Various Universities and the Alabama State Council on the Arts have awarded her writing fellowships. Currently she is a director at UAB’s Alabama BRAIN Lab.