Book Signing and Salon: Hellions with Julia Elliott
May 18 @ 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm
We’re thrilled to host a very special event with author Julia Elliott, celebrating her powerful story collection, Hellions. Readers will have the opportunity to remain for a salon-style private event to dig deeper into the themes of Julia’s work:
THE EVENT
Join us at Main Street Reads for a free, open-to-all book signing where you can meet Lisa and grab a signed copy of Hellions — an incredible, razor-sharp collection of heartfelt stories with southern gothic grit. We’ll ALSO have her other books available, The Wilds short story collection and her novel, The New and Improved Romie Futch.
Then, beginning at 4:00 p.m., we’ll transition into an exclusive salon-style discussion with Julia, complete with wine, charcuterie, and thoughtful conversation. Only 25 spots are available, so be sure to reserve quickly!
Bonus: The salon will of course include charcuterie and wine, AND a signed copy of Hellions, but will also feature some truly fantastic takeaways you won’t want to miss, as well as 10% off Julia’s other works.
We can’t wait to see you there and join in this unforgettable afternoon of conversation, and connection as we delve deeper into the wisdom and the wit.
About the Book:
Hellions: Stories is a visceral collection of stories that run feral through the backwoods of the American South. Known for her genre-defying blend of speculative strangeness and Southern grit, Elliott’s writing is razor-sharp and yet somehow still magical.
The collection opens with a plague-stricken convent and closes in the swamps of South Carolina, stopping along the way to introduce us to alligator companions, mystic manuscripts, and sharp-tongued girls navigating a world that rarely makes room for their rage or radiance.
Hellions never loses its grounding in the truths of its characters. There’s real tenderness here, woven among the ruin and wonder. Elliott’s prose slices straight to the bone, but what she reveals is always human: vulnerability, desire, grief, and grit.
Ultimately, these stories give voice to those living in the margins—outsiders, women, children, the dispossessed. You’ll love being immersed in the author’s weird worlds, and will be left with much to ponder…
Julia Elliott is the author of the story collection The Wilds, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and the novel The New and Improved Romie Futch (both from Tin House). Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Tin House, Conjunctions, and the New York Times. She has won a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award, and her stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. She teaches English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina and lives in Columbia with her husband, daughter, and five hens.
