Thirsty Tome, an annual event during Welcome Week at UNCW, was held in Randall Library on Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. The event started with a guest author who did a reading, followed by several MFA graduate students who read from their own works. An open mic session closes the event for any interested additional writers.

This year, Mrs. Virginia Holman was the guest author. She is the wife of Dr. Curry Guinn, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department. Holman is currently a freelance journalist in the Wilmington area.

Her first book is a memoir titled “Rescuing Patty Hearst: Growing Up Sane in a Decade Gone Mad.” It was well received by mental health professionals due to its content describing Holman and her family’s interactions with her schizophrenic mother. After her first book was published, Holman attended several medical conventions where she mingled with various kinds of people. She commented that, “There were many people with similar stories to mine, but after a while it was hard to listen because the topic was so painful.”

She is still working on her second book. It is a Southern historical fiction novel about the aeronautic pioneer, Tiny Broadwick. In 1908, when she was 15, Broadwick was the first to attempt a premeditated freefall.

Holman stumbled upon Broadwick when looking at some pictures in a skydiving establishment. Holman stated, “One picture caught my eye. Among several men there was a small 60 year-old woman with white, Set-N-Curl hair.” That was the moment of inspiration for Holman’s currently unpublished manuscript.

For her participation in Thirsty Tome, Public Programming Librarian/ Lecturer, Ameet Doshi, honored Holman by having a book of her choice placed in the permanent library collection with a book plaque.

After Holman read two scenes from her work-in-progress manuscript, six MFA students read from their works. Tom Dunn was the first to read his fiction short story, “Dogs and Demons.” Lukis Kauffman also read a section of his fiction story “Tire Changer.” Alison Harney and Jennifer Weathers read poetry and Jessica Smith and Kate Sweeney read sections from their creative non-fiction.

Following the MFA graduate students’ readings, Thirsty Tome’s microphone was opened to the public. Three local writers, Deborah Creasy, Brian Hedgepeth and George Everette read several of their poems.

Creasy is a part of a local woman’s writing group that meets every week to free write and gather ideas. Several members of Creasy’s group were present and were thrilled to see so many different kinds and ages of people attend the event.