Pulpwood Queens
Encyclopedia
| Pulpwood Queens | |
| Motto | Where tiaras are mandatory and reading good books is the rule. |
|---|---|
| Established | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Jefferson, Texas, USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
| Membership | 2,000 |
| Founder | Kathy L. Patrick |
| Homepage | www.pulpwoodqueen.com |
The Pulpwood Queens is a meet-and-greet book club with a large following. It was founded in early 2000 in Jefferson, Texas
Jefferson, Texas
Jefferson is an historic city in Marion County in northeastern Texas, United States. The population was 2,024 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County, Texas, and is situated in East Texas...
, by Kathy L. Patrick
Kathy Patrick
Kathy L. Patrick is an author, hairdresser, founder of Pulpwood Queens Book Club, and owner of the Jefferson, Texas, hair salon/bookstore, Beauty and the Book. She was born and raised in Kansas.-Personal background:...
in her combined beauty salon and book store, Beauty and the Book. In a joint effort with Random House, the club spawned an Internet book club show that began in January 2011, "Beauty and the Book: Where reading is always in style."
History
Dedicated to promoting literacyLiteracy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
and good literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, Pulpwood Queens has grown from an initial six members to, a decade later, more than 2,000 members and 400 chapters, including 10 in foreign countries and one in a women's prison. The club selects a "book of the month," which Variety reporter Jonathan Bing said "has an unusual amount of clout."
In June 2008, members of the book club appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" with the introduction, "These Southern ladies are devotees of cocktails, good food, and high hair."
Girlfriend Weekend
Its annual convention, Girlfriend Weekend, is held each January. Pat ConroyPat Conroy
Pat Conroy , is a New York Times bestselling author who has written several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films.-Early life:...
, author of Prince of Tides and South of Broad, was a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference. Conroy returned in 2011 and was joined by 40 other authors, including New York Times bestsellers Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg
Patricia Neal , known professionally as Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedienne and author. She is perhaps best-known for the 1988 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes; Flagg was nominated for an Academy Award for...
, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, Jamie Ford, who penned Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls is a writer and journalist widely known as former gossip columnist for MSNBC.com — and author of The Glass Castle, a memoir of the nomadic family life of her childhood, which stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 100 weeks.-Early life and education:Walls was born...
, whose first book, The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls. The book recounts her and her siblings' unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents....
, stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 100 weeks. As a result, the 2011 event sold out.
The final night of Girlfriend Weekend is The Great Big Ball of Hair Ball, where club members and authors wear costumes based on a theme. In 2010, the party celebrated The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. In 2011, the costumes were based on the event's theme: "It's all about the story." Attendees dressed as characters out of their favorite books.
In a February 2010 article, the Texas Observer described the weekend as "fast becoming one of the most important literary events in America." And the Marshall News Messenger, in Marshall, Texas, wrote that the event is for men too, with members known as the Timber Guys.
The book club
Pulpwood Queens was included in a Newsweek article about book clubs. In it, Newsweek reported that when Patrick, chosen by "Good Morning America" to select the first book on the morning show's televised book club, announced that the Pulpwood Queens had picked Ann Packer's debut novel, The Dive From Clausen's Pier, it sent the book "straight up the best-seller list."In addition, The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
in 2007 called the club "a major publishing force."
Authors Inga Wiehl and Ellie Heffernan, in their book When Professional Women Retire: Food for Thought and Palate, wrote about Pulpwood Queens, saying, "This group is not just any old book club. It carries some freight." Then they cited the club's reading choice of The Dive From Clausen's Pier that "sent sales skyrocketing."