Editor’s Letter

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‘What have you been up to for the last 20 years?’

I befriended children’s author Carmen Agra Deedy sometime in the late 90s. I don’t remember the year, but it was definitely at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center where she was reading to an enthralled audience of kids and adults. I was one of them. Carmen has ingrained storyteller instincts. She knows how to pitch her voice to differentiate characters, modulate for glee or pathos, and make you feel like she’s telling the story directly to you instead of a room full of people. It’s a spellbinding talent.

In 2002, when I landed the job as editor of Atlanta Intown, I knew I wanted Carmen to be the cover feature for my first issue. We agreed to meet at the long-gone Mick’s restaurant on Peachtree Street opposite the Bank of America tower. It was a rainy afternoon, so we tucked into a booth and took our time catching up. I snapped the cover photo of Carmen framed by an American flag – still ubiquitous less than a year after 9/11 – in the restaurant lobby.

Flashforward 20 years.

As I was getting ready to mark two decades as Intown editor, I knew I wanted to catch up with Carmen again for the cover. I dropped her an email and she happily agreed to indulge in my nostalgia for a fullcircle moment.

This time, we met via Zoom – something else that has become ubiquitous following a national calamity. Carmen was feeling under the weather, but the moment she started talking about her new book, “Wombat Said Come In,” out this October from Peachtree Publishing, the irrepressible storyteller emerged.

Of course, I’ve seen and spoken to Carmen on quite a few occasions in the intervening years – usually at book events around town – but this was our first sitdown conversation since that long-ago day at Mick’s.

I asked, “What have you been up to for the last 20 years?” And in that special Carmen Deedy way, she made those decades disappear.

Carmen spent her lockdown reading to kids online, cooking, and managing to write three new books. “Wombat Said Come In” is her 15th title and two more books will follow in 2023 and 2024.

Since we have higher standards these days for our photography, Isadora Pennington was behind the camera for our cover photo and Little Shop of Stories graciously let us use their Decatur store as a backdrop.

You can catch up with Carmen on Page 18.

Also in this issue, you’ll find our annual special section devoted to education. Our contributing writer Clare Richie talked with an organization that’s making digital learning easier for kids and adults, while Annie Kinnett Nichols writes about learning to fly a drone in Piedmont Park.

It’s also time to get your nominations in for our annual 20 Under 20 feature in January. See all the entry details on page 50.

This is the 240th issue of Intown I’ve edited during my tenure, and just like Issue 1, it was a little fraught in the making, but always a pleasure to see the results.

On to 241. Collin Kelley has been editor of Atlanta Intown for two decades. He’s also an award-winning poet and novelist.

Editor’s Letter collin@AtlantaIntownPaper.com

The September 2002 issue of Atlanta Intown featuring Carmen Agra Deedy on the cover.