Kathryn Aurelia Scheldt
Kathryn Aurelia Scheldt is an internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, author, and recording artist. She has published seven CDs of original songs as well as five books: The Guitar Songbook for Music Therapy; Six Neapolitan Songs for the Classic Guitar; The Quilt and the Poetry of Alabama Music; Spasms; and Together We Are Normal.
Scheldt has performed in a variety of venues, including The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree, The Southern Festival of Books, The Alabama Writers Forum, and Thacker Mountain Radio. Her song, “Last Shrimp Boat,” anchored the soundtrack for the Emmy-winning documentary: In the Path of the Storms. Formerly a music professor who has taught in several Southern universities, including Queens University of Charlotte and the University of South Alabama, Scheldt holds a master’s degree in music performance.
Scheldt recently published her first book of poetry, Spasms. She published her memoir, Together We Are Normal, cowritten with her partner, John.
John Heyward Dowdney
John Heyward Dowdney, first-time author, springs from illustrious literary and historical giants. On his paternal side: The Edwin Emerson Family Papers; Abraham Dowdney, representative from New York; and Edward Fitzgerald, British author and translator of The Rubyait of Omar Khayyam.
Dowdney is a descendant of Thomas Heyward, Jr., South Carolina’s signer of the Declaration of Independence. His maternal lineage also boasts DuBose Heyward, author of Porgy and The Country Bunny.
Dowdney attended Trinity School in Manhattan and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He spent several years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, followed by twenty-five years in corporate America. When he retreated from the corporate tower, he became a gardener on one of South Carolina’s sea islands.
Dowdney’s memoir, cowritten with partner, Kathryn, Together We Are Normal, is his first published book.
