Edgar Award-winning playwright and author Phillip DePoy will lead the Lanier Library’s Mystery Writers Workshop as part of the annual Lanier Library Mystery Festival from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at the library. 

The author of 20 novels and 43 plays said dialogue is “an essential element of both novels and plays, and lots of fun to write, workshop and read aloud.” 

DePoy’s publications include the “Flap Tucker” mysteries published by Dell (one was a Shamus finalist), seven “Fever Devilin” novels and two “Christopher Marlowe” mysteries from St. Martins, and the “Foggy Moscowitz” series of novels put out by Severn House of London. Nonfiction publications include “The Tao and the Bard” and “Messages From Beyond.”

His produced theatrical work includes the Edgar Award-winning mystery play “Easy,” and the Suzi Award-winning “Edward Foote,” a folk version of Oedipus mythology set in Depression-era Appalachia. His “Appalachian Christmas Homecoming” has been produced nationally since 1994.

An internationally reviewed performance artist, he was writer in residence for the Georgia Council for the Arts in the 1980s. As composer in residence for the Academy Theatre, he wrote music for 27 productions. In the 1990s, he was the Artistic Director of Theatrical Outfit, a professional Equity theater.

Since then, he has served as the director of several university theater programs. He was Georgia Author of the Year in 2015.

In addition to the workshop for writers at Lanier, there is a “Cocktails and Clues” event on Friday evening, Oct. 19. 

For more information, people may visit thelanierlibrary.org.

– Submitted by Clare O’Sheel