Crooked Steeple Literary Festival welcomes author Jeffrey Dale Lofton to close their season

Join the Crooked Steeple Literary Festival at Falls Church Presbyterian for the last event of their 2025-2026 season, featuring local author Jeffrey Dale Lofton!

Lofton will discuss his 2023 debut novel Red Clay Suzie, a coming-of-age story inspired by his own childhood in Georgia. It follows a gay, disabled boy named Philbet as he navigates life on the margins of his Deep South community, facing prejudice as well as self-doubt.

A book signing will follow the talk, with Bards Alley providing copies on site for purchase, and attendees can enjoy light refreshments. Registration is free with an optional donation to support future seasons of the Crooked Steeple Literary Festival.

RSVP here: fcpc.breezechms.com/form/CrookedSteepleJeffreyDaleLofton04252026

ABOUT THE BOOK

Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his misshapen chest skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes at home; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction. Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution from beyond the grave.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now and has for over three decades. He is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress where he is surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise. He is a contributing editor for WELL READ Magazine and co-host of the Inside Voices podcast alongside author Robert Gwaltney.

Red Clay Suzie is his first novel, a fictionalized memoir written through his personal lens as an outsider—gay and living with a disability in a conservative family and community in the Deep South. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Red Clay Suzie go to support the important work of The Trevor Project and the Born This Way Foundation.

He was the Pat Conroy Literary Center Spring 2024 Writer-in-Residence. Red Clay Suzie was Longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize, named an Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association, and was awarded the Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction.

Nearby Communities

State Edition

National Edition

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs Edison

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs Edison

SH Girls Varsity Softball vs Yorktown

SH Girls Varsity Softball vs Yorktown

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs FCH

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs FCH

SH Boys JV Soccer vs FCH

SH Boys JV Soccer vs FCH

SH Girls/Boys Varsity Track & Field

SH Girls/Boys Varsity Track & Field

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs West Springfield

SH Boys Varsity Soccer vs West Springfield

SH Boys JV Baseball vs Edison

SH Boys JV Baseball vs Edison

SH Girls JV Softball vs Edison

SH Girls JV Softball vs Edison

SH Boys JV Soccer vs West Springfield

SH Boys JV Soccer vs West Springfield

SH Girls JV Softball vs Yorktown

SH Girls JV Softball vs Yorktown

SH Boys Varsity Tennis vs Washington-Lee

SH Boys Varsity Tennis vs Washington-Lee

SH Girls Varsity Softball vs Hayfield

SH Girls Varsity Softball vs Hayfield

SH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Hayfield

SH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Hayfield

GMH CoEd Ice Hockey vs Yorktown

GMH CoEd Ice Hockey vs Yorktown

GMH Girls JV Softball vs Madison County

GMH Girls JV Softball vs Madison County

GMH JV Baseball vs Madison County

GMH JV Baseball vs Madison County

GMH Boys Varsity Soccer vs Madison County

GMH Boys Varsity Soccer vs Madison County

GMH Boys JV Soccer vs Madison County

GMH Boys JV Soccer vs Madison County

GMH Girls Varsity Tennis vs Clarke County

GMH Girls Varsity Tennis vs Clarke County

GMH Girls Varsity Lacrosse vs Washington-Lee

GMH Girls Varsity Lacrosse vs Washington-Lee

GMH Girls Varsity Soccer vs Clarke County

GMH Girls Varsity Soccer vs Clarke County

GMH Girls JV Soccer vs Clarke County

GMH Girls JV Soccer vs Clarke County

GMH Girls Varsity Softball vs Clarke County

GMH Girls Varsity Softball vs Clarke County

GMH Varsity Baseball vs Clarke County

GMH Varsity Baseball vs Clarke County

GMH Boys Varsity Tennis vs Brentsville District

GMH Boys Varsity Tennis vs Brentsville District

GMH Boys JV Soccer vs Loudoun Valley

GMH Boys JV Soccer vs Loudoun Valley

GMH Girls JV Soccer vs Loudoun Valley

GMH Girls JV Soccer vs Loudoun Valley

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Wakefield

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Wakefield

FCH Varsity Softball vs Wakefield

FCH Varsity Softball vs Wakefield

FCH Girls Soccer vs Stuart

FCH Girls Soccer vs Stuart

FCH Girls JV Soccer vs Stuart

FCH Girls JV Soccer vs Stuart

FCH Girls JV Lacrosse vs Madison

FCH Girls JV Lacrosse vs Madison

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Yorktown

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Yorktown

FCH Boys Lacrosse vs Yorktown

FCH Boys Lacrosse vs Yorktown

FCH Varsity Softball vs Mt Vernon

FCH Varsity Softball vs Mt Vernon

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Mt Vernon

FCH Boys Varsity Baseball vs Mt Vernon

FCH Boys JV Lacrosse vs Yorktown

FCH Boys JV Lacrosse vs Yorktown

FCH Girls Lacrosse vs Lee

FCH Girls Lacrosse vs Lee

FCH Girls JV Lacrosse vs Lee