Sazerac August 2026
August 2026
JOI DE VIVRE
Summer, not-so-bummer reading: Growing up, reading was always a requirement in our household. “You need to have a summer book,” my mom would say, immediately followed by a groan from both my sister and me. We didn’t hate reading. We actually loved it, but we loved running outside and jumping on our trampoline more — typical kid behavior. After a trip to the library and a few pages into our choice of book, the complaining ceased. My sister’s readings were always young adult and my brother’s, car related, but dark academia and historical fiction always took my heart and still do. I remember one summer choosing The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Women by Kristin Hannah and being completely bedridden with book fever for a few weeks. The words completely engulfed me. One page led to another and, before July heat even hit, I had finished both books and completed my summer reading. Being the young, energetic kid I was, I was eager to be back outside, but I never forgot how calm and relaxed a good book kept me. Now, as a 23-year-old, whenever I need to calm my mind, I just find a new book and dive in. Between you and me, I guess you could say my mother was right — just don’t let her know that I said that.
– Joi Floyd
Window on the Past
Photograph courtesy of the High Point Historical Society
This year, the High Point Library, seen here in 1954, turns the page on a new century. Celebrating 100 years since its 1926 founding, which was greatly supported by the Woman’s Club of High Point, the library invites you and your book-loving fam to several free, fun-filled events. Info: highpointnc.gov/3196/High-Point-Public-Library-at-100-Years
Indie Scene
Photograph courtesy of Damola Akintunde
Staying focused on film: “It was kind of senseless, but it was something I felt compelled to do,” says Angus MacLachlan, indie filmmaker, North Carolina native and University of North Carolina School of the Arts alum. MacLachlan’s latest, A Little Prayer, isn’t just a movie made in North Carolina, it represents the state. It explores the unlikely bond between a young woman, Tammy, and her father-in-law, Bill, determined to protect her from the hard truth of his son David’s affair. After its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film festival, A Little Prayer made all the buzz and was soon picked up by a distributor to be released publicly in August 2025. Filming in his hometown, Winston-Salem, MacLachlan decided the best neighborhood to use was Konnoak Hills, where a few of his childhood friends grew up. “When I imagined the film, I just somehow imagined it being there,” he says. Other hotspots shown in the film include both Reynolda House and Old Salem Museums & Gardens, two Winston-Salem landmarks.
“I believed in it. Then once we really started going and I got actors at the caliber of David Strathairn and Celia Weston saying, ‘Yes, we’d like to be involved,’ it gave me courage to keep going.” Yes, you read it right, the cast includes both David Strathairn and fellow UNCSA alum Celia Weston along with Anna Camp, Will Pullen and Jane Levy, who received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tammy. “If you’re from or spent time in the South then you know these characters and these types of people,” says MacLachlan. From quietly snoopy David to untamed Patti, you’ll likely find these personalities wandering around town.
Though the Tar Heel State embraced A Little Prayer, it also received national praise including from IndieWire and USA Today. But it was a hard road to get there. From raising the film’s funding to MacLachlan’s unexpected diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer to the COVID-19 pandemic, he could’ve dropped A Little Prayer, but he didn’t. Instead, with a wing and a prayer, he prevailed. With an eight-week run, the movie turned out to become one of the most played films in 2025 at a/perture cinema, Winston-Salem’s locally owned art house theatre.
Like most people, you’re probably wondering where the title came from. Well, that’s just another Southern touch as well. “I had a lot of different titles but when I’m worried I say ‘Oh well, say a little prayer,” explains MacLachlan. Turns out, he need not worry. Some projects just take gumption, grit, time — and maybe a little prayer.
For those eager to feast your eyes on A Little Prayer, it’s streaming now on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV or Fandango at Home.
Unsolicited Advice
Lately, avid readers have been ditching big-box book retailers and instead hitting up independent bookstores, and — luckily for us — Greensboro has volumes of them. With collections curated for the community, these bookstores are writing their own stories. This month, we dare you to support locally owned bookstores by gobbling up novels, nonfiction or even children’s literature handpicked specifically for Greensboro, by Greensboro, and see what stories speak to you.
Newly opened in June, Unfettered Books is breaking the bindings of big businesses one book at a time. With new and used books to choose from, and a variety of different genres compiled for the people of the city, there’s no better feeling than being a supporting character to their main-character energy.
Reading doesn’t always have to be a solo activity, sometimes it takes a village. Scuppernong Books is an independent bookstore that’s been making waves in Greensboro for 12 years. Bringing together residents with events ranging from book clubs — even hosting a monthly silent book club — to poetry open-mic nights, they’ve shown time and again that community is what keeps the bookworms biting.
Good things come in small packages and the shelves of Modern Monk Books are stuffed to the binds with tomes perfect for those with a soul-searching side quest. Created in September 2025 and located inside Awoo Coffee, they specialize in classical theology, philosophy, culture and history, and is spot-on for inquisitive thinkers — and coffee drinkers. So next time you decide to wander, take a look, it’s in a bookstore.
If you’re itching to venture beyond Greensboro in search of your next great read, we’ve got a couple of indie gems worth the trip. Main & Mountain Bookstore in Kernersville is packed with stories from indie and local authors — proof that a good story can be close to home. And the shelves of Book LOVE in Jamestown are brimming with every genre imaginable, all with a cozy and loving atmosphere — it’s all in the name. And, if you head to the Sandhills, pop into an O.Henry favorite, The Country Bookshop.
2026 Essay Contest
Time’s a-ticking on your PTO — and our annual essay contest! Remember the elementary school assignment about how you spent your summer vacation? Well, we’re reviving it — vacay or staycay? Tell us about a true tale as remembered by you about a trip to the beach or about the time you took a week off to meditate for hours a day wearing nothing but your socks and a bedsheet. As always, there are ground rules:
- Submit no more than 600 words in conventional form — a PDF, Google document, or a word or pages file works well. Please no secret code that requires a decoder ring. We’ve misplaced said ring. Email entries to cassie@ohenrymag.com.
- One entry per writer.
- Deadline to enter is September 30, 2026.
Top three winners will be contacted via email, awarded a monetary prize and their essay printed in a forthcoming issue of O.Henry.