King & Queen Courthouse Tavern Museum

Belle Boggs, winner of the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Bakeless Prize for her new book, Mattaponi Queen, will talk about her book of short stories at the King and Queen Courthouse Tavern Museum on Sunday, November 7th, at 3 pm. Belle was born in King William County, grew up in Walkerton in King and Queen County and went to high school in West Point, Virginia. For her book she drew on stories of people in King and Queen and King William Counties. The stories are fictional, but take place in the areas of West Point, the Mattaponi Indian Reservation, Central Garage and Tappahannock, to name a few. Her characters in the stories are often based on actual people in the two counties and she will discuss how she crafted some of the characters in her stories. The famous or infamous boat, the Mattaponi Queen, which many remember as gliding along the Mattaponi River on many an evening, is featured in several of the short stories, and gives its name to the book.

In addition to winning the Bakeless Prize for this book, Southern Living Magazine has just selected Belle as the best new Southern writer and she will be featured in its upcoming January issue. Belle now lives near Chapel Hill, N.C., and is the daughter of Terry and Buttons Boggs of Walkerton. She will be coming home to King and Queen especially for this presentation. Belle will also read a selection from one of her stories and be available to autograph her book following her presentation. A reception will also follow the presentation.