[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING THE SOUTHERN LITERACY TOURISM INITIATIVE

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                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2016

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to challenge my 
colleagues to help promote the local economy of their districts in a 
new way: through the power of a story set in a real place. Our greatest 
resource in this nation has always been our people and their ability to 
unleash their talents in innovative ways that promote progress and 
prosperity. I recently witnessed one such innovation when I was invited 
to present a tourism fiction award in my district through the 
Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative.
  For those of you who are unfamiliar with tourism fiction, the concept 
is simple: write stories set in real places, stories that capture the 
imaginations and hearts of readers, and then invite those same readers 
to visit the places.
  As my colleagues may know from their own districts, tourism is an 
economic driver that attracts welcomed spending on local attractions, 
hotels, restaurants, and other places that help drive local economies 
and provide jobs. If writers are already producing books and short 
stories, then why not ask them to set those stories in real places that 
their readers would love to visit?
  That is exactly what an innovative writing contest did in my home 
district. The Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative or SELTI, teamed 
up with the Selma Chamber of Commerce to challenge writers to compose a 
short story aimed at encouraging readers to visit the area. The 2016 
winner of the contest, Charisa Hagel, wrote a powerful story that 
brought a local historical attraction to life through her fictional 
characters. At the end of the story, readers were invited to visit the 
real place, Kenan's Mill in Selma, Alabama, and literally step into the 
setting of Charisa's story. While there, they can also visit the 
National Voting Rights Museum and many other unique local attractions.
  I will soon be honored to present Ms. Charisa Hagel, a student at 
Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, with the 2016 SELTI Tourism 
Fiction Award at Kenan's Mill in Selma. The attraction Ms. Hagel wrote 
about in the Selma contest is not well known outside the local area, 
but now anyone with internet access can read about it through her 
story. How many attractions in your districts deserve to be written 
about and promoted in the same way?
  As a legislative body, we often differ on our views for creating 
economic opportunity in the country. However, I feel that we can all 
agree that we want writers in our districts that can help tell the 
history of those areas through engaging stories with characters who win 
the hearts of readers, while also bringing in new tourism dollars.

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