Cover Reveal: A GHOST AMONG MAGNOLIAS by James Slater Simmons, III

We’re delighted to reveal the cover design for the debut novel of playwright James Slater Simmons, III, A Ghost Among Magnolias, forthcoming from Lanternfish Press on September 8, 2026.

Lanternfish Press announced the acquisition of the novel in December 2025.

The cover of A Ghost Among Magnolias was designed by Kimberly Glyder with art direction by Christine Neulieb.

Petronia Slater’s life has been plotted out for her since birth, just like every other child of successful Black builder and landowner Alonzo Slater. But Petronia feels stifled by the carefully curated world she inhabits as the daughter of a wealthy businessman in turn-of-the-century Milledgeville, Georgia.

When curiosity about her mother’s mysterious past gets the better of her, she sneaks out of her college dormitory to visit a disreputable neighborhood on the other side of Atlanta. There, she meets the young doctor Ben Simmons and dreams of running away for good. But history–and her family’s ghost–have other ideas.

James Simmons is trained as a playwright and has worked with St. Ann’s Warehouse, LaMaMa ETC, and Dixon Place. In 2022 he was invited to Djerassi’s Resident Artist Program. This is his first novel. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.