VIEW PHOTOS | Alice Walker with Charis @ UUCA

If standing ovations and podium praise weren’t proof enough, bear hugs and people clamoring to take their photo with Alice Walker showed the admiration that the author inspired during her latest Atlanta appearance.

The author (top photo, center), who went Big Time after “The Color Purple” became an international bestseller, was at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta on Wednesday to read from her new book “”Hard Times Require Furious Dancing.”

But long before that, the writer has been considered a friend among the tight-knit literati at Atlanta’s lesbian-feminist bookstore Charis Books & More. The women from the store, which sponsored the event, were on hand with copies of the new tome for sale as well as Walker’s extensive collection of other works.

Before Walker took the microphone, speakers gushed and musicians played in honor of the occasion. Walker even took up a pair of maracas as the audience clapped and danced.

Afterwards, the crowd jumped to its feet in applause and stuck around for photographs and autographs.

Photos by Sher Pruitt