Best-selling author and poet Robert Morgan draws his inspiration from the people and places he knew while growing up in the foothills of North Carolina. His latest novel "Chasing the North Star" is set after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and follows a runaway slave on his journey north through the Appalachian Mountains to freedom.

"It's a story of learning and it's like Huckleberry Finn in that they are both what critics call a 'picaresque novel.' People on the road, going somewhere, adventure after adventure," author and poet Robert Morgan about his book, "Chasing the North Star."

We speak with Morgan about how his own family history inspired the book and the role historical fiction plays in bringing the past to life. 

Robert Morgan will speak more about his book "Chasing the North Star" on Wednesday night at the Dekalb County Public Library. The event is hosted by the Georgia Center for the Book and is free to the public. More information about the event can be found here. 

Tags: Chasing The North Star  Robert Morgan  Author Interviews  Atlanta  Georgia