Former President Jimmy Carter kept busy in the years after his presidency, and he wrote so many books that an interested reader might wonder where to start exploring the Georgian’s literary legacy. Alabama authors play a big part in a new book that provides an overview.

Carter, who died Dec. 29 at 100, wrote more than 30 books. All but two came after his presidency. Topics included faith and morality, memoirs, his sometimes controversial outlook on peace in the Middle East, a historical novel set in the South during the Revolutionary War, even a children’s book. He also wrote text for books on his woodworking and painting. Many touched on his time in politics, while many others did not: For example, 2001’s “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood” focused entirely on his rural youth and the extraordinary opportunities and responsibilities it gave him in his schoolboy years.

“The Literary Legacy of Jimmy Carter: Essays on the President’s Books” had a timely release by Rowman & Littlefield on Dec. 21. It’s co-edited by Alabama resident Frye Gaillard and Mark I. West, a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Gaillard, a veteran journalist and author who recently retired as writer in residence at the University of South Alabama, credits West with the idea for the book.

Gaillard does double duty as one of the essayists, along with several other Alabama contributors: Pulitzer winner Cynthia Tucker, who has previously collaborated with Gaillard; Charlotte Pence, who directs the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at USA and who serves as Mobile’s poet laureate; and Caroline Gebhard, a retired professor of English at Tuskegee University.

Gaillard said he thinks people will be surprised by the breadth of Carter’s work, which includes a “very credible” book of poetry. He said Carter had committed himself to the work.

“Writing was a primary, if not the primary, source of income for Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency,” said Gaillard. “He decided that he liked that better than going around charging a lot of money for speeches.”

For now, “The Literary Legacy of Jimmy Carter” is priced for libraries and the academic world: $120 for a hardback, $50 for an ebook through Rowman & Littlefield. Gaillard said he’s hopeful that a more economical paperback version will come along in a few months.

Gaillard said there’s a lot of depth in the catalog, partly because Carter never relied on a ghostwriter.

“He said he didn’t use a ghostwriter and I’m pretty confident of that,” said Gaillard. “He did use research assistants and that kind of thing, and vetted his stuff with members of his staff, but as he said, ‘It was me and my trusty word processor.’ So it’s pretty unfiltered Jimmy Carter. I mean, it’s his worldview that shines forth, his view of peace in the Middle East, which was controversial.

“You know, his view of faith as a sort of cornerstone of people living a good life, and his view of that was more nuanced than many people might expect, I think,” said Gaillard. “He was a Sunday school teacher when he wasn’t on the road and I’ve been to a couple of his Sunday school classes and was always surprised by the depth and sort of the intellectual force of his subject matter.”