The Wolfpen Notebooks

The Wolfpen Notebooks PDF Author: James Still
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813143748
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
After keeping school for six years at the forks of Troublesome Creek in the Kentucky hills, James Still moved to a century-old log house between the waters of Wolfpen Creek and Dead Mare Branch, on Little Carr Creek, and became "the man in the bushes" to his curious neighbors. Still joined the life of the scattered community. He raised his own food, preserved fruits and vegetables for the winter, and kept two stands of bees for honey. A neighbor remarked of Still, "He's left a good job, and come over in here and sot down." Still did sit down and write -- the classic novel River of Earth and many poems and short stories that have found their way into national publications. From the beginning, Still jotted down expressions, customs, and happenings unique to the region. After half a century those jottings filled twenty-one notebooks. Now they have been brought together in The Wolfpen Notebooks, together with an interview with Still, a glossary, a comprehensive bibliography of his work by William Terrell Cornett, and examples of Still's use of the "sayings" in poetry and prose. The "sayings" represent an aspect of the Appalachian experience not previously recorded and of a time largely past.

The Wolfpen Notebooks

The Wolfpen Notebooks PDF Author: James Still
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813143748
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
After keeping school for six years at the forks of Troublesome Creek in the Kentucky hills, James Still moved to a century-old log house between the waters of Wolfpen Creek and Dead Mare Branch, on Little Carr Creek, and became "the man in the bushes" to his curious neighbors. Still joined the life of the scattered community. He raised his own food, preserved fruits and vegetables for the winter, and kept two stands of bees for honey. A neighbor remarked of Still, "He's left a good job, and come over in here and sot down." Still did sit down and write -- the classic novel River of Earth and many poems and short stories that have found their way into national publications. From the beginning, Still jotted down expressions, customs, and happenings unique to the region. After half a century those jottings filled twenty-one notebooks. Now they have been brought together in The Wolfpen Notebooks, together with an interview with Still, a glossary, a comprehensive bibliography of his work by William Terrell Cornett, and examples of Still's use of the "sayings" in poetry and prose. The "sayings" represent an aspect of the Appalachian experience not previously recorded and of a time largely past.

James Still

James Still PDF Author: Ted Olson
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786430761
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Best known as the author of the acclaimed novel River of Earth (1940), Alabama native James Still is one of the most critically acclaimed writers of Appalachian literature. This compilation of scholarly essays (new and reprinted from hard-to-find sources) exploring Still's literary work is the first book-length collection of its kind and features contributions from leading scholars and writers, including Wendell Berry, Fred Chappell, Jim Wayne Miller, Jeff Daniel Marion, Diane Fisher, Dean Cadle, and Hal Crowther. The book explores the full range of Still's literary interests, with separate chapters devoted to River of Earth, his short stories, poetry, folkloric writings, and writings for children.

Appalachia

Appalachia PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Appalachian Region
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description


James Still

James Still PDF Author: Carol Boggess
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813174201
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 533

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Book Description
James Still (1906–2001) first achieved national recognition in the 1930s as a poet, and he remains one of the most beloved and important writers in Appalachian literature. Though he is best known for the seminal novel River of Earth—which Time magazine called a "work of art" and which is often compared to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as a poignant literary exploration of the Great Depression—Still is also recognized as a significant writer of short fiction. His stories were frequently published in outlets such as the Atlantic and the Saturday Evening Post and won numerous awards, including the O. Henry Memorial Prize. In the definitive biography of the man known as the "dean of Appalachian literature," Carol Boggess offers a detailed portrait of Still. Despite his notable output and importance as a mentor to generations of young writers, Still was extremely private, preferring a quiet existence in a century-old log house between the waters of Wolfpen Creek and Dead Mare Branch in Knott County, Kentucky. Boggess, who befriended the author in the last decade of his life, draws on correspondence, journal entries, numerous interviews with Still and his family, and extensive archival research to illuminate his somewhat mysterious personal life. James Still: A Life explores every period of Still's life, from his childhood in Alabama, through the years he spent supporting himself in various odd jobs while trying to build his literary career, to the decades he spent fostering other talents. This long-overdue biography not only offers an important perspective on the author's work and art but also celebrates the legacy of a man who succeeded in becoming a legend in his own lifetime.

Southern Writers

Southern Writers PDF Author: Joseph M. Flora
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807131237
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 498

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Book Description
This new edition of Southern Writers assumes its distinguished predecessor's place as the essential reference on literary artists of the American South. Broadly expanded and thoroughly revised, it boasts 604 entries-nearly double the earlier edition's-written by 264 scholars. For every figure major and minor, from the venerable and canonical to the fresh and innovative, a biographical sketch and chronological list of published works provide comprehensive, concise, up-to-date information. Here in one convenient source are the South's novelists and short story writers, poets and dramatists, memoirists and essayists, journalists, scholars, and biographers from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. What constitutes a "southern writer" is always a matter for debate. Editors Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel have used a generous definition that turns on having a significant connection to the region, in either a personal or literary sense. New to this volume are younger writers who have emerged in the quarter century since the dictionary's original publication, as well as older talents previously unknown or unacknowledged. For almost every writer found in the previous edition, a new biography has been commissioned. Drawn from the very best minds on southern literature and covering the full spectrum of its practitioners, Southern Writers is an indispensable reference book for anyone intrigued by the subject.

Twentieth-Century Southern Literature

Twentieth-Century Southern Literature PDF Author: J. A. BryantJr.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813187400
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Book Description
Authors discussed include: Wendell Berry, Erskine Caldwell, Truman Capote, Ralph Ellison, William Faulkner, Shelby Foote, Zora Neal Hurston, Bobbie Ann Mason, Cormac McCarthy, Flannery O'Connor, William Styron, Anne Tyler, Alice Walker, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Thomas Wolfe, Richard Wright, and many more. By World War II, the Southern Renaissance had established itself as one of the most significant literary events of the century, and today much of the best American fiction is southern fiction. Though the flowering of realistic and local-color writing during the first two decades of the century was a sign of things to come, the period between the two world wars was the crucial one for the South's literary development: a literary revival in Richmond came to fruition; at Vanderbilt University a group of young men produced The Fugitive, a remarkable, controversial magazine that published some of the century's best verse in its brief run; and the publication and widespread recognition of Faulkner (among others) inaugurated the great flood of southern writing that was to follow in novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. With more than forty years of experience writing and reading about the subject, and friendships with many of the figures discussed, J. A. Bryant is uniquely qualified to provide the first comprehensive account of southern American literature since 1900. Bryant pays attention to both the cultural and the historical context of the works and authors discussed, and presents the information in an enjoyable, accessible style. No lover of great American literature can afford to be without this book.

James Still in Interviews, Oral Histories and Memoirs

James Still in Interviews, Oral Histories and Memoirs PDF Author: Ted Olson
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786436980
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
One of the most admired and influential authors to work in and write about Appalachia, James Still excelled in every genre of literature in which he worked, from novels and short stories to poetry, children's books, and folklore collections. This book is intended to help readers more fully understand and appreciate the many facets of Still's literary voice and vision, compiling transcribed versions of virtually all the interviews and oral histories ever conducted with James Still, along with numerous memoirs in which some of the leading voices in the Appalachian studies movement memorably express their appreciation for Still and his literary legacy.

From the Mountain, From the Valley

From the Mountain, From the Valley PDF Author: James Still
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813146151
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
James Still first achieved national recognition in the 1930s as a poet. Although he is better known today as a writer of fiction, it is his poetry that many of his essential images, such as the "mighty river of earth," first found expression. Yet much of his poetry remains out of print or difficult to find. From the Mountain, From the Valley collects all of Still's poems, including several never before published, and corrects editorial mistakes that crept into previous collections. The poems are presented in chronological order, allowing the reader to trace the evolution of Still's voice. Throughout, his language is fresh and vigorous and his insight profound. His respect for people and place never sounds sentimental or dated. Ted Olson's introduction recounts Still's early literary career and explores the poetic origins of his acclaimed lyrical prose. Still himself has contributed the illuminating autobiographical essay "A Man Singing to Himself," which will appeal to every lover of his work. James Still, the first poet laureate of Kentucky, recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and many other awards and honors, is the author of numerous works, including his masterful novel River of Earth. Ted Olson, associate professor of Appalachian studies and English at East Tennessee State University, is the author of Blue Ridge Folklife and the editor of CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual.

Dimestore

Dimestore PDF Author: Lee Smith
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1616206462
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
ÒA memoir that shines with a bright spirit, a generousÊheart and an entertaining knack for celebrating absurdity.ÓÑThe New York Times Book Review ÒThis is Smith at her finest.ÓÑLibrary Journal, starred review Set deep in the mountains of Virginia, the Grundy of Lee SmithÕs youth was a place of coal miners, tent revivals, mountain music, drive-in theaters, and her daddyÕs dimestore. When she was sent off to college to gain some Òculture,Ó she understood that perhaps the richest culture she would ever know was the one she was leaving. Lee SmithÕs fiction has always lived and breathed with the rhythms and people of the Appalachian South. But never before has she written her own story.Ê DimestoreÕs fifteen essays are crushingly honest, wise and perceptive, and superbly entertaining. Together, they create an inspiring story of the birth of a writer and a poignant look at a way of life that has all but vanished.

Bloodroot

Bloodroot PDF Author: Joyce Dyer
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813143403
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
“A broad sampling of deeply impressive writings—essays, memoirs, poetry, letters, stories—by women from the Southern Highlands.” —Kirkus Reviews Winner of the 1997 Appalachian Studies Award Appalachian Writers Association 1999 Book of the Year Winner of the Susan Koppleman Award of the Popular Culture Association for Best Edited Collection in Women’s Studies Thirty-five women writers from Appalachia define the region in a larger, more generous, and more intricate way that it has been defined before, dispelling many demeaning stereotypes of the region. The writers tell their compelling stories with poignancy, eloquence, forthrightness, and humor. A new American literary renaissance is ablaze in the Southern Highlands—the very place so often depicted by outsiders as dimly lit. 35 photos. “Dyer succeeds admirably in a dual purpose: to promote a vital and virtually unknown body of work, and to suggest an Appalachian spirit that transcends state borders and artistic genres.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “From the well-known, like Dykeman, Sharyn McCrumb and Denise Giardina, to the lesser known, these essayists, in one way or another, write of what it means to come to fully appreciate one’s native tongue; to be inspired by the courage and fortitude of their Appalachian foremothers; and to glory in their profound attachment to the natural beauty of the Appalachian hills, hollers and trails.” —Bowling Green Daily News “The writers here represent some of the most unique and often unsung talent in literature. These essays will carry you to a far mountain place and whet your appetite for more.” —Magazine (Baton Rouge, LA)