Natasha Trethewey, one of the most preeminent and beloved writers of our time period, was born on April 26th, 1966, in Gulfport, Mississippi. Being born to an interracial relationship- a time period in which it was not accepted- many of the overarching themes present in her work reflect upon the prejudice and discrimination she faced.… Continue reading The Creative Mind Behind Natasha Trethewey
Harper Lee’s Letter to Harold Caulfield
Harper Lee is an American novelist best known for the book To Kill a Mockingbird, which won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Harper Lee was born and raised in a small town called Monroeville, which served as the inspiration for her renowned novel. Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was an attorney who was incredibly… Continue reading Harper Lee’s Letter to Harold Caulfield
Lesson from a Korean Poet in Seoul: Natasha Trethewey’s 2009 Trip to South Korea
Born in 1966 in Gulfport, Mississippi, Natasha Trethewey is an American poet, former United State Poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner. The daughter of Eric Trethewey, a White Canadian English professor, and Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough, an African American social worker, much of Trethewey’s work is inspired by her biracial identity and experiences growing up in… Continue reading Lesson from a Korean Poet in Seoul: Natasha Trethewey’s 2009 Trip to South Korea
Correspondence and Poetry Recommendations of Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty was born in 1909, in Jackson Mississippi. She attended most of her schooling there, but did receive a degree in Wisconsin as well as in New York from Columbia University. She returned to Jackson in 1931. While she is often identified and associated with the vague literary diaspora that is “Southern Literature”, she,… Continue reading Correspondence and Poetry Recommendations of Eudora Welty
Flannery O’Connor and The Southern Renaissance
After the American Civil War, the majority of Southern literary writers focused their pieces on the South’s past. It evoked a sense of nostalgia that was hard to move past. In the 1920s, a movement known as the Southern Renaissance came into action. The objective was not to forget, but to come to terms with… Continue reading Flannery O’Connor and The Southern Renaissance
James H. Blount’s 1907 Letter to the North American Review
The attached artifact is a letter written by James H. Blount, a former American statesman, soldier, congressman and attorney from Georgia. The letter is dated March 11, 1907, and is addressed to the editor of the North American Review. It represents a piece of United States and Filipino history, in which Blount writes to one… Continue reading James H. Blount’s 1907 Letter to the North American Review
Playwright Rebecca Ranson’s Journals Reveal Turmoil in Atlanta’s Queer Community During the AIDS Crisis
Southern lesbian playwright Rebecca Ranson was born in 1943, positioning the most active part of her career in the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Ranson studied Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Georgia and received her Masters of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of North Carolina, Chapel… Continue reading Playwright Rebecca Ranson’s Journals Reveal Turmoil in Atlanta’s Queer Community During the AIDS Crisis
Robert Penn Warren Interview
Robert Penn Warren was born in Guthrie, Kentucky, in 1905. He attended Vanderbilt University, the University of California, and Yale University before crossing the Atlantic to attend Oxford University in 1928. In 1927, Penn Warren met his first wife, Emma Brescia, and the two secretly married in the summer of 1929. In 1951, Penn Warren… Continue reading Robert Penn Warren Interview
An Exploration into James Dickey’s Writing Process
James Dickey, born in 1923 in Atlanta, Georgia, was a well-known 20th-century poet known for his extensive body of work, including poetry collections, such as The Whole Motion: Collected Poems, 1945-1992 (1990) and The Eagle’s Mile (1990). Dickey, who coined his own style as “country surrealism,” crafted a unique literary style that combined the realms… Continue reading An Exploration into James Dickey’s Writing Process
Catalog Entry: The Mentorship of Alice Walker and Howard Zinn
Within Alice Walker’s scrapbook lies proof of the powerful relationship between celebrated author and activist, Alice Walker, and her mentor, Howard Zinn. This scrapbook, created and designed by Alice Walker in 1963, serves as a narrative of the connection between Zinn and Walker. Alice Walker attended Spelman College on academic scholarship from 1961-1963. Her academic… Continue reading Catalog Entry: The Mentorship of Alice Walker and Howard Zinn