Sewanee Writers on Writing (Southern Literary Studies)

Book Overview

For two weeks every year, literary figures from throughout the country gather in rural Sewanee, Tennessee, to lead the Sewanee Writers' Conference, a series of workshops and colloquia aimed at cultivating the craft of writing. Gleaned from the first ten conferences, the "craft" lectures collected in Sewanee Writers on Writing offer a range of perspectives on writing as practiced by various playwrights, poets, and fiction writers whose gifts have made the Sewanee conference a mecca for developing talent.

The essays offer a banquet of topics that will whet the appetite of all authors, professional and amateur. Russell Banks ponders the role of research in the constitutive power of the imagination, John Casey considers simultaneity in art, and Ellen Douglas describes how a writer confronts the changing shape of memory. Horton Foote offers his perspective on the collaborative spirit of the theater, and Ernest Gaines explains why his subject matter must always remain the people of Louisiana. Anthony Hecht responds to W. H. Auden, revealing the ways both poets pair talent with subject, and John Hollander explores the delicate subtleties of Robert Frost's figurative thought.

Diane Johnson offers a witty and frank answer to the question all writers face at one time or another: "Write what?" Donald Justice expounds on the virtues of obscurity in poetry, and Romulus Linney offers practical guidelines for using dramatic action to revise a play. In her examination of Nabokov's Bend Sinister, Alice McDermott demonstrates that fiction writers are bound by no rules other than "do whatever you can get away with". Marsha Norman provides a witty list of the dos and don'ts playwriting, and FrancineProse stresses the importance of detail to a story's credibility. Finally, volume editor Wyatt Prunty discusses the figure of vacancy in the stories of Flannery O'Connor and Peter Taylor.

Together, these wise and wised-up essays offers a treasure trove of insight on the art of writing. Creative writers and scholars alike will benefit from the enthusiastic support and astute advice of these masters of the written word.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807126527
• ISBN13: 9780807126523
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Gift That Keeps on Giving

For two weeks in July of each year, on the rural Tennessee campus of Sewanee, The University of the South, the Sewanee Writers' Conference meets to encourage"creative writing and creative writers." The Conference has been meeting every year since 1989 when it's founder, poet Wyatt Prunty, used a donation from Tennessee William's estate to establish a location for writers to gather and practice their craft in a place known for its "remoteness without cultural dislocation." Sewanee Writers on Writing is a collection of 14 "Craft Lectures" selected from the first ten conferences and offers selections by playwrights, poets and fiction writers. Some of the contributors include Russell Banks, Alice McDermott, Ernest J. Gaines, Horton Foote and Marsh Norman. These are world class writers including Pulitzer Prize winners as well as a host of other national awards. This collection is a must for writers, professional or amateur, who are interested in cultivating the art and craft of writing. The insights, suggestions and experiences of these masters of the written word are as inspiring as they are informative. Tennessee Williams truly gave a gift that keeps on giving. A real literary treasure from some of the best in the business.