If you know anything about me, you know that I love to read. I am always reading a book. I love all different authors and subjects, fiction and non-fiction. Being from the South, I have read a lot of Southern authors' works. I love the Wikipedia definition of Southern literature:
"Southern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region. Characteristics of Southern literature include a focus on a common Southern history, the significance of family, a sense of community and one's role within it, a sense of justice, the region's dominant religion (Christianity) and the burdens/rewards religion often brings, issues of racial tension, land the the promise it brings, a sense of social class and place...."
Some Southern authors I have enjoyed include: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Margaret Mitchell (of course), Alice Walker (The Color Purple), Kathryn Tucker Windam, John Berendt (Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil), Pat Conroy, Fannie Flagg, John Grisham, Tom Wolfe, and Anne Rice, to name a few.
I also found this excerpt about Southern Writers on a website called "Guide to Southern Writers." (real original name huh?)
"One of the richest cultural traditions of the South is its history of literature and storytelling. Common theses used by Southern writers are a sense of place, strong family relationships and a rich tapestry of language and character."
So, it's Summer, pick up a book, preferably by a Southern writer, and let yourself escape...
"In the South, perhaps more than any other region, we go back to our home in dreams and memories, hoping it remains what it was on a lazy, still summer's day twenty years ago." - Willie Morris.
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