Southern Literature &
GA Authors:
AN OVERVIEW
What is Southern Literature?
• Sometimes called the literature of the American
South
• American literature about the Southern United
States or by writers from this region.
• Can also be written by authors who were either
brought up in the South, spent many years in the
South, or came from southern parents
• Authors who were distant enough from slavery
and the civil war to write objectively, but still
close enough to the long-reaching effects of the
war to feel its oppressive, hard-hitting hand.
William Faulkner / Mark Twain
• William Faulkner - considered the
leading figure in Southern Literature
• Influenced southern writers more than
anyone since Mark Twain.
• Twain is often called the father of
American literature
• Referred to himself as a southern writer
even though Missouri is not the first
state we think of when we think of “the
South”.
Southern Literature States:
Geographically, the South can reach as far west as
Oklahoma and Texas, and as far north as Kentucky,
and Virginia. Some might argue for the inclusion of
parts of Illinois, Tennessee, or even Maryland.
Characteristics of
Southern/GA Literature:
• The significance of family
• A sense of community and one’s role within it
• The community’s dominating religion and the
burdens/rewards religion often brings
• The land and the promise it brings
• A sense of social class
• The issues of racial tension
• The use of southern dialect
Additional Characteristics of
Southern Literature:
 Has a sense of human limitation (moral dilemma)
 Values manners/genteel decorum
 Involves elaborate celebrations
 Speaks with candidness
 Inclined to use humor: exaggeration, fish tales, & whoppers
 May use profanity
 Involves recurring themes & motifs: Mom, trains, the
country, pickups, old dogs, & drinking
 Is character driven
 Shows reluctance to give up anyone or anything once
accepted.
Southern Literature Today:
So while geography is a factor,
southern writing is much more…
Today, Southern literature continues
to thrive with authors like Pat Conry,
Fannie Flagg, Alice Walker, Tom
Wolfe, and Wendell Berry.
Southern Literature/GA Author
Awards:
The 100 Best Books in the History of Literature:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Best-Selling U.S. Hardcover Fiction:
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1937)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Literary Award for Fiction: A Lesson Before Dying
by Ernest J. Gaines (1994)
Library Journal's Most Influential
Fiction of the 20th Century:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (#1)
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (#4)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (#6)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (#28)
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (#47)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (#78)
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor (#87)
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (#94)
A Death in the Family by James Agee (#99)
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (#136)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (#142)
National Book Critics Circle Award:
Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (1993)
All the Pretty Horses Cormac McCarthy (1992)
BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES:
A Time to Kill (1996), based on the novel by John Grisham
All the King's Men (2006), based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren
Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1991), based on the novel by Carson McCullers
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), based on the novel by Dorothy Allison
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), based on the novel by Truman Capote
Cavedweller (2004), based on the novel by Dorothy Allison
Color Purple, The (1985), based on the novel by Alice Walker
Deliverance (1972), based on the novel by James Dickey
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), based on the novel by Fannie Flagg
Gone With the Wind (1939), based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell
Interview with the Vampire (1994), based on the novel by Anne Rice
Killer Diller (2004), based on the novel by Clyde Edgerton
Lords of Discipline (1983), based on the novel by Pat Conroy
Pelican Brief (1993), based on the novel by John Grisham
Prince of Tides (1991), based on the novel by Pat Conroy
Walking Across Egypt (1999), based on the novel by Clyde Edgerton
National Book Award:
• The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
(1953)
• The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (1962)
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1983Hardcover Fiction)
• All the Pretty Horses by Cormac
McCarthy (1992)
Pulitzer Prize:
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1983)
GA Author/Southern Literature Websites:
A Southern List: A List of 125 Great Southern Books
(http://www.ageefilms.org/southern_books.html)
"While creating the award-winning documentary series, TELL ABOUT THE SOUTH:
Voices in Black and White, the James Agee Film Project conducted a poll of book
editors, publishers, scholars and reviewers, asking which of the thousands of
Southern prose works published during the past century should be considered "the
most remarkable works of modern Southern Literature."
Guide to Southern Writers - ARLS Pathfinder
(http://www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us/pathfinders/southernauthors/swriters.html)
A collection of resources compiled by the Athens-Clarke County Library on southern
writers including quotes, dewey decimal call numbers, book citations and web sites.
Reader's Advice: Serious Southern Fiction
(http://www.readersadvice.com/readadv/000115.html)
Extensive listing of authors and titles.
Southern Literary Review (http://www.southernlitreview.com/)
Includes author profiles, original content, book reviews, critical essays and more.
Southern Scribe (http://www.southernscribe.com/)
"...a clearinghouse of information for working writers in the South and for those
writing about the southern region. This information includes: resources for writing
opportunities; research; and regional book news."
GA Author List:
GEORGIA AUTHORS
Conrad Aiken
Tina McElroy Ansa
Vereen Bell
Olive Ann Burns
Erskine Caldwell
Rosalynn Carter
Brainard Cheney
Pearl Cleage
Pat Conroy
Harry Crews
Rosemary Daniell
Janice Daugharty
Ossie Davis
Carmen Deedy
James Dickey
Pam Durban
Augusta Jane Evans (Wilson)
Berry Fleming
Francis Fontaine
Henry W. Grady
Lewis Grizzard
Julien Green
Anthony Grooms
Evelyn Hanna
Will Harben
Corra Harris
Joel Chandler Harris
Mary Hood
Mac Hyman
Ha Jin
Greg Johnson
www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Richard Malcolm Jouhston
Tayari Jones
Terry Kay
James Kilgo
John Oliver Killens
Sidney Lanier
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
Grace Lumpkin
Carson McCullers
James Alan McPherson
Caroline Miller
Margaret Mitchell
Frances Newman
Flannery O'Connor
Ludlow Porch
Eugenia Price
Byron Herbert Reese
John Rollin Ridge
Ferrol Sams
Celeste Sibley
Anne Rivers Siddons
Marian McCamy Sims
Lillian Smith
William Tappan Thompson
Janelle Taylor
Jean Toomer
Alfre Ulry
Alice Walker
Philip Lee Williams
Calder Willingham
Frank Yerby
Project? – YAY!!!
NAME ___________________________________________ Date
______________________________ Period ________
GA Author WEBQUEST - PC LA - 8th Grade
Georgia Author's Name
:
WHERE BORN / RAISED / LIVED
EDUCATION / DEGREE
BIG BREAK / FIRST PUBLISHED
OTHER BOOKS (DATES)
INSPIRATION
AWARDS / BEST SELLERS
IMPORTANT EVENTS IN LIFE
ACHIEVMENTS AFTER DEATH
OTHER IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
Task:
1. From the provided list, choose two GA or southern writers to
explore.
2. Use the Web Quest guidelines to find out background
information on each author.
3. Determine which characteristics of southern literature they
have in common in their writing.
4. Create a project with the following components:
 Timeline of significant events (8+) in each author’s life.
 Comparison display with a minimum of four commonalities.
 Project must use color.
*The type of display you create is up to you.
*When you present you must be able to discuss your authors in
depth without reading notes!
HAVE FUN!