Category Archives: tennessee williams

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Southern Gothic for breakfast

This morning, we are starting with a discussion about Southern Gothic in novels with
Barton Palmer, Annette Saddik, Harvey Young with mod Robert Bray.

At least sitting in the Williams Research Center evokes a bit more mystery and ambience than the Queen Anne Ballroom of the otherwise lovely Monteleone Hotel.
There is a small cartography exhibit in the anteroom, which is a pleasant way to prepare for sitting for an hour or more. The “oilmen” map is a particular good example of the lovely and profane and so might be the best example of Gothic out there.

For me, Southern Gothic smacks of Mississippi and Alabama more than New Orleans, except of course for Tennessee himself, who we must always remember, was actually born in Mississippi.
Romantic and grotesque is always an appropriate way to describe any part of the South or any area really that has as many defeated people yet the abundance that we have.

Pat Conroy said “All southern writing can be traced to this one statement: On the night that the hogs ate Willie, momma died when she heard what daddy did to sister.”

Or, unfortunately, what one panelist this morning did to the others by taking more than half of the time allotted this panel.

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Friday on the sliver

As I read through my TWLF schedule to plan my day, I treat myself with a breakfast at Satsuma in the Bywater. Green egg sandwich, wheat grass shot (grown by a MidCity neighbor Jeff on his screened porch) and an immune booster juice.
There is a special delight in spending a day on the streets along the Mississippi, with their graceful curves and views of massive ships slowly passing at eye level. Narrow sidewalks open to old dusty brick walls and uneven stairs with acoustics that encourage fascinating side conversations and allow odd snippets to be overheard…
“Do you know the history of Utah and the Mormons before US intervention?”

“Did you replace the whole machine or just the part that was dripping?”

“I could use a Bloody Mary; actually I would abuse a Bloody Mary right about now…”

“I think that bag would work great for sneaking stuff into JazzFest.”

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Tennessee Returns To The Quarter

Ah my favorite weekend is here. Time to head to the Quarter and immerse myself in all things literary and of Tennessee. 4 days of workshops, plays, walking tours, shouting contests and mint juleps.
Hope to see you there, and if not, look for my blogs from the Fest.

http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/festival/schedule

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5 days left to register

http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/writers-workshop

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Walker Percy and Tennessee

The Walker Percy documentary was show at the HNOC during the Tennessee Williams Festival this year. Percy’s work represented the alienation of the modern man and especially those living in the modern South. Interestingly, he is also remembered for his championing of John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces, which won the Pulitzer in the early 1980s.
National Book Award winner (The Moviegoer)Walker Percy has said his concerns as a writer were with “a theory of man, man as more than organism, more than consumer — man the wayfarer, man the pilgrim, man in transit, on a journey.”
Through archival film, excerpts of Percy’s work, and interviews with family, friends and scholars, Walker Percy: A Documentary, examined Percy’s own journey.

“Not to be on to something, is to be in despair”