Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, first published in 1952, was this author’s first novel. Followed by The Violent Bear it Away, another novel, and A Good Man is Hard to Find, a collection of short stories, it was reissued in a new hardcover in 1962 as a nod how much O’Connor’s audience had grown in the intervening years.
O’Connor was best known for fiction (primarily short stories) in the form of morally driven narratives populated with flawed characters sometimes described as grotesque. As she herself reminded readers in her essay “The Teaching of Literature”: Read More→
Octavia E. Butler (1947 – 2006) was an American author of speculative, dystopian, and science fiction. In the white male-dominated field of science fiction, she broke ground as a Black woman writer in the genre. Following is a selection of quotes from Kindred, showcasing Octavia Butler’s keen observations of human nature.
After publishing some short stories, Octavia Butler’s first novel was Patternmaster (1976). It was the first in what would become a four-volume series. But it was Kindred (1979) that placed Octavia Butler firmly on the literary map.
The novel’s protagonist is Dana, a contemporary African-American woman who travels back in time to save an ancestor who happens to be a white slave owner. By saving him in his time, she ensures her own survival in the future. Read More→
Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963) was a gifted poet who on the surface seemed to have it all: ambition, brains, and beauty. But she was beset by a lifelong struggle with depression that led to her taking her own life at the age of thirty.
Following are fascinating facts about Sylvia Plath, some known well, others less so, but all contributing to a portrait of this beloved poet’s brief life.
Because most of her work was published after her untimely death, she wasn’t able to enjoy the fruits of her labors. Yet her place in the American literary canon is well deserved. Read More→
For Octavia E. Butler (1947 – 2006), writing speculative and science fiction wasn’t merely a vehicle for escaping into fantasy, but a means to explore universal issues. This is certainly true of Kindred, the 1979 novel that is arguably her most iconic.
Butler’s deep and abiding interest in and observation of human nature — even within fantastical realms — is what makes her work so compelling and complex.
And yet her storytelling is flowing and natural. Her novels are tightly plotted page-turners; many of her protagonists are strong, believable Black women. Read More→
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was an esteemed British author known for six distinguished novels that secured her legacy in literary history. Her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, appeared in 1811 under the nom de plume “A Lady.” Read on for beloved quotes from Sense and Sensibility, demonstrating Jane Austen’s trademark wisdom and subtle wit.
Sense and Sensibility is an exquisitely crafted portrait of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood who are forced to leave their home after their father’s death. Like other women of their time and class, they must make good marriages.
Along the way they encounter meddling matriarchs, conniving rakes, and competitive contemporaries, all standing in their path to love and security. Read More→
In “The Gilded Six-Bits,” a short story, as well as her other works of fiction and essays, one sees Zora Neale Hurston’s wide scope as a writer.Following is an analysis of “The Gilded Six-Bits,” and you can read the full text of the story here.
Hurston was a key player in the Harlem Renaissance. She took on various topics from marital bliss to the national welfare, writing as a gifted author of fiction, a knowledgeable anthropologist, and a rigorous critic.
Always unconventional, she struck many as overly conservative, as she actually promoted southern segregation for a while, arguing that forced integration was an insult to the African-American community. Read More→
Miles Franklin (1879 – 1954) is best known for her first novel, My Brilliant Career. Published in 1901, when the author was just 21, it’s an atmospheric story of a teenage girl growing up in the Australian bush who longs to break free from societal expectaions, as live as her own person.
Just after the novel’s publication and early success she wrote only sporadically, having become involved in World War I efforts and the woman suffrage cause.
During this period, she wrote a sequel to My Brilliant Career titled My Career Goes Bung, finishing it around 1915 – 1916. But it proved too far ahead of its time and wasn’t published until some decades later. Read More→
Vita Sackville-West (March 9, 1892 – June 2, 1962), was a British poet, novelist, and garden designer. Born at Knole Park, a 365-room ancestral home, her writing career was launched with the publication of Poems of East and West (1917).
She’s known for her private life and as a master gardener perhaps as much as her literature. She was bisexual and concurrent with her happy marriage with Harold Nicolson (also bisexual) had many affairs with women.
It’s widely believed that Vita was the inspiration for the title character of Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando. Read More→
