Happy Deathday Mr. Conrad and Ms. O’Connor!

On August 3rd in 1924, novelist,  Joseph Conrad died at the age of 66 from heart failure. On the same day in 1964, Southern writer, Flannery O’Connor died at the very young age of 39, from complications due to Lupus.

Joseph Conrad is, of course, most well known for his novel Heart of Darkness,  which was first published in three parts via Blackwood’s Magazine in 1899 before it’s formal publication in 1902.  The novella is written as a frame narrative and is regarded by most to be a highly significant contribution to English Literature, although Conrad was not born an Englishman.

In fact, it may surprise many of you to know that Conrad spent many years as a sailor, including four years in the French merchant navy and an additional eight years as a British sailor. He made several voyages to the Far East, notably Singapore, Borneo, and the Gulf of Siam, all of which served as material for his novels. One trip up the Congo led to the writing of… you guessed it… Heart of Darkness.

Throughout his adult life, Conrad suffered from bouts of malarial gout and struggled with depression and financial distress. By 1908, he had added some more works to his output, notably The Secret Agent. Although he had won critical recognition, he was depressed by the fact that he was still not a “selling” author. Unfortunately, he was constantly tormented by the need to make money yet retain his artistic integrity, until the day he died.

A critic once said of Flannery O’Connor that she was “arguably the greatest Southern writer after Faulkner”. As we, here at DWC, are mostly Welty readers, we will disagree…but O’Connor is undeniably a close second ;) One of our favorite collections from O’Connor is A Good Man in Hard to Find, which was published in 1955. Her fiction is richly allegorical and sardonic, and her perspective on human nature unflinching…  which can sometimes make the soul feel rather unsettled after reading it. She always manages to find humor and beauty within a dark, seemingly remorseless landscape.

O’Connor lived in the “bible belt” and often made contributions to the local Catholic literary outlets, including book reviews. This setting shows up often in her work, which she preferred to label as “Christian Realism” rather than the popular term “Southern Gothic”.

Today, we hope you will remember these very different but equally gifted writers. Like O’Connor, we encourage you to look for the beauty in the grotesque underbelly of wherever you may live. Like Conrad, draw back on where you’ve been and take your readers there as he did… into the heart of darkness.

Write on in peace Mr. Conrad and Ms. O’Connor!

Stormy Weather : Happy Deathday Ms. Welty!

Hello there, dear readers!

Over the weekend we had some stormy weather and our lines were down! So… we’re playing a bit of catch-up today!

On July 23rd, in 2001, 6-time winner of the O. Henry Award for Short Stories, National Medal for Literature and A1969 Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty died in her Mississippi home at the age of 92.

Welty is certainly one of the strongest voices in Southern Gothic lit.

Though she only wrote 5 novels and numerous volumes of short stories, with Welty it is purely a matter of quality vs. quantity. Her writing is richly descriptive and darkly humorous. Her talent for comedy aside, the most surprising gift that Welty has offered her readers, and the text that speaks most directly about her work as a writer, came to fruition in 1983, when Welty agreed to deliver the first annual Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard University.

Our favorite works include her 1984 memoir “One Writer’s Beginnings”, “The Optimist’s Daughter” and her first collection of short stories “A Curtain of Green”  which was published in 1941. Of late, we have recently read “Losing Battles”, written in 1970, and it has steadily become a favorite as well!

If you are interested in Eudora Welty’s full biography and works, we recommend a visit to  the Eudora Welty Foundation, our resource for all things Eudora!

Today, we encourage our readers to reflect on why they love to read and/or write. What first drew your attention to the words on the pages in front you… Ms. Welty often reflected on things like this and drew on her personal experiences to craft her marvelous stories. So… write about your origins as a writer!

Write on in peace, Ms. Welty!

Happy Deathday Mr. Faulkner!

On July 6th in 1962, one of our very favorite writers, William Faulkner, died of a heart attack at the age of 64 in Mississippi.

Faulkner is commonly referred to as a “Southern Gothic” writer, and was one of the founders of Modernist American Literature and stream of consciousness writing. Though he is most often remembered as a novelist, Faulkner also wrote poetry and screenplays.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and he is widely considered one of the most influential Southern writers, alongside Mark Twain, Flannery O’Connor and Tennessee Williams, to name a few.

Our favorite Faulkner pieces include The Sound and the Fury, The Unvanquished and the controversial short story “A Rose for Emily”. It is interesting to note that Faulkner was responsible for the screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep”, which happens to be a favorite film here at Dead Writers. He also wrote the screenplay for “To Have and Have Not”, by his contemporary Ernest Hemingway.

Like Twain, Faulkner used diction and accents as a very effective character device in his works. Flannery O’Connor (the veritable queen of southern gothic literature) once said of Faulkner:

“The presence alone of Faulkner in our midst makes a great difference in what the writer can and cannot permit himself to do. Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track the Dixie Limited is roaring down.”

The above quote certainly sums up our feeling on the man. Brilliant.

Today, we encourage our readers to pour themselves a nice glass of sweet tea and get lost in the grotesque narrative of one of Faulkner’s short stories!

Write on in peace, Mr. Faulkner!