Literary Friday
Review & Interview for “Butterfly in the Typewriter” PLUS a Twitter Chat
“Bromance” author Hunter Murphy is back with an interview with writer Cory MacLauchlin and review of his new biography on John Kennedy Toole, “Butterfly in the Typewriter.” Fans of “Confederacy of Dunces” and its famous character Ignatius Reilly will want to read this account of Toole’s life and death (the family tomb where he’s buried in New Orleans is pictured on the right). Books have been written about Toole and how “Confederacy” came to be published after his death, but no true, or unbiased, biography existed until now. A graduate of the University of Virginia and member of the English faculty at Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, MacLauchlin says, “I wanted a biography of Toole, so I decided to write one.” Click here to read the review and interview.
We’re glad he wrote one and also glad that Hunter pinned him down for an interview. For those who want to know more about Toole, Ignatius and the book, Cory will be chatting with us and answering questions on Twitter from 2-3 p.m. CST today. Join in using the hashtag #southernlit.
Southern Sin Essay Contest
Creative Nonfiction (CNF) and the Oxford Creative Nonfiction Writers Conference & Workshop are looking for essays that capture the South in all its steamy sinfulness – whether you’re skipping church to watch football, coveting your neighbor’s “Real Housewife” of Atlanta or just drinking an unholy amount of sweet tea. Whether the sin you discuss is deadly or just something that would make your mama blush, they want to hear about it. Your essay can channel William Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor, Alice Walker or Rick Bragg; it can be serious, humorous or somewhere in between, but all essays must tell true stories and must incorporate both sin and the South in some way.
The selected essays will be published in Creative Nonfiction #47, and CNF and Oxford will be awarding $5,000 for the best essay. Creative Nonfiction #47 will be launched at the 2013 Oxford Creative Nonfiction Writers Conference & Workshop in March 2013. To submit, visit www.creativenonfiction.org. The deadline is July 31.
Remembering Maurice Sendak With Stephen Colbert
In the News
Florida county libraries ban ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
Summer Reading List author Wiley Cash on The Importance of Literacy in My Life, and Yours
Tayari Jones’ “Silver Sparrow” makes The New York Times’ “Great Pulitzer Do-Over” list
Book Giveaways
Comment on our Summer Reading List for the chance to win a beach read, mystery or new release from down South.
Last day to enter to win Amy Franklin-Willis’s signed hardcover first edition of “The Lost Saints of Tennessee.”
New in Southern Voice
“Long Distance,” a new story by Atlanta writer Kathleen Lewis about a conversation between mother and daughter, just in time for Mother’s Day.
To find out more about Southern authors like John Kennedy Toole’s haunts and hangouts, click here to download the Deep South Literary Trail App. You can also check out our Literary Friday Pinterest board here.
