Benjamin B. Alexander

Dr. Ben Boatwright Alexander was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up on a family peach farm in South Carolina. He attended public school, graduated from the University of the South (Sewanee, TN), and earned an interdisciplinary doctorate in literature and political theory from the Univ. of Dallas. He studied as an undergraduate with Flannery O'Connor's teacher who instructed her at the Iowa Writers' Workshop--and later thereafter Alexander collected the letters of another vital teacher of O'Connor, Caroline Gordon. Learning from O'Connor's mentors, Alexander became a teacher, himself, with over 40 years of experience, Dr. Alexander received tenure twice on two different college faculties. Dr. Alexander's collection of O'Connor letters helps illuminate "Wildcat," a 2023 American biographical drama film about O'Connor struggling to publish her first novel and short stories. The film was directed by Ethan Hawke and written by Hawke and Shelby Gaines. It stars Maya Hawke, Rafael Casal, and others of renown. Alexander's collection, "Good Things Out of Nazareth" will deepen the knowledge of O'Connor for the moviegoer, reader, or scholar. They can read O'Connor's own letters about her stories later featured in "Wildcat" and deepen their understanding of this seminal American writer.