Parting the Curtains: Interviews With Southern Writers - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895871165 ISBN 13: 9780895871169

Publisher: Blair, 1994

Synopsis

Offers a look at the lives, work, and writing processes of such Southern writers as Maya Angelou, William Styron, and Doug Marlette

About this title

From School Library Journal:

YA?Powell presents insightful interviews with a wide spectrum of writers, from Maya Angelou to William Styron, from Reynolds Price to Doug Marlette (the creator of the comic strip Kudzu). The unifying factor in the choices is the Southern background or character of the various authors, but the exciting aspects are the individual delineations of the creative process and the varieties of style, both at work and in their writing, described vividly by each of the subjects. James Dickey's definition of the process of poetry alone is worth the price while the insights into the very souls of these writers is inspiring to would-be authors, and even to those of us who just enjoy learning from the experience of others. Many interviews were originally done 10 or more years ago, but most have been updated within the last year, and the biographical as well as scene-setting materials are current and helpful, even when readers are not familiar with the writings. Each profile is accompanied by one or more photographs. A welcome addition to biography collections as well as fodder for students fascinated with the process of writing.?Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Disciples of successful writing and those who create it will want this book, which is not a manual. As each writer is thoroughly questioned, there is a new revelation about the writing process, not fundamentally contradictory but sometimes suprisingly at odds with the writer's environment, discipline, and muses. For example, James Dickey has several works going at the same time, so he has several typewriters in different rooms. Pat Conroy keeps lists of words-e.g., oboes, intermezzos, and appliance-whose sound he likes. He likes their sound. Doris Betts believes that the short story form suits the young and cannot imagine Proust wanting to write a short story. Shelby Foote knows exactly what is going to happen next in his writing and how many words he is going to use. In all, 23 Southern writers, famous and nearly so, are interviewed and photographed, each heard and seen as the individual he or she is. For general collections.
Robert L. Kelly, Ft. Wayne Community Schs., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Blair
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0895871165
• ISBN 13: 9780895871169
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 353
• Editor: Powell Dannye Romine