SewaneeLetters.com

Rachel sent in these photos from her April wedding to Phillip Leroy in Statesboro, Georgia. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

At some point while driving between Sewanee and Signal Mountain, you may have witnessed a red and white blur on a bicycle. That would be Nick Nichols, 4th year MA candidate and cycling prodigy. A couple weeks ago he won the Tennessee State Championship in Category 4 Criterium. Congrats Nick!

For those MFA students who started reading Louis Menand’s review of The Program Era in this week’s New Yorker (Show or Tell: Should creative writing be taught?), then stopped reading, got queasy, and continued packing bags for next week in Sewanee, here’s a spoiler: his answer is YES.

Pete Trenchi submitted this clip from the Winchester Herald-Chronicle. Tina’s making history…

John Grammer just sent me the following good news:

As you may have heard, the SOL is about to have its first graduate. Tina Whipple has defended her MFA thesis, a complete draft of a young adult novel entitled  “Peacekeeper: Cherokee Little People.” The degree will be conferred at Sewanee’s commencement this coming Sunday. After considerable debate among classics professors and University Administrators, it was agreed that the ceremonial Latin for “Fine Arts” will be “Bellis Artibus,” which phrase narrowly edged out “Artibus Eligantibus,” which was found to be rather inelegant.  We’ll take some pictures and pass those along after we get ‘em.

Go Class of 2009! Congrats Tina!

photo by Dean Wilson

Our man in Chattanooga, Jimmy Swansbrough, attended the recent Conference on Southern Literature and sent me this report:

I attended nearly the whole day on Saturday and had a great time. You know you’re pretty nerdy when you’re the minority age group at an event by a good twenty years. I was mostly surrounded by two types:
1) elderly professorial gentlemen trying not to nod off (especially humorous during a monotone reading by Richard Bausch–this could have been a Lunesta commercial)
2) mid- to latter-aged biddies with their knitting/crochet work splayed across their laps, nodding their heads at whatever they deemed accurate or acceptable from the panelists

The first panel I attended was entitled, “History is the big myth we live,” a line taken from a Robert Penn Warren poem. The three panelists (Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason and Allen Wier) were informally expected to speak about the role (burden?) that history plays on literature, both for fiction and non-fiction. All three panelists offered excellent commentary, then fielded an assortment of questions from the mildly-annoying audience. My favorite improvised response came from Wendell Berry. In response to a question about the freedom that historical fiction can take with the history it follows, he said, “Look, I don’t believe in a willing suspension of disbelief. I don’t care about that. I want my disbelief COMPELLED into suspension.” I was impressed at nearly every sage word that Berry spoke. The audience was in awe of him too; I half expected the ladies to toss some crocheted panties on the stage.

Jill McCorkle’s address centered on the role that free speech plays in literature, and she took the stance that censorship of any form tantalizes those who are censored into rebellion (e.g cursing, abstinence, alcohol, etc.). Her anecdotal humor gave levity to her serious topic and wooed the old conservatives in the audience into letting her drop f-bombs without complaint. She was like an oratorical snake-charmer! I now want to read her work…any recommendations?

The final discussion of the conference was facilitated by renowned editor Shannon Ravenel and paneled by Dorothy Allison, Roy Blount, Jr., Clyde Edgerton and Sam Pickering. The topic was “After the Writing’s Done: Publishing, Promoting, and Avoiding the Critic’s Arrow,” and it was hilarious from beginning to end. It was great to see published authors who didn’t take themselves too seriously and still gave helpful comments to their audience. The four panelists kidded each other and told self-deprecating anecdotes about failed promotional tours. Dorothy Allison laughingly confessed that she intimidated the New York editors into publishing her by storming into their offices with a “vengeful lesbian feminist” agenda. Sam Pickering claimed no one in his family has ever read anything he’s written–even his mama dismissed his writing as “more of that bullshit,” he claimed. I almost pitied Shannon Ravenel, because her task as facilitator seemed comparable to herding cats. In fact, she kind of reminded me of our own Meg Binnicker, whose boundless patience and organization has kept the SOL afloat for the last four years.

All in all, it was a great conference organized by UT-Chattanooga’s Arts & Education Council. Rumor has it they’re hosting another conference next spring called the Festival of Writers (these two programs are hosted biennially in alternating years).

ps. I spoke to Dorothy Allison and asked if she’d ever read/lecture at Sewanee, and the opportunity sounded appealing to her. I told her I knew people and would pull some strings, so maybe Dr. Grammer will read your blog post and get the ball rollin?

It’s only appropriate that we use this small corner of the web reserved (mostly) for Sewanee MA/MFA info to congratulate current MA student Josh Clark on his marriage to Melanie Cook, just as he used a brief moment of his witty and honest “Readings” during the wedding to mention us. It pains me to admit, but you two almost made me wish that Emily and I hadn’t been married by a justice of the peace in a room that must have doubled as the Decatur, Georgia courthouse’s broom-closet. I hope that Josh can find the time to post some of what he wrote for the occasion - the humor and sincerity was appreciated by all in attendance. Good luck to both of you.

PS: The tasty Groom’s cake in the picture above reads, if I remember right: “Sgt. Pepper’s No Longer Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The flavor? Strawberry.

I just got into a debate about the Amazon Kindle with the manager of Chick-fil-A and the police officer on duty. Two out of three of us are asking for the e-book reader for Christmas. The police officer was unconvinced and he made a good point about spilling coffee on a paperback versus a $360 gadget. I love that this kind of debate springs up in circles beyond the university, but I was wondering what all you book junkies think of the Kindle… Have you acquired or tried one yet? Will you?

Lately, all my MFA skills go towards hyping my t-shirt project, Skeledog. This latest entry about our Today show appearance is actually composed in blank verse.