Faulkner's Wake: the Emergence of Literary Oxford

University of Mississippi eGrove Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Theses Honors College) 2004 Faulkner's Wake: The Emergence of Literary Oxford John Louis Fuller Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis Recommended Citation Fuller, John Louis, "Faulkner's Wake: The Emergence of Literary Oxford" (2004). Honors Theses. 2005. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2005 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College) at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Faulkner’s Wake: The Emergence of Literary Oxford Bv John L. Fuller A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Mississippi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Oxford April 2005 Advisor; Dr. Judson D. Wafson -7 ■ / ^—- Reader: Dr. Benjamin F. Fisher y. Reader: Dr. Andrew P. D^rffms Copyright © by John L. Fuller All Rights Reserved 1 For my parents Contents Abstract 5 I The Beginnings 9 (4Tell About the South 18 A Literary Awakening 25 II If You Build It, They Will Come 35 An Interview with Pochard Howorth 44Football, Faulkner, and Friends 57 An Interview with Barry Hannah Advancing Oxford’s Message 75 An Interview with Ann J. Abadie Oxford Tom 99 An Interview with Tom Franklin III Literary Grounds 117 Works cited 120 Abstract The genesis of this project was a commercial I saw on television advertising the University of Mississippi. “Is it the words that capture a place, or the place that captures the words?” noted actor and Mississippi native Morgan Freeman asked. I had been confident in my knowledge of literary Oxford, but the commercial made me wonder just what had created this literary environment I took for granted. I set about my task dividing the culture into three realms of influence, the town and its history, the school and its academic authority, and Square Books and its economic influence. As I began to research the history of Oxford, and to meet the people involved in its literary world, I realized how difficult it was to keep these realms of influence distinct. They did not simply bleed one into another, they poured. I realized Oxford’s literary culture was not simply a number influences working together as I had assumed, but rather at times it appeared as the precise and diligent work of individuals. Together, many people—both authors and enthusiasts—have contributed to Oxford’s literary reputation. This project attempts to present, in prose form, the literary history of Oxford, while also presenting, in dialogue, the personal accounts of some who have been a part and a product of that literary history. As interview subjects, I chose four individuals who represent distinct entities of Oxford’s literary culture: a mayor and bookstore owner, an academic, and two authors—one native to Mississippi and one a transplant. While each 5 approached the subject from a particular perspective, their opinions converged. Oxford is unique, and it is literary. All spoke of Faulkner, but all spoke of other qualities as well. Its rich history, varied culture, and exposure to a variety of influences—all within a fifteen mile radius—create fertile ground for aspiring writers. In the future Oxford will likely continue as a place where writers may find nourishment. Having been effectively canonized by Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha, Oxford and Lafayette County can go nowhere. It will be preserved, if not in actuality, in the pages of his novels. There, it may be of even more influence, uncluttered by contemporary development and expansion. Regardless of its future as a municipality, I believe those who have made good use of Oxford’s literary capital will pass on the torch to a next generation. From what I have come to hear and learn during my time in Oxford, there is far too much literary enthusiasm to believe otherwise. What follows is not a celebration of Oxford, though I admit, at times it may read as one. Rather, I have attempted to construct an informed and rational basis upon which one may better understand the arrival and sustenance of literary Oxford. 6 I have settled here because of the university library and the distinguished bookstore, and also for the gentlemen who sit on the chairs around the square to reminisce. These old men have not been treated well in other fictions by the authors in other states at other times. But you cannot ignore their wisdom... -Barry Hannah Hey Jack Chapter One The Beginnings Out of its tortured and confusing past, Mississippi has come into the twenty-first century with only few things it can be truly proud of without footnote or reservation. The mighty waterway that shares its name with the state surely fills each Mississippian with pride, but what had we to do with its formation and utility? The state’s name implies more of its geography than a comparison with the mighty waterway. Our Southern hospitality which we claim so fervently must also contain an asterisk; for all too often in Mississippi, “hospitable” applies only to one’s own color or creed. During its golden years when cotton was king and Mississippi led the country in a pioneering boom, the state was defined by all manner of Southern splendor. Natchez, the river port to the delta, was once among the wealthiest towns in all America. However, this economic plenty was supported by a social order that enslaved and impoverished those without the right color skin, or proper family pedigree. Even the state bird, the mockingbird, as its name implies, seems to understand the troubling nature of Mississippi’s historical identity. Perhaps the last bastion of the “Old South,” Mississippi has been slow to recover from the shock and disorder that ensued following the Civil War. Mississippi has never regained its antebellum stature of wealth and prosperity. One of the last states to integrate, and hastened only by force, racial tensions have remained high in Mississippi. 9 The disparity between the wealthy and the poor also continues to be large and seemingly irremediable. As a result of these unpleasant legacies, Mississippi often finds itself at or near the bottom of national evaluations of education, health and poverty. In spite of these difficulties, there remains one legacy that Mississippi can always be proud of: its literature. The history of Mississippi, as troubled as it may be, has been filled with storytellers, historians and authors. Although not always actively participating through the content of their letters, these men and women are part of a history of oral tradition. Elizabeth Whitlock, in her introduction to an anthology of Mississippi \vriters, suggests that it is “the storytelling legacy of the South, with its legend-filled history of affluence and poverty, stability and change, and oneness and conflict with the land” that has influenced so many Mississippians to pick up the pen and become vmters.* Some believe Mississippi has cultivated more resident authors than any other state.^ Larry Brown, Ellen Douglas, William Faulkner, Shelby Foote, Richard Ford, John Grisham, Barry Hannah, Willie Morris, William Alexander Percy, Walker Percy, Elizabeth Spencer, Donna Tartt, Margaret Walker, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, and Stark Young are just some of many well-known Mississippians who have received critical attention for their literary work. In fact, the Mississippi Writers Directory and Literary Guide lists one hundred and thirty career writers who have lived a significant portion of their lives in Mississippi. Many towns and cities across the state have received attention for their resident Elizabeth Whitlock, “Introduction,” Mississippi Writers: An Anthology, ed. Dorothy Abbott,(Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991), xv. “ Aleda Shirley et al., eds., Mississippi Writers Directory and Literary Guide (University: The Center for the Study of Southern Culture, 1995), 5. 10 writers. Greenville, a delta port along the Mississippi River, has been home to numerous authors including William Alexander Percy, his nephew Walker Percy, the great Civil War historian Shelby Foote, and Ellen Douglas. Jackson is well known as the hometown of Eudora Welty, considered one of America’s finest female authors. The state capital is also the birthplace of Pulitzer Prize winners Richard Ford and Beth Henley, as well as a childhood home of Richard Wright. However, among the numerous literary locations. one town has risen to the forefront in recent years. Oxford, the home of the state’s first public university as well as that of its most famous author, William Faulkner, has in last few decades become the state’s literary focus. Currently, over a dozen published authors live in and around Oxford, and more seem to be appearing each year. The town is also home tof one of the nation’s leading independent bookstores. Each year dozens of authors cross the threshold of Square Books to read and sign from their latest works. Oxford also attracts hundreds of participants to its annual literary conferences, including the Oxford Conference for the Book and the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference. But just how this quaint Southern town came to be a booming hub of Southern literature is a question often asked by scholars and laymen alike. Is it simply a byproduct of its liberal arts university, or did it instead develop as a result of fanfare following Faulkner’s Nobel Prize in 1949? What did the opening of Square Books in 1979 have to do with Oxford’s literary aura? Perhaps it was the arrival of a man named Morris, returning from New York to his native Mississippi, which initiated a literary awakening in Oxford.

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