For James Dickey, who believed in the “transcendence of the imagination,” as evidenced in a letter to Gore Vidal in 1988—“I make no distinction between fact, fiction, history, reminiscence and fantasy, for the imagination inhabits them all,” —Gordon Van Ness takes on a complex, passionate, revelatory—and often thorny—task in James Dickey: A Literary Life (Mercer […]
“Untying the Moon,” by Ellen Malphrus
October 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl It’s been four decades since Harold Bloom published The Anxiety of Influence. Bloom’s theory is that creative writers are hindered in their work because they maintain ambiguous relationships with precursor writers. He’s enlarged his theory these days by referencing precursor writers as “daemons.” I mention this because in his foreword […]
Southern LitFest 2015
January 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Bourbon, Literature and Southern Charm: Southern LitFest 2015 June 5 & 6, Newnan, Georgia Good food, great literature, bourbon on an inviting porch, Market Day on the square, fiddlers picking a bluegrass tune …people having a great time talking about books, films and Southern culture in a classic small town setting. Highlights include: On Friday evening: […]