Anthology Review    

Years ago, Mississippi claimed to have more writers per capita than any other state. Whether or not the statistic is true, Oxford, Mississippi values writers.

In They Write Among Us, Jim Dees, host of Thacker Mountain Radio, a program on literature and music from Mississippi Public Radio, has compiled an impressive, delightful, and eclectic collection of works by writers living in or associated with the town of Oxford and the University of Mississippi. The anthology also attempts to answer the intangible questions about why so many good writers have made Oxford their home and what constitutes Southern writing.

(Since a partial list of authors would slight both the reader and the anthology...) They Write Among Us includes works by: Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, Tom Franklin, William Gay, Anne Rapp, Willie Morris, Mark Richard, George Singleton, Shay Youngblood, John T. Edge, Ace Atkins, David Magee, Jonathan Miles, Curtis Wilkie, Jane Mullen, Masaru Inoue, Lisa Howorth, Claude Wilkinson, Beth Ann Fennelly, Dick Waterman, Jamie Kornegay, Dean Faulkner Wells, Anne Rapp, Carly Grace, and Larry Wells. The foreword is by Willie Morris and the collection is dedicated to his memory. (Tom Franklin, Larry Brown, William Gay, Mark Richard, and Ace Atkins submitted new pieces for publication in the book.)   

Using several genres -- fiction, nonfiction prose, and poetry -- Dees proves, yet again, how many varieties of Southern writing are available to readers.


 

Pam Kingsbury

Southern Scribe Reviews

 

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