So many books, so little time!  You'll love these "Best Book" lists  - including columnist Carole McKellar's personal faves.

​An iconic travel writer treads some old roads.
- by Carole McKellar

His latest nonfiction book, “Deep South,” was sent to me in October by Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. As a member of their First Editions Club, I receive a signed first edition twelve times a year. I almost always love the selections, but I was skeptical of a travel book about the south written by a curmudgeon like Theroux. I was pleasantly surprised by his appreciation of the landscape’s beauty and southerners' warmth.

Theroux writes, “After having seen the rest of the world, I had planned to take one long trip through the South in the autumn, before the presidential election of 2012, and write about it. But when that trip was over I wanted to go back, and I did so, leisurely in the winter, renewing acquaintances. That was not enough. I returned in the spring, and again in the summer, and by then I knew that the South had me, sometimes in a comforting embrace, occasionally in its frenzied and unrelenting grip.”

In “Deep South,” Theroux drove through some of the poorest sections of the rural South — the Low Country of South Carolina, Alabama’s Black Belt, the Mississippi Delta, and the Arkansas Ozarks. He intentionally avoided the most prosperous areas, usually the cities where there is “wealth and stylishness and ease.”  He instead favored small towns, most of which seemed like ghost towns with abandoned houses and boarded up stores. Jobs in these areas are hard to come by due to mechanization, lack of quality education, or industrial shut-downs.

While the main reason for the journey was a curiosity about the Southern poor, Theroux found that the good will of southerners “was like an embrace.” People he encountered were kind and generous. Lucille, a woman in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, told Theroux, “Ain’t no strangers here, baby,” before driving miles out of her way to show him the way to a local church. In the Mississippi Delta, Theroux found the people “not just approachable but unpretentious and friendly to strangers, glad to talk, and especially to talk about the past because they were uncertain about the future.”

Churches are important to the story because they are the social center of community life. Theroux felt that “poverty is well dressed in churches” and everyone welcomes strangers. He has an ear for dialogue and seemed to relish chance encounters. Conversations in churches, on street corners, in convenience stores, and in small cafes with names like “O Taste and See” are the heart of the book. He found southerners to be talkers who enjoy telling their stories.

Theroux visited several gun shows during the course of the year. A sign on an Alabama shop that said JESUS IS LORD — WE BUY AND SELL GUNS connected two of the book's recurring themes. Theroux felt that the gun shows were less about shooting guns and more about the self-esteem of white males who feel defeated and persecuted.

Theroux has a novelist’s eye for setting. His descriptive powers are displayed frequently in such passages as, “The cold mist and the gray sky seemed to flatten the Delta and make the road bleaker, the muddy fields beside the long straight road, raised like a levee, the chilly wind from the river that tore leaves from the trees. In its nakedness the Delta had a stark beauty and simplicity.”

The book is divided into four parts depicting seasonal visits. Theroux included chapters he called "Interludes" between the seasons. The first is a treatise on the history and use of the N-word. Later, he analyzes Faulkner and other Southern writers. I enjoyed reading about Southern fiction, but felt the interludes were an interruption of the narrative.

The relationship between races, both past and present, is a major theme of this book. Theroux was drawn more to the stories of African Americans than rural whites. The characters he met in black churches, cafes, and barber shops were engaging and remarkable. The poverty of both races stunned Theroux, who compared the American South to the poorest areas of Africa and Asia.

Theroux spices the book with humorous anecdotes. Describing Southern eateries, he wrote of “a deep tray of okra, as viscous as frog spawn, next to a kettle of sodden collard greens looking like stewed dollar bills.” His experience in Tuscaloosa during a University of Alabama football weekend was of a stranger in a strange land.

“Deep South” was an enjoyable road trip through my native land. I learned things about my home state — some embarrassing, but some a source of pride. The South’s greatest strength is the resilience and warmth of its people. I’m not surprised that Paul Theroux felt the pull to return to the South again and again.

Check out what our local library system is offering these days - you'll find more than just books.  Lots more.
 - story by Carole McKellar

The first library in Hancock County was established in 1935 as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. It was housed in a log cabin. We’ve come a long way, with four branches currently operating in Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Pearlington, and Kiln. Recent budget cuts forced the closure of the Diamondhead branch. The Hancock County Library System is funded by county and city taxes and is accessible to every community member.

During difficult economic times library budgets often decrease, though their role becomes more important. During recessions, libraries prove their worth to the community by offering job information, preparing resumes, and assisting online job applications.

There are many reasons why libraries matter. Let’s start with books. Most people can’t afford to buy or don’t have room for all the books they want to read. Our library has a large selection of books, DVDs, audio books, and e-books for loan. There are periodicals and reference books. If you are not sure where to find what you need, friendly, helpful staff members are readily available.

Computers are available to residents, and Internet access is free. Classes that improve digital literacy and use of online research tools are provided. The goal of the library is to provide lifelong learning for all members of the community by offering a wide range of programs for all ages.

All of our library branches have charming and engaging children’s sections that make early literacy a pleasurable experience. Story time is provided weekly at each branch for children from birth to age five. The programs include storytelling, crafts, and music.

The website, www.hancocklibraries.info/, is comprehensive. You can reserve books using their online catalog, or find the schedules for activities and events, such as Matinee in the Bay or the latest Authors & Characters event.

Meeting and conference rooms are available for community use. The rooms accommodate activities as varied as voting, movies, lectures, book sales, and a variety of classes.

“There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”  - Andrew Carnegie

A stellar review of the first Mississippi Book Festival, held in Jackson.  The news of its success will have book lovers who missed it marking their calendars for next year. 
- by Carole McKellar

The book event began at 10 a.m. with a performance by the Jackson State University band on the steps of the capitol. John Grisham, arguably Mississippi’s most famous living writer, gave the opening remarks, and Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves welcomed attendees.

Six members of my Bay book club – Cindy Williams, Archana Sharma, Allison Anderson, Ann Weaver, Angela Sallis and I – traveled to Jackson for the event. We attended panel discussions based on our individual interests or the availability of seating. The crowd at the festival surpassed expectations, so all of the sessions filled quickly. 

Eudora Welty and Margaret Walker Alexander, both Jacksonians and contemporaries, were well represented at the festival. Angela Sallis and I particularly enjoyed a session titled “Eudora Welty: Letters, Flowers, Loves, and the Latest Scholarship.” Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan read from their book Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald. These two great friends wrote frequently of their lives, work, and world events. The letters in the book date from 1970 through 1982, when Alzheimer’s took Mr. Macdonald’s ability to read and write.

Julia Eichelberger read letters from her book, Tell About Night Flowers: Eudora Welty’s Gardening Letters. Ms. Welty was a passionate gardener, and her home and garden in Jackson are well worth visiting. The letters in this book may have been about gardening, but they were also filled with love and humor. Hearing Ms. Welty’s letters read aloud was a pleasure and a reminder of what we have lost in this age of emails and tweets.

Ann Weaver and Archana Sharma attended a panel on African American history that they considered a festival highlight. Alysia Burton Steele, author of Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom, told fascinating stories about her late grandmother and other women from the Delta. Ann’s favorite writer in that session was Stephen A. Berrey, author of The Jim Crow Routine: Everyday Performances of Race, Civil Rights, and Segregation in Mississippi. She was interested in Mr. Berrey’s research on the unwritten rules people of different races follow in our interactions with each other.

In the afternoon, several of us attended a session on poetry moderated by Beth Ann Fennelly, a poet and director of the MFA program at Ole Miss. Catherine Pierce from Mississippi State, Richard Boada from University of Memphis, and Derrick Harriell from Ole Miss read from their newest poetry collections. I particularly enjoyed the style of Derrick Harriell, although his newest book, Ropes, is about boxing, a sport that doesn’t hold much interest for me.

Seven hundred people crowded the sanctuary of Galloway Methodist Church for a session titled “What Reading Means for Our Culture” featuring journalist Jerry Mitchell in conversation with John Grisham and William Ferris. William Ferris founded the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss and is now the director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina. Mr. Grisham and Mr. Ferris spoke about Mississippi’s rich literary history and what reading means for us today. Mississippians are part of a storytelling tradition that was amply displayed on the stage that day.

All the members of my book group thoroughly enjoyed a late afternoon session on Southern popular fiction with four writers who kept us laughing for an hour. The panelists were Julie Cantrell, Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, and Joshilyn Jackson. I haven’t read any of their books, but I’ve put them on my reading list.

Katy Simpson Smith, a panelist in the Historical Fiction session, wrote The Story of Land and Sea, a novel set on the coast of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. The book was recommended by a friend in attendance, so I bought a signed copy in the Lemuria Bookstore tent. This young woman is a gifted writer who tells an adventurous story in a poetic style. I just love this book. I regret that I could not get into her popular session.

There were so many writers that I respect who participated in this festival. I have written in the past about Carolyn Brown, Margaret McMullan, and M.O. Walsh, all of whom were panelists.

The 5 p.m. closing session was moved back to Galloway Methodist Church to accommodate the large crowd that stayed until the end to hear a discussion of our literary heritage and its significance for writers and readers. Greg Iles, Ellen Gilchrist, Steve Yarborough, and Julia Reed are native Mississippians who have achieved success writing about our state. Bill Ferris did a fine job of moderating although these talented storytellers needed little encouragement to entertain the audience.

Visiting with friends, reading, and talking about books are at the top of my list of entertainments. The first ever Mississippi Book Festival filled all of those requirements and then some. I look forward to the event next year and anticipate that it will be bigger and better. Thank you to the sponsor of this column, Scott Naugle, owner of Pass Christian Books, who served on the board of directors for the festival. For more information, go to the festival website.

How author Janisse Ray captured the essence of a Southern rural lifestyle in a book that's becoming a classic. 
- by Carole McKellar

He was a kind-hearted man who took in injured animals and helped less fortunate neighbors and strangers. He too suffered from mental illness and spent a period of time in the state mental hospital. Ms. Ray’s mother is fondly portrayed as a selfless woman devoted to her family. She worked beside her husband in the junkyard in addition to taking care of the home and children.

This book as memoir alone would be worth the read. It’s funny and filled with insights into rural southern life. The best of the book, however, lies in the natural history of south Georgia. The longleaf pine forests once covered 85 million acres in the southern United States: from Virginia to Florida, and west past the Mississippi River. Today less than 10,000 acres of virgin longleaf remain, about 200 of which still exist in Mississippi. The longleaf pine trees are spaced far apart and allow sunlight to nurture a wide variety of plant and animal life, most of which are threatened or endangered. Ms. Ray vividly describes what we have, as well as what we have lost.

Chapters titled “Bachman’s Sparrow” and “Indigo Snake” may sound like they came from an old biology textbook, but don’t be fooled. The stories of these species are spiced with anecdotes. Once an indigo, the largest snake in North America, got loose in the house and was found, after several days, wrapped around the freezer coils. Ms. Ray provides such an intimate portrait of our environment that I felt like driving to the nearest forest for a hike. Her pride of place awakens me to the natural beauty that surrounds me. Each time I read this book, I listen more closely to bird songs and delight in the smallest flowers.

The history of the people is as interesting as the landscape. Due to the remoteness of south Georgia, it was an ideal environment for settlers from the borderlands of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. They were clannish herders and farmers accustomed to remote environs. The term ‘Cracker’ refers to poor Southern whites and is possibly derived from words meaning boaster, braggart, liar. Shakespeare wrote, “What cracker is this same that deafes our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?” Some think the term “cracker” refers to the crack of the whip over oxen or mules. Cracker speech is called Southern highland or Southern midland. Patterns of pronunciation which would be recognizable to any native southerner include ‘young-uns’ for children, ‘Toosdy' for Tuesday, ‘fixin to’ for getting ready to, and ‘honey’ as a term of endearment.

Ms. Ray accepts the cracker as kin when she describes her ancestors.

My kin lumbered across the landscape like tortoises. Like raccoons we fought and with     equal fervor we frolicked. Because we needed room, our towns sat far apart, often thirty miles. Accustomed to poverty, we made use of assets at hand, and we did not think much of prosperity. Like our lives, our speech was slow. We remained a people apart. More than anything else, what happened to the longleaf country speaks for us. These are my people; our legacy is ruination.

The book ends with a list of extinct and endangered species of plants and animals. These lists are followed by resources working to assist longleaf pine forests. Readers will finish this book with an intention to appreciate and conserve our natural resources.
    
Janisse Ray returned home to rural Georgia after college. She earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana. She lives on a family farm in Baxley near where she grew up. She has published five books of literary nonfiction and a collection of nature poetry. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood was her first book. She has contributed to a long list of periodicals, as well as to public radio. I watched a speech she delivered at the 2014 Forum on Ethics & Nature and welled up with emotion when she said:

    We’re desperate for thinkers, not consumers. We’re desperate for people
    of courage, people willing to take responsibility for their own actions, willing to
    live in service to something bigger than their own desires. It seems fitting
    that creatures of privilege, gifted beings able to use language to pass messages
    across geographies and generations should speak and act on behalf of those
    who cannot. Life is unendingly fascinating, unbearably beautiful, and utterly fragile.

For the month that marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, a look at some of the books that document the dignity and grace that emerged from the despair. 
- by Carole McKellar

With compelling characters, exciting story lines and exceptional writing, some YA books turn out to be ageless. 
- by Carole McKellar

In 1997, according to Publishers Weekly, 3,000 books Young Adult books were published. In 2009, there were over 30,000 with sales exceeding $3 billion. Much of the rise in popularity of the genre can be attributed to the meteoric sales of the ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Twilight’, and ‘Hunger Games’ series. These novels were read and enjoyed by all ages. Their movie adaptations were immensely popular and only increased adult interest in YA fiction.

I decided to take a closer look at YA books for two reasons. First, I was introduced to Brown Girl Dreaming, a memoir in poetic form written by Jacqueline Woodson. I heard some of her poems read aloud on a radio talk show and thought they were beautiful. I bought the book at a local bookstore and was amazed to find the book classified as young adult literature. It is a wonderful story of family and place that should simply be categorized as exceptionally good literature. Brown Girl Dreaming won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Secondly, my interest was piqued while listening to a discussion of favorite YA books by two of the best readers I know, who happen to belong to my book group. Cindy Williams is the librarian at Bay High School who told me that she enjoys reading YA books because “they can be an exciting escape and they invoke a sense of nostalgia."

She provided me a fascinating recent history of the genre, plus quite a few recommendations that I will list at the end of this article. Allison Anderson, a Bay St. Louis architect, finds some of the writing “to be equally as lyrical and powerful as fiction written for adults. In YA fiction, the themes are typically conflicts that arise from one's liminal place in the world - a feeling of uncertainty, or confusion.”

Cindy started a teen book discussion group at her school, and they chose Paper Towns by John Green, which was made into a movie to be released this summer. That book as well as Mr. Green’s immensely popular The Fault in Our Stars are part of a new wave of realistic teen fiction.

I decided to read Paper Towns before determining if this topic was of sufficient interest to write about. I read it in almost one sitting. The characters were appealing and Mr. Green did a good job describing the emotional landscape of adolescence. I also thought he provided a worthwhile cultural roadmap for teens into the adult world. Perhaps after reading Paper Towns, readers will give more thought to the adverse effects of our consumer culture and the development of a personal philosophy for living in this world.

I mentioned my interest in writing about YA literature to Scott Naugle, the owner of Pass Books in Pass Christian. He agreed that more adults are reading and enjoying the genre. He mentioned The Book Thief by Markus Zusak as a popular book that sells well in the shop. I hadn’t thought of that book, which is one of my all-time favorite books, as a young adult novel. In my opinion, it’s just an astounding work of literature. I should have realized it would be appropriate for adolescent readers because it’s the story of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany.

The Book Thief is graphic and violent, but YA books do not shy away from disturbing issues. Common themes include suicide, sexuality, family struggles, substance abuse, and bullying. Adolescents today relate to these issues and reading about them helps clarify their experiences.

Authors of YA books are typically young adults, but youth does not seem a requirement. Most of us remember what it is like to be a teenager, both its joys and pains. Several successful fiction writers, whom I admire, are comfortable moving between adult and young adult fiction, including Meg Wolitzer, Michael Chabon, Isabel Allende, and Nick Hornby.

Margaret McMullen, another author writing in both genres, has Pass Christian roots. In a response to my email, she enthusiastically stated that YA books are “mostly terrific reads” and “the characters in these books are interesting and often edgy and the plots really move.”

She also noted the emergence of Mother/Daughter book groups. She said, “I saw this when my book Sources of Light came out, and some of these book groups asked me to Skype or come visit. ‘Sources’ is a mother/daughter story set in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi."

"Many adult parents like the idea of reading what their teens are reading—to keep up, have a good discussion, etc. It’s a nice idea. When you are reading the same book, you will always end up talking about important things that are difficult for parents and their children to talk about otherwise.”

I plan to read quite a few of the recommended books listed below.

Recommended Reading from Cindy Williams and Allison Anderson:
I’ll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
All the Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry
Midwinter Blood by Marcus Sedgwick.

Upcoming Movies from Recommended YA books. (Always read the book first, Cindy recommends.)
     The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
     Legend by Marie Lu
     Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
     Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
     Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
     Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs

So… what exactly is YA? It’s our favorite kind of literature, and we pretty much breathe, eat, and sleep all things young adult, but where did it come from? What’s the actual definition? Let us break down everything you need to know about how YA came about!

Read more about this on our blog! ‪http://www.epicreads.com/blog/a-brief...

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This month, a look at the qualities of independent bookstores - which are making a comeback across the country - and on the coast!
- by Carole McKellar

Independent bookstores are usually owned and operated by people who are passionate about books. They find book selections to suit every taste and make informed suggestions to customers. They enrich their community by hosting book clubs and author events. Local bookstore owners are actively engaged in our community and support the local economy.

Browsing small, intimate bookshops is satisfying on several levels. They are generally warm and inviting visually. Books are colorful and artistic. Reading the synopsis and reviews on the dust jackets promises riches within. Holding books in your hands invites you to participate in something that has enthralled humans for hundreds of years. It is impossible to have the same experience visually and tactilely surfing the web.

When I travel, I seek out bookstores and tend to judge communities by the quality of their independent bookshops. We on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are fortunate to have Bay Books on Main Street, Bay St. Louis, Pass Books on Scenic Drive in Pass Christian, and Southern Bound Book Shop in Biloxi. All of them help make our communities unique and thereby richer.

Mississippi has two bookstores that regularly gain national attention. Lemuria in Jackson is one of the finest bookstores I’ve ever been in. Square Books in Oxford is a ‘must’ for Oxford visitors. Nearby New Orleans has three independents that are regular stops for me. In addition, the French Quarter has three used book shops that are treasures. To find their names and others in each state, go to www.newpages.com or www.indiebound.org.

Successful small businesses make vibrant towns. Shop our independent bookstores to keep dollars and this valuable service in our community. Our local bookstores deserve our support because they enrich all of our lives.

Jeff Kinney, author of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, is opening a bookstore. “If one kid’s life is changed because of this bookstore, then the whole thing was worth it,” he says.

by Carole McKellar
- "For me, the best poetry is short, clear and readable."  Carole shares some of her favorite stanzas to celebrate National Poetry Month. 

Started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, April is National Poetry Month,.  It is the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, libraries, booksellers, and poets championing the importance of poetry in our culture. April, arguably our most beautiful month, is appropriate for celebrating poetry, which frequently evokes the themes of nature and renewal.

When teaching poetry, high schools and colleges tend to focus on structure and interpretation, most often using classical poems of considerable complexity. Who doesn’t feel their eyes glaze over with terms like phonoaesthetics, meter, and symbolism. It’s no wonder that so few people continue reading poetry outside of a mandatory assignment.

Poetry is the distillation of the essence of a thing into a few perfect words. For me, the best poetry is short, clear and readable. It can evoke memories of all five senses, build a vivid image, or express emotion. Credit for my love of poetry goes to my husband, John, who introduced me to the beauty and power of a well-written line. One of his favorite stanzas is:

    In masks outrageous and austere
    the years go by in single file,
    but none has merited my fear,
    and none has quite escaped my smile.
        from ‘Let No Charitable Hope’ by Eleanor Wylie

The movie, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, was a popular comedy in the 1990’s that seems an unlikely promoter of poetry. I remember being moved to tears with the recitation of W.H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues’. Who can forget the lines:

    He was my North, my South, my East and West,
    My working week and my Sunday rest
    My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
    I thought that love would last forever. I was wrong.

If you are not familiar with it, you really must read the rest of this beautiful poem.

A few years ago I started keeping a book of poems that move me, make me laugh, or simply startle me with their simplicity. The first selection in my book is ‘The Peace of Wild Things’ by Wendell Berry.
    When despair for the world grows in me
    and I wake in the night at the least sound
    in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
    I go and lie down where the wood drake
    rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
    I come into the peace of wild things
    who do not tax their lives with forethought
    of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
    And feel above me the day-blind stars
    waiting with their light. For a time
    I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Most of the poems in my book were written in the twentieth century or later and none are very long. My choices are whimsical, and a few have not passed the test of time. However, I frequently take the book down and read a selection or glue in a new favorite. Billy Collins and Mary Oliver are well represented. Collins’ ‘Litany’ makes me smile every time I read it, which is often. Oliver’s poems make me appreciate life in a world of stunning beauty. I’m no scholar of the form, but I contend that you needn’t struggle with a poem to divine a meaning. These lines from ‘Mysteries, Yes’ by Mary Oliver are a soothing balm:

    Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
        to be understood.
        How grass can be nourishing in the
        mouths of lambs.
        How rivers and stones are forever
        in allegiance with gravity
        while we ourselves dream of rising.
        How two hands touch and the bonds
        will never be broken.
        How people come, from delight or the
        scars of damage,
           to the comfort of a poem.
    Let me keep my distance, always, from those
         who think they have the answers.
    Let me keep company always with those who say
            “Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
             and bow their heads.
    
Haiku is a more recent obsession. I can’t recall where I read about Kobayashi Issa, an eighteenth century Japanese poet, but he ignited my interest in composing haiku poems. I seldom write them down, but I love attempting to tell a story in three lines. Here is an Issa haiku poem that I particularly enjoy:

    my dead mother--
    every time I see the ocean
    every time…

When Katrina destroyed the homes of many of my co-workers at school, the faculty who were spared gave us a ‘shower’ to replace household items. I turned to a poem, ‘Kindness’ by Naomi Shihab Nye to express my thanks. The poem begins:

    Before you know what kindness really is
    you must lose things,
    feel the future dissolve in a moment
    like salt in a weakened broth.
And it ends:
    only kindness that raises its head
    from the crowd of the world to say
    it is I you have been looking for,
    and then goes with you everywhere
    like a shadow or a friend.

On March 11, 2015 the Irish President announced ‘A Poem for Ireland’, which Irish citizens chose from thousands of nominated poems. The winner is Seamus Heaney’s ‘When all the others were away at Mass’. What can you say about a country which puts poetry ‘firmly at the heart of the national conversation’?

    When all the others were away at Mass
    I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.
    They broke the silence, let fall one by one
    Like solder weeping off the soldering iron:
    Cold comforts set between us, things to share
    Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.
    And again let fall. Little pleasant splashes
    From each other’s work would bring us to our senses.
    So while the parish priest at her bedside
    Went hammer and tongs at the prayers for the dying
    And some were responding and some crying
    I remembered her head bent toward my head,
    Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives--
    Never closer the whole rest of our lives.

Those few lines tell a story as powerful as told in full-length novels. ‘A Poem for Ireland’ makes me wonder what America’s Poem could be. Would you vote for ‘Song of Myself’ by Walt Whitman or ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou? The discussion would be more productive than what passes for political debate these days.

Poetry is amazingly accessible thanks to the internet. The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor publishes a poem a day that can be sent to your inbox.The Academy of American Poets allows you browse thousands of poems by occasion, theme or form. Search ‘National Poetry Month’ and you get suggestions for celebrating in April.

Of particular interest to me is‘Poem in Your Pocket Day’ to be celebrated on April 30. I’ve copied some of my favorite poems to leave around Bay St. Louis to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.  I challenge everyone reading this to find and share a favorite poem with someone this month.

Below are the contest rules and two of the videos of poetry readings.  Find full details and all the videos here. 

For National Poetry Month 2015, we present Dear Poet, a multimedia education project that invites young people in grades five through twelve to write letters in response to poems written and read by some of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors.

Students—to participate in this year’s Dear Poet project, watch the videos below of Chancellors reading and discussing one of their poems. Then, write them a letter in response and send it by post or email to the Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038 or dearpoet@poets.org by April 30, 2015. Please include your name and the name of the poet to whom you’ve written. We will consider all letters for publication on Poets.org in May 2015. And our Chancellors will reply to select letters of their choosing.

by Carole McKellar
- This month - Carolyn J. Brown explores the lives of Eudora Welty and Margaret Walker Alexander in two new books, "A Daring Life" and "Song of My Life."  "Bay Reads" looks at both books and lands an exclusive interview with Carolyn J. Brown! 

One of the points that struck me in her talk was that Eudora Welty, an iconic figure in American literature, is typically shown in photographs as an old woman. The book covers of both biographies feature photographs of the writers as young women. Dr. Brown’s stated intention was to write books for young readers, but her books speak to readers of all ages. She used photographs liberally and frequently quoted both writers.

Although both biographies are entertaining reads, they are scholarly books with appendices, bibliographies, and source notes. Dr. Brown is an adjunct instructor at Millsaps College. She earned a BA from Duke University in English and History and a Master’s and Ph.D. in English from University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Both Margaret Walker and Eudora Welty were fortunate to have educated parents who provided an environment filled with books and reverence for learning. They were born in the early years of the twentieth century. They were educated in prestigious universities in the Midwest, but both spent most of their working lives in Jackson, Mississippi. Ms. Welty never married and lived in her family home until her death in 2001. Ms. Walker married and raised four children as the primary breadwinner. She died in 1998.

A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty, was published by University Press of Mississippi in 2012. The title comes from Ms. Welty’s autobiographical One Writer’s Beginnings when she wrote, “As you have seen, I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.” Much has been written about Ms. Welty, but A Daring Life emphasized her childhood and young adult life. The book included charming photographs of her youthful artwork. Aside from her novels, stories, and essays, Ms. Welty was an accomplished photographer. She loved to travel and led a more adventurous life than would be expected of a lady of her class and time.

Song of My Life: A Biography of Margaret Walker was published in October, 2014 in time for the centennial of her birth. This is the first biography of Ms. Walker who was described as “the most famous person nobody knows.”  Ms. Walker is best known for writing Jubilee, published in 1966, a novel which tells the story of her great-grandmother.  She was a poet, essayist, and educator. For most of her career, she taught at Jackson State University, the site of the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center, which contains her papers. Ms. Walker was the contemporary and friend of Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, and other influential African American writers of the twentieth century.

Excerpts of Ms. Walker’s poetry in Song of My Life led me to search out entire poems on the Poetry Foundation website. There is power and beauty in her poems. “For My People," arguably her most famous poem, was part of a collection that won her the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award in 1942. The following demonstrates the strength of her voice:
    
    For my people standing staring trying to fashion a better way
    from confusion, from hypocrisy and misunderstanding,
    trying to fashion a world that will hold all the people,
    all the faces, all the adams and eves and their countless generations;
    
    Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a
    bloody peace be written in the sky. Let a second
    generation full of courage issue forth; let a people
    loving freedom come to growth.

The poem “I Want to Write” articulates Ms. Walkers ambition as an artist.

    I want to write
    I want to write the songs of my people
    I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark.
    I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn throats.
    I want to frame their dreams into words; their souls into notes.
    I want to catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl;
    fling dark hands to a darker sky
    and fill them full of stars
    then crush and mix such lights till they become
    a mirrored pool of brilliance in the dawn.
   
With these two books, Carolyn J. Brown reintroduced us to the gifted life of Margaret Walker Alexander and has given us a fresh and vivid portrayal of Eudora Welty. Their stories stayed with me for weeks as I contemplated their lives and accomplishments. I look forward to reading Dr. Brown’s next book about the life of Kate Freeman Clark (1875-1957), an impressionist painter from Holly Springs, Mississippi. She is currently doing research on Clark, who is largely unknown in her home state. That should be another fascinating read.

In order to learn more about Dr. Brown’s habits as a writer and a reader, I asked her the following questions which she kindly answered:

What kind of books did you enjoy reading as a child?
I loved biographies! There was a series (I don’t recall the name), and I enjoyed the ones about strong women like Clara Barton, Jane Addams and Florence Nightingale. I loved the Little House on the Prairie series. I loved fairy tales.

What do you enjoy reading in your spare time now?
I love new fiction, but after a while I will pick up a classic I missed or reread one that I have not read in a while. I read one Jane Austen novel a year. It’s funny—I don’t tend to read biography. I prefer fiction. (Ms. Brown is the president of the Mississippi chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America.)

What books are on your nightstand?
The Signature of Everything by Elizabeth Gilbert; The Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill; Sanditon and Other Stories by Jane Austen; Nothing Gold Can Stay by Ron Rash

When did you decide to become a writer?
I don’t think I ever decided or there was a moment when I said, “I am going to be a writer when I grow up.” I had great English teachers in high school, and my creative writing teacher submitted a story I wrote (entitled “The Rose Garden”) to a local contest and it won! In college I wrote a couple of papers I was quite proud of, followed by my Master’s thesis and dissertation. My dissertation won “Dissertation of the Year” from UNC-Greensboro, a $1000 prize. I never published my dissertation, but it was over 500 pages so I knew I could write a book—I had the discipline. But marriage and children interrupted my writing career, and I didn’t get back to it until I moved to Jackson and rediscovered Eudora Welty who I first read in graduate school.

What lead you to write biographies?
I thought there needed to be a book about Eudora Welty for the younger set. I first tried to write her life as a story for young children, but I couldn’t find the right voice. Then I found a biography of Edith Wharton written by a librarian (The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge) that I loved. It was about 150 pages and a beautiful combination of illustration and text. And it was an enjoyable read for all ages. I had found my model and, as it turns out, my genre. I would love to write fiction, but all my life I have written in the academic realm. Not since I wrote “The Rose Garden” in the eleventh grade have I written any fiction!

Why did you choose to write for younger readers?
I have two sons and felt that they did not have a book that introduced them to Eudora Welty. I wanted them to know who Welty was, visit her house, read her fiction…there was no book that met the needs of the upper middle and high school age student. And, according to my editor, the Mississippi Library Association had approached her with a request for more non-fiction books for young readers. So the timing was right, and a biography series was born.

How long did it take you to write each book? What percentage of the time was spent on research and what on actually writing?
At least, at a minimum for me, two years. I need a year to a year and a half for research and writing. I love research—going to libraries, reading primary documents, collecting photographs, just getting carried away with the subject. Then I write, and I write pretty quickly. Once I turn the manuscript in it goes through all the steps that University Press of Mississippi requires—editing, layout, gathering permissions, until it is finally ready to be printed. So, to answer you question, I would say it is a 60/40 split: 60% research, 40% writing.

What advice would you give would be writers?
If you have something you want to write about, stick with it. It can be hard to get published, but it’s important to find the right publisher and editor. And writing is rewriting. I have a writing partner in Jackson who read many drafts and told me when I got off track and away from the subject. You need a person you trust to read your drafts. Find a writing partner or group.