E72- Faulkner's Influence
In this Short Fuse episode Elizabeth Howard is in conversation with Jay Watson, a Faulkner scholar and chair of the Faulkner Yoknapatawpha Conference at the University of Mississippi. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Conference at the University of Mississippi. Jay and Elizabeth explore the life and work of William Faulkner, with a focus on his home, Rowan Oak, his impact on Southern literature, Faulkner's early life and the historical context of his work. Jay discusses Faulkner's technique in representing marginalized lives, his influence on global literature, and the accessibility of his works through translation.
Yoknapatawpha and Faulkner Conference in Oxford, Mississippi
This is the longest continually running literary conference in the United States dedicated to the work of one author. This is the 50th Anniversary of the Conference, first held in 1974.
Square Book Store, Oxford, Mississippi
Square Books is a general independent bookstore in three separate buildings (about 100 feet apart) on the historic town square of Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi and many great writers, including William Faulkner, Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, and, for a time, both Willie Morris and John Grisham. The main store, Square Books, is in a two-story building with a cafe and balcony on the second floor; Off Square Books is a few doors down from the main store and has lifestyle sections such as gardening and cookbooks; Square Books, Jr., the children's bookstore, is in a building on the east side of the square; above it (in the site of the original bookstore) is the more recently opened Rare Square Books, which feature collectible, vintage, first edition books across a broad price range. Square Books is known for its strong selection of literary fiction, books on the American South and by Southern writers, a large inventory of reduced-price remainders, and its emphasis on books for children. The store hosts the popular Thacker Mountain radio show and over 150 author events a year.
University Press of Mississippi
University Press of Mississippi tells stories of scholarly and social importance that impact our state, region, nation, and world. We are committed to equality, inclusivity, and diversity. Working at the forefront of publishing and cultural trends, we publish books that enhance and extend the reputation of our state and its universities.
Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies Jay Watson, a native of Athens, Georgia, received his B.A. degree from the University of Georgia (1983) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University (1985, 1989). He joined the English department at the University of Mississippi in 1989, was promoted to Professor of English in 2007, and became UM’s second Howry Professor in 2010. During the 2002-2003 academic year he served as Visiting Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, and he has since been honored with the UM Faculty Achievement Award (2012), the UM Liberal Arts Professor of the Year award (2014), and the UM Humanities Teacher of the Year award (2014). In 2013 he was a finalist for the Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year Award, and in 2018 he was the fall convocation speaker at UM.
Elizabeth Howard, Producer and Host of the Short Fuse Podcast
Elizabeth Howard is the producer and host of the Short Fuse Podcast, conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change. Her articles r
The Short Fuse Podcast hosted and produced by Elizabeth Howard, are conversations with artists, writers, musicians, and others who have a lens on contemporary thought and stir us to seek change. With their art, their music, their performances, and their vision they lead us through the social and environmental transformations sweeping across the globe.
“Artists are here to disturb the peace.” James Baldwin.
The Short Fuse is distributed through the Arts Fuse, a journal of arts criticism and commentary.
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