The Red Wolf: A Dream for Flannery O'Connor

by R.T. Smith

From back cover: "In The Red Wolf: A Dream of Flannery O'Connor, R. T. Smith fuses the facts of Flannery O'Connor's biography with a richly imagined dreamscape, taking us from Yaddo to Iowa to Milledgeville, Georgia-the 'peacock's shriek blistering the midnight air.' With the intricate artistry for which he is deservedly known, Smith creates and sustains a voice surprising as it is believable, the 'hick-ridiculous' and hilarious of her life and fiction in perfect balance with 'sunsets, a river, a car, fresh blood.' Smith takes into his account as well the lupus that came to define O'Connor's physical reality and the 'flight or asylum' that became her remarkable literary outpouring. The Red Wolf will delight O'Connor fans and seduce anyone not already smitten." -Claudia Emerson

Genres: Poetry

75 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequence of poems about Flannery O'Connor is a tour de force. Covering the entire arc of her life, they are uncannily in her organic, unrefined voice which has come down to us from her letters and works. Smith has affectionately captured the many facets of her character: insightful writer, devout Catholic, proud Southerner, self-effacing satirist of her own limited life. These would be revealing poems for anyone interested in her, or for someone simply wanting to read good poetry, especially that about the South. But these poems would be a truly valuable addition to the body of knowledge of anyone deeply interested in O'Connor and her work.

Rereading in 2020. I love these poems and will continue reading them. They capture the Flannery O'Connor I want to have.