On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

The Southern Literary Trail is now accepting nominations for books that the group will be reading in April 2024.

We will consider books with a southern literary theme that have not been read by the group in the last 24 months. The two categories are books originally published in or before 1990 or those published after 1990. In the latter case, we will no longer consider nominations for new books unless they have been available for at least four months prior to the date we begin reading the book. You may make one nomination in each category. Authors may not nominate their own works. Please post your nominations below and specify which category you are nominating it for.

Nominations will stay open for one week or until we receive six nominations in each category. Voting will take place in the first ten days of next month.

The eligible nominations received will be listed below:

Books originally published in or before 1990
1. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee
2. A Summons to Memphis, by Peter Taylor
3. A Feast of Snakes, by Harry Crews
4. Child of God, by Cormac McCarthy
5. Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories, by Gurney Norman
6. In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, by Ellen Gilchrist
Books originally published after 1990
1. Fallen Land, by Taylor Brown
2. Fay, by Larry Brown
3. Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South, by Beth Macy
4. Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades, by Rebecca Renner
5. The Time Has Come, by Will Leitch
6. A Place in Time: Twenty Stories of the Port William Membership, by Wendell Berry

James Agee "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men".

Pre 1990: Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor, 1986, 209 pages. It win a Pulitzer.

Harry Crews, A Feast of Snakes (1976)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Taylor Brown, Fallen Land (2016)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Harry Crews interview clip — https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w0FIpud...

Pre-1990: Child of God, Cormac McCarthy (1973)
Post-1990: Fay, Larry Brown (2000)

Oh, good one, Josh!! That’s a fave with the collab with Walker Evans photography that I need to reread again! Thank you for nominating it!

post 1990 Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy

pre 1990 Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories by Gurney Norman

Wow! I looks like we already have 5 nominations for the pre-1990 list. I won't be able to update the list for a few days so please keep in mind that we only have room for one more nomination in that category and 3 in the post-1990 group.

Post 1990 Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades Rebecca Renner

For the post-1990 read, I would like to recommend The Time Has Come by Will Leitch.

Wow, you guys were ready! Nominations coming in fast and furious this month. One more needed in each category.

Post 1990: A Place in Time: Twenty Stories of the Port William Membership by Wendell Berry

I think that does it for post 1990. One more pre needed.

I’ll try again with In the Land of Dreamy Dreams by Ellen Gilchrist. Connie just informed the group in the In Memoriam thread that the author passed in January.

That should wrap it up.

All done. Ballots will be posted at the beginning of the month.