The Fellowship of Southern Writers is an American

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

organization that celebrates the creative vitality of Southern writing as the mirror of a distinctive and cherished regional culture. Its fellowships and awards draw attention to outstanding literary achievement and help to nurture new talent. The fellowship was founded in 1987 in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

by 21 Southern writers and other literary luminaries. . The group meets in every odd-numbered year, usually during the SouthWord Literature Festival hosted by the Southern Lit Alliance in Chattanooga, TN.

Southern Literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...

Charter members

A.R. Ammons Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001) was an American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993. Poetic themes Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic ...

Cleanth Brooks Cleanth Brooks ( ; October 16, 1906 – May 10, 1994) was an American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-20th century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher ...

Fred Chappell Fred Davis Chappell (born May 28, 1936 in Canton, North Carolina) is an author and poet. He was an English professor for 40 years (1964–2004) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1 ...

* George Core *

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his no ...

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...

Horton Foote Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...

Shelby Foote Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of '' The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three ...

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...

Ernest J. Gaines Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...

* George Garrett *

Blyden Jackson Blyden Jackson (October 12, 1910 – 2000) was a Black American academic, essayist, and activist. The grandson of slaves, born in the segregated South, Jackson was the first Black American to become a full professor at the University of North Car ...

Madison Jones Madison Percy Jones (1925-2012) was a novelist born in Nashville, Tennessee. He published almost a dozen novels, and was considered "one of the major figures of contemporary southern letters". Biography Madison Jones was born in Nashville, Tenn ...

Andrew Nelson Lytle Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. Early life Andrew Nelson Lytle was born on December 26, 1902, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He graduated from V ...

Walker Percy Walker Percy, OSB (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, ''The Moviegoer'', won the Nat ...

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Louis Decimus Rubin Jr. (November 19, 1923 – November 16, 2013) was a noted American literary scholar and critic, writing teacher, publisher, and writer. He is credited with helping to establish Southern literature as a recognized area of stud ...

Mary Lee Settle Mary Lee Settle (July 29, 1918 – September 27, 2005) was an American writer. She won the 1978 National Book Award for her novel '' Blood Tie''.''Blood_Tie''(1977)._This_novel,_which_received_the_National_Book_Award_in_1978,_deals_with_America ...

* Lewis P. Simpson * Elizabeth Spencer *

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed fi ...

* Walter Sullivan *

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel ''The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numero ...

* C. Vann Woodward

Elected members

George Singleton 2013 *

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of ...

(1990) * Ellen Douglas (Josephine Haxton) (1990) * C. Eric Lincoln (1990) * Romulus Linney (1990) *

Lee Smith Lee Smith is the name of: Arts, entertainment and media *Lee Smith (fiction author) (born 1944), American author of fiction *Lee Smith (film editor) (born 1960), Australian film editor *Lee Smith (musician) (born 1983), American drummer *Lee Smith ...

(1993) * Monroe Spears (1993) * Charles Wright (1993) *

Doris Betts Doris Betts (June 4, 1932 – April 21, 2012) was a short story writer, novelist, essayist and Alumni Distinguished Professor Emerita at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the author of three short story collections and six novels ...

(1995) *

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The Se ...

(1995) * James Applewhite (1997) *

Richard Bausch Richard Bausch (born April 18, 1945) is an American novelist and short story writer, and Professor in the Writing Program at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has published twelve novels, eight short story collections, and one volume o ...

(1997) *

Clyde Edgerton Clyde Edgerton (born May 20, 1944) is an American author. He has published a dozen books, most of them novels, two of which have been adapted for film. He is also a professor, teaching creative writing. Biography Edgerton was born in Durham, N ...

(1997) *

Gail Godwin Gail Godwin (born June 18, 1937) is an American novelist and short story writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten libretti. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have ...

(1997) * William Hoffman (1997) *

Donald Justice Donald Rodney Justice (August 12, 1925 – August 6, 2004) was an American teacher of writing and poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980. In summing up Justice's career, David Orr wrote, "In most ways, Justice was no different from an ...

(1997) * Dave Smith (1997) *

Joseph Blotner Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(2001) *

Allan Gurganus Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ( ...

(2001) * Beth Henley (2001) *

Josephine Humphreys Josephine Humphreys (born February 2, 1945) is an Americans, American novelist. Early life Josephine Humphreys grew up in Charleston, South Carolina with her mother, father and two sisters (Vinh). Her father worked as the director of the Charl ...

(2001) *

Bobbie Ann Mason Bobbie Ann Mason (born May 1, 1940) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky. Her memoir was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Early life and education A child of Wilburn and Christina Mason, Bobb ...

(2001) * Henry Taylor (2001) *

Madison Smartt Bell Madison Smartt Bell (born August 1, 1957, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American novelist. While established as a writer by several early novels, he is especially known for his trilogy of novels about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolut ...

(2003) *

Kaye Gibbons Kaye Gibbons (born May 5, 1960) is an American novelist. Her first novel, ''Ellen Foster'' (1987), received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Special Citation from the Ernest H ...

(2003) *

Barry Hannah Barry Hannah (April 23, 1942 – March 1, 2010) was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.Kellogg, Carolyn (March 2, 2010)"Author Barry Hannah, 67, has died" ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 18, 2013. Hannah was born in ...

(2003) *

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for ''Neo ...

(2003) *

Jill McCorkle Jill Collins McCorkle (July 7, 1958 Lumberton, North Carolina) is an American short story writer and novelist. She graduated from University of North Carolina, in 1980, where she studied with Max Steele, Lee Smith, and Louis D. Rubin. She als ...

(2003) *

John Shelton Reed John Shelton Reed (born 1942) is an American sociologist and essayist, author or editor of 23 books, most of them dealing with the contemporary American South. Reed has also written for a variety of non-academic publications such as ''The Wall Str ...

(2003) *

Ellen Bryant Voigt Ellen Bryant Voigt (born May 9, 1943) is an American poet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Vermont. Biography Voigt was born May 9, 1943, in Danville, Virginia. She grew up in Chatham, Virginia, graduated from Converse College, and received an ...

(2003) * Allen Wier (2003) * Larry Brown (2005) *

Percival Everett Percival Everett (born December 22, 1956) is an American writer and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. Life Everett lives in Los Angeles, California. Literary career While completing his AM degree at B ...

(2005) * Robert Morgan (2005) *

Lewis Nordan Lewis Nordan (August 23, 1939 – April 13, 2012) was an American writer. Nordan was born to Lemuel and Sara Bayles in Forest, Mississippi and grew up in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He received his B.A. at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississ ...

(2005) * Sam Pickering (2005) *

Wyatt Prunty Wyatt Prunty (born May 15, 1947, in Humboldt, Tennessee) is the author of nine collections of poetry. His critical work, ''“Fallen from the Symboled World”: Precedents for the New Formalism'', is available from Oxford University Press. Edito ...

(2005) *

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Allison (born April 11, 1949) is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of a ...

(2007) *

Roy Blount, Jr. Roy Alton Blount Jr. (; born October 4, 1941) is an American writer, speaker, reporter, and humorist. Life and career Blount was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up in Decatur, Georgia. He attended Ponce de Leon Elementary School and g ...

(2007) *

Andrew Hudgins Andrew Hudgins (born 22 April 1951 Killeen, Texas) is an American poet. Biography Hudgins was raised in Alabama. He earned a B.A. at Huntingdon College, an M.A. at the University of Alabama, and an M.F.A. at the University of Iowa. He is the auth ...

(2007) *

Randall Kenan Randall Kenan (March 12, 1963 – August 28, 2020) was an American author. Born in Brooklyn, New York, at six weeks old Kenan moved to Duplin County, North Carolina, a small rural community, where he lived with his grandparents in a town named ...

(2007) * Shannon Ravenel (2007) *

Alfred Uhry Alfred Fox Uhry (born December 3, 1936) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has received an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing for ''Driving Miss Daisy''. He is a member of the Fellowship ...

(2007) * Will D. Campbell (2009) *

Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the posit ...

(2009) *

Jim Grimsley Jim Grimsley (born September 21, 1955) is an American novelist and playwright. Biography Born to a rural family in Grifton, North Carolina, Grimsley said of his childhood that "for us in the South, the family is a field where craziness grows l ...

(2009) *

Edward P. Jones Edward Paul Jones (born October 5, 1950) is an American novelist and short story writer. His 2003 novel '' The Known World'' received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award. Biography Edward Paul Jones was born ...

(2009) * Fred Hobson (2009) * Rodney Jones (2009) *

Eleanor Ross Taylor Eleanor Ross Taylor (June 30, 1920 – December 30, 2011) was an American poet who published six collections of verse from 1960 to 2009. This reference gives Taylor's birthdate. Her work received little recognition until 1998, but thereafter re ...

(2009) *

Natasha Trethewey Natasha Trethewey (born April 26, 1966) is an American poet who was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 2012 and again in 2013. She won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection ''Native Guard'', and she is a former Poet L ...

(2009) *

Al Young Albert James Young (May 31, 1939 – April 17, 2021) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor. He was named Poet Laureate of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2005 to 2008. Young's many books includ ...

(2009) * Tony Earley (2010) *

Claudia Emerson Claudia Emerson (January 13, 1957 – December 4, 2014) was an American poet. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection ''Late Wife'', and was named the Poet Laureate of Virginia by Governor Tim Kaine in 2008. Early life Emerso ...

(2011) * Steve Yarbrough (2015)

Awards and honors

* The Hillsdale Prize for Fiction * The Hanes Prize for Poetry * The Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction * The Bryan Family Foundation Award for Drama * The Cecil Woods, Jr. Prize for Non-Fiction * The Fellowship's New Writing Award for Fiction * The C. Vann Woodward-John Hope Franklin Prize for the Writing of Southern History * The James Still Award for Writing About the Appalachian South * The Fellowship's New Award for Poetry * The Cleanth Brooks Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Southern Letters

References

External links

The Fellowship of Southern Writers
official website
Arts & Education Council website
fro
Oral Histories of the American South
{{authority control Southern United States literature American writers' organizations Organizations based in Chattanooga, Tennessee Arts organizations established in 1987 1987 establishments in the United States

Charter members

Elected members

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links