''Porgy'' is a novel written by the American author DuBose Heyward and published by the

George H. Doran Company George H. Doran Company (1908–1927) was an American book publishing company established by George Henry Doran. He organized the company in Toronto and moved it to New York City on February 22, 1908. The firm prospered, becoming one of the majo ...

in 1925. The novel tells the story of Porgy, a crippled street beggar living in the black tenements of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, in the 1920s. The character was based on Charlestonian Samuel Smalls."The Real Porgy"
''Charleston Mag'', May 2014. In some of the novel's passages, black characters speak in

Gullah The Gullah () are an African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their language and cultu ...

, a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

that had developed among enslaved African Americans during the slavery years on the

Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States. Numbering over 100, they are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of South Caroli ...

. The novel was adapted for a 1927 play of the same name by Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward. Even before completing the play, Heyward was in discussions with composer

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

for an operatic version of his novel. This was produced in 1935 as ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', ...

'' (renamed to distinguish it from the play).

References

External links

*
Full text of ''Porgy''
plus criticism and commentary by Kendra Hamilton, hosted by the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

* 1925 American novels American novels adapted into plays Novels set in South Carolina Porgy and Bess George H. Doran Company books {{1920s-novel-stub