Having deep family roots in North Carolina and a mother who adored his writing, I was indoctrinated at an early age into the cult of Thomas Wolfe. I was told stories about him growing up in his mother’s boarding house and how he was so tall he had to stand up and write on a typewriter that sat on top of the refrigerator. I saw the stone statue that inspired “Look Homeward Angel” and I toured Wolfe’s house in Asheville, North Carolina.
But have I ever read Thomas Wolfe? No. True confession: I tried once, but his writing was so densely descriptive that I gave up. In retrospect, I think I was probably too young to appreciate him at the time. I should really try again. The way my mother swooned when she talked on and on about his writing told me I was missing something remarkable.
According to Pearl McHaney, a retired Georgia State University English professor, I’m not alone. A lot of people know about Thomas Wolfe but haven’t read him, and he’s certainly not taught in school anymore. That’s why he’s one of the authors highlighted in the eighth annual Revival: Lost Southern Voices festival taking place via Zoom and in person at Decatur Library March 21-23.
Credit: Simon and Schuster
Credit: Simon and Schuster
McHaney cofounded the festival in 2016 with Andy Rogers, an assistant professor of English at GSU, to celebrate Southern writers ― plus artists and musicians to a lesser degree ― whose work has become lesser known over time or who were marginalized in their own times.
The festival is a collaboration between Georgia State University Perimeter College and the Georgia Center for the Book, in partnership with the DeKalb Library Foundation and the Georgia Humanities Council.
“Those partners together have given us confidence that (the festival is) needed, successful and well done,” said McHaney.
This year’s festival has a strong music component. Festivities kick off at Decatur Library with a keynote event Thursday night featuring a screening of Hal Jacobs’ film “Northside Tavern: A Mostly True Account of the Golden Age of Atlanta’s Most Exquisite Blues Dive.” Afterwards will be a Q&A with Terri Capote, a consultant on the film and the widow of blues artist Carlos Capote, founder of the Breeze Kings.
On Friday, a session titled The Lyrical South: Poetry, the Blues and Children’s Literature will include a presentation on New Orleans musician Eddie Bowles who played with Louis Armstrong. And on Sunday, a session will be held on musicologist and folklorist Maud Cuney Hare and her arrangements for unrecorded Creole folk songs.
“It’s really cool to have this music and these voices mixed in with … the voices of literature,” said McHaney. “We continue to expand and explore what it means to be lost, what it means to be Southern and what it is to have a voice — to be heard in multiple different ways.”
Other highlights include a presentation by Matthew Teutsche, director of the Lillian E. Smith Center at Piedmont University, on Ernest J. Gaines’ novel of power, lust and revenge, “Of Love and Dust,” on Friday; and Stephane Dunn’s presentation on Essie Mae Moody ― better known as Anne Moody, author of “Coming of Age in Mississippi” — on Saturday, along with the Wolfe session.
Friday sessions will be presented on Zoom only, while Saturday’s sessions will be held live at Decatur Library and on Zoom. All sessions will be video recorded and available for later viewing on the Georgia Center for the Book’s YouTube channel.
“Because of COVID we started going online through Zoom and it’s worked out beautifully because our costs are much less and we’re able to reach a different and wider audience,” said McHaney. “Now we’re having both Zoom plus in person (events). It’s a beautiful and hybrid mix.”
All Revival: Lost Southern Voices events are free, but tickets for both digital and live presentations are required. For details go to georgiacenterforthebook.org.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached at suzanne.vanatten@ajc.com.
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