Well, with Delaware a bit in the spotlight due to “the other” VP candidate, I thought I would highlight the literary history of this state and have been stumped! But when I recently read the Omnivoracious post on Delaware, I realized I was not alone:
What comes to mind when you think of when you think of Delaware writers, or Delaware books? Yes, I’m still waiting. I’ve asked a lot of people, and gotten the same (that is, no) answer. I asked Google, and it tells me about Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series. I asked Craig Taylor, the Canadian Londoner who wrote the Delaware piece for State by State (and who edits Hamish Hamilton’s new online magazine, Five Dials), and he came up nearly empty too, although he did mention a “salacious history of the DuPont family” and offered, “Do let me know if you decide to do a feature on how to tend chickens on the books blog. I know a few Delawareans who could help out with that.”
photo credit: Moody75
There is one very Delawarean book that has spent some time in our Top 100 this summer, but one of my goals for this project is not to have Joe Biden’s memoir end up on our Delaware list. But thanks to some research, some luck, and the help of an online librarian I found via the Delaware library system but who turned out to live in Indiana, we have some possibilities to start with:
- W.D. Snodgrass (pictured above), Not for Specialists: New and Selected Poems. Snodgrass won the Pulitzer in 1960 for his first collection, Heart’s Needle, which was later credited for inaugurating the confessional school of poetry. He was born near Pittsburgh but taught at the University of Delaware from 1980 to 1994.
- Robert Montgomery Bird, Sheppard Lee, Written by Himself. Bird was born and raised in New Castle, and then moved to Pennsylvania and is remembered (that all happened in the early 19th century) as a novelist of dark satires and a playwright. All the recommendation I need on this one is that New York Review Books brought it back into print this January and says it’s a precursor to Naked Lunch! But if you want more, Poe apparently called it “very clever” way back then.
- Marisa de los Santos, Love Walked In. De los Santos teaches at the University of Delaware too, and she wrote this bestseller (and future Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle) there, although it’s set in nearby Philly.
I was thrilled to see de los Santos on the list! I recently read Loved Walked In and Belong to Me and truly enjoyed both. Any state would be proud to own this funny, insightful, poet-turned-novelist…
33 states down…
Curious about what states we’ve done so far and which ones are on deck?
Photo by marxchivistFirst, from Melanie Jones:
Alabama: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (check out my To Kill A Mockingbird Sample Kit!) Michigan: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides Alaska: The Man Who Swam With Beavers by Nancy Lord Arizona: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver North Dakota: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger Vermont: The Secret History by Donna Tartt Hawaii: Heads by Harry by Lois-ann Yamanaka Georgia: Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones Massachusettes: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane And I went out on my own for…
Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston Minnesota: In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien Wisconsin: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton Louisiana: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Jones’ pick) and The Awakening by Kate Chopin (my pick) Colorado: Plainsong by Kent Haruf Maryland: Anything by Anne Tyler Georgia: Awakening by Kate Chopin Ohio: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Virginia: John Grisham Idaho: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson North Carolina: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons Tennesee: Run by Ann Patchett New Jersey: Anything by Janet Ivanovich Texas: Anything by Elmer Kelton Connecticut: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Montana: The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Utah: Edward Abbey South Carolina: Pat Conroy Iowa: Wallace Stegner Pennsylvania: John Updike and James Michener Missouri: Mark Twain New Hampshire: Robert Frost Kentucky: Robert Penn Warren California: John Steinbeck
Wondering where your state is? Coming soon… In the meantime, weigh in on future picks!
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How about this book: The Tiny Tiger!
Written by a Delaware resident!
See if you like it.
http://www.lulu.com/content/2225721
It costs $1.25 to download from the above site, but if you go to the webpage:
http://www.alwayshopeful.net/contact.html
and request a copy, they will email a link for a free download.
N.K.
Interesting piece, it’s nice to see information given on some of the state’s writers and authors but also it gives food for thought about how many states can boast various artists and where most of the writers are coming from.