Synopsis:

Literary Savannah was among the first in a series of literary travel anthologies published by Hill Street Press when the company was founded in the late 1990s. To include the city of Savannah, Georgia, in such a series would have made good sense at pretty much any time but particularly during the last decade because of the spotlight cast on it by a developing film industry within the city and by the immense popularity of author John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  

The genius of this exceptional travel literary anthology is the eclectic mixture of names it includes. Some––like founding father George Washington and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano––many readers would not expect to find because of their globe-spanning historical stature.  Others––like Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Lowe and songwriter Johnny Mercer––were natives of the city and therefore are less surprising. In total, the voices of some 37 writers, plus that of editor Patrick Allen, comprise the volume.   Among those voices are such modern chroniclers of Savannah’s ongoing story as: Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alan McPherson; journalist Tom Coffey; playwright and educator Ja A. Jahannes; author and writing instructor Rosemary Danielle; and the author of “Savannah Spectres,” Margaret Wayt DeBolt.  Much of the book’s richness is also due to the variety of literary genres sampled within it.

From passing glimpses of the city as jotted down in a notebook entry by novelist Henry James to famous declarations as made by General William T. Sherman in a letter to his commander in chief. Memoirs, fiction, essays, poetry, “true” accounts of hauntings, and songs all blend to create a finely balanced and nuanced portrait of one of the most uniquely beautiful cities in the United States.

Book Excerpt:

Table of Contents Include:

---- Return to Savannah / Aberjhani --From An account of Carolina and Georgia by/ James Oglethorpe --Origin legend of the Creek people/  Chekilli -- From On love / John Wesley -- From The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African / Olaudah Equiano -- Letter to Savannah's Hebrew congregation / George Washington -- From Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida / William Bartram -- The lament of the captive / Richard Henry Wilde -- From Pleasure and pain : reminiscences of Georgia in the 1840s / Emily Pillsbury Burke -- Letter to Kate Perry / William Makepeace Thackeray -- Sut blown up with soda / George Washington Harris -- From Fast and loose in Dixie / J. Madison Drake -- From Treasure Island / Robert Louis Stevenson -- From The memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman, written by himself / General William Tecumseh Sherman -- The cotton gin / Joel Chandler Harris -- From The American scene / Henry James -- From Thousand mile walk to the Gulf / John Muir -- Savannah twice visited / William Dean Howells -- Memories of my girlhood / Juliette Gordon Low -- Adrift in Georgia : Savannah / Sherwood Anderson / Foreword to Harrriet Ross Colquitt's The Savannah cook book / Ogden Nash -- From The damned don't cry / Harry Hervey -- Strange moonlight / Conrad Aiken -- The king of the birds / Flannery O'Connor -- From A matter of vocabulary / James Alan McPherson -- From Beulah Land / Lonnie Coleman -- From A lion's share / Mark Steadman -- Untitled song lyric / Johnny Mercer -- From Halloween / Ben Geer -- Madeira and moonshine / Alexander A. Lawrence -- The haunted library / Margaret Wayt DeBolt -- From Sleeping with soldiers / Rosemary Daniell -- From The distant lands / Julien Green -- From The dangerous lives of altar boys / Chris Fuhrman --From Midnight in the garden of good and evil : a Savannah story / John Berendt -- Gambling, liquor, and vice / Tom Coffey -- The death of Tomochichi / Ja J. Jahannes.

Write a Review »

Author Comment:

Part of the great attraction to the literary life is the possibility or opportunity to add one’s creative voice to the thrilling chorus of one’s literary forebears. I first experienced the shocking humility and gratitude of such an experience when Hill Street Press included my poem, Return to Savannah, in its exceptional historical anthology, LITERARY SAVANNAH. Through that superb volume, I was amazed to find myself sharing pages with founding father George Washington, poet Conrad Aiken, novelist Henry James, General William T. Sherman, Pulitzer-prize winner James Alan McPherson, and more than two dozen other lamps of literature and history. --Aberjhani

Topics/Categories:

contemporary authors, Essays, fiction, Poetry, southern folklore, Southern History, Southern literature

Genre:

Biography and Memoir, Cultural History, Travel Literature, United States History

Best Sellers:

Savannah Morning News Bestselling Books

Type of Work:

Anthology

Publishers:

Hill Street Press

Purchase From:

Literary Savannah on Amazon
Review of Literary Savannah

Original Publish Date:

March 16, 1998

Publishing Notes:

The statues of Savannah's Monument Square are silent. The statue of the solemn girl in Bonaventure Cemetery—made famous in John Berendt's blockbuster book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil—can't speak. Only Savannah's literary monuments can give voice to the rich and diverse history of one of America's greatest cities; one that has for centuries inspired fascination worldwide. Many have written about Savannah, but few have captured the true spirit of southern grace most often associated with her history as well as the mysteries and humor that await behind the walled gardens and gated homes. Whether born there or simply passing through, Savannah is a town that has inspired writers for centuries and, at last, in Literary Savannah the city's story is told. --Patrick Allen, editor

• Share With:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•