ENGL4742: Georgia Literature (59637)


This class will focus on works by writers with Georgia roots, past and present, especially in relationship to ideas of the New South and Multiple Souths that are prominent in Southern Studies and that consider such themes as citizenship, migration, memory, and mythmaking. We will discuss a broad range of works, both poetry and prose.The Georgia Writers Hall of Fame (georgiawritershalloffame.org) is my central playbook for organizing the class readings, and you can expect to discuss selections by writers such as Jean Toomer, Carson McCullers, Lillian Smith, Erskine Caldwell, Percival Everett, Pat Conroy, Jericho Brown, Natasha Trethewey, Tayari Jones, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Toni Cade Bambara, Kevin Young, and Melissa Faye Green.  I plan to augment the class with excursions during class time to exhibits and workshops in proximity at the Georgia Museum of Art and Special Collections Library, as well as visiting speakers via ZOOM.  The major class assignments will consist of two in-class written exams, an individual in-class presentation, and a long essay submission (approx. 15 pp. typed).