Carolina Writers at Home edited by Meg Reid

I have read and enjoyed many books offering first hand accounts of the creative process of writers, the jumbled desks of writers, and the how-to-do-it tips of writers.

Add to this now Carolina Writers at Home, a terrific book of essays by Southern writers. Edited by Meg Reid, it is a veritable grab bag of delights. There are authors featured from both North and South Carolina and the text is enhanced with evocative, sepia-toned photos by Rob McDonald. As I have deep connections to North Carolina — my father was born and raised in Greensboro — I am especially fond of this book.

There are twenty-five essays here about homes from the Coast to the Mountains to the Piedmont. I took my time and read one each morning over several weeks. I savored them and found it was a happy way to begin my day. 

The authors were given free rein and could write about any aspect of home that was important to them: space, possessions, time to write, wildlife, views, pets, gardens. It didn't matter just as long as it was what interested them.

Jill McCorkle's bookshelf - I couldn't resist taking a photo to show you

Some of the writers I was familiar with: Clyde Edgerton, Nikky Finney, Jill McCorkle. Some were new to me and I was happy to meet them. 

George Singleton writes about moving from the home he had lived in for thirty-three years. 

Kathryn Stripling Byer mourns the loss of a magnificent oak tree that once graced her yard. The only memento left now is its stump.

Daniel Wallace shares on his 'ark of things' from a small wooden cricket catcher to his collection of glass eyes. (Strangest collection ever? How does one start amassing those odd objects?) 

Oh, these are grand musings by wonderful writers about a place dear to their heart. There is not a bad one in the bunch. I was lucky enough to have been given the hardback edition (best choice) but the book also is available in paperback.

When the outside world is topsy-turvy, it is good to be reminded how important it is to have a comfortable, safe place to come home to.

Highly recommended!

Chats with Southern Writers

Eudora Welty at her desk

Photo by

Jill Krementz

I have been on a bit of a tear lately watching archived programs from C-SPAN's Booknotes and Q and A. Really, I can sense my IQ increasing just listening to non-fiction authors talk about presidents, history, books, philosophers, and other writers. 

I recently re-watched a 1997 Booknotes interview with Jill Krementz, a woman who has spent decades photographing writers. She was on the program to talk about her book The Writer's Desk (1996), a collection of photographs of authors seated or standing where they do their best work. I own this book and pick it up every now and then to reacquaint myself with the faces of such notables as P.G. Wodehouse dressed in suit and tie typing away in his study; Joyce Carol Oates at her electric typewriter that is perched in front of a large window; or William F. Buckley, Jr. on the phone in the back of the limousine he had specially built to accommodate his long legs and which he very often uses as his office. 

It is one of my favorite books and I wrote about it last year here.

I was curious to see if Ms. Krementz had other books that included photos of writers, and sure enough my library had one titled Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers (1994). The interviews were conducted between 1975 and 1994 by Dannye Romine Powell, a poet and former columnist and book editor for the Charlotte Observer.

So here we have thoughts on the creative process from Angelou to Welty with Conroy, Foote, Haley, Percy and Price in between. A total of twenty-three writers living and writing below the Mason-Dixon line accompanied by black-and-white photos taken by Ms. Krementz.

Both books feature on their cover the now-famous photo of Eudora Welty at her desk in her bedroom in Jackson, Mississippi. 

I have already skimmed through this volume to look at the photos and am anxious to read what the writers have to say for themselves and their craft. A fortunate find indeed!