Swampland.com

Pat Conroy "South of Broad" Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to all of those who participated in the Pat Conroy "Win a Copy of South of Broad Contest" sponsored by Swampland/Writers of the South Facebook and Nan A Talese/Doubleday Company. The four week contest was a lively one and drew entries from all over the south from Texas to North Carolina, to Alabama, and, of course, from Conroy's home state of Georgia. All winners will receive first edition copies of South of Broad from Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.

Here is a list of he winners in alphabetical order: Ellen Black, Bill Cochran, Terri Craft, Dare Patton Evans, Peggy Farlow, Carla Gregg, Woodfin Gregg, Cissy Hartley, Kelly Kazek, Heather Kohn, Dorothy Holmes Ledford, Bailey Lovell, Joyce Morrow Pair, and Charlotte Nix Speer. A book will also be sent to Jan Anderson of Calhoun Community College who served as one of the judges. A huge thank you to all those who helped make this contest so successful.

We at Swampland were honored to be asked by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday to host this exciting contest. This was our first contest of this type, and we hope it will mark the beginning of many more. On a personal note, I have derived great pleasure from reading the essays, reconnecting with old students, and making new acquaintances--such as Joyce Morrow Pair of Atlanta who was one of the founders of the James Dickey Society and who edited the James Dickey Newsletter for twenty years. We hope to hear more from Joyce on Swampland in the near future.

The responses from the participants was heartwarming. Ellen Black, a poet from Dallas, Texas, who submitted an entry each week to the contest, had this to say about her experience. “Thanks to everyone. I had so much fun writing each of my essays, and I'm absolutely delighted that I'm one of the winners. I feel like it's Friday. :) Thank you, again.”

I am posting the first of Ellen's four excellent essays because it examines the question of fate as it functions in two Pat Conroy novels: South of Broad and Beach Music. Ellen wrote  "South of Broad opens with, ‘Nothing happens by accident,’ which could mean every event is predetermined, like the birth of a mewling, wrinkled baby, a rare ruby to an exhausted mother, too tired to fathom this son will one day kill her. Instead, maybe synchronicity is busy weaving webs, juggling events to feel meant to be. When Jack McCall, in Beach Memories, finds unexpected love with Shyla, his Jewish neighbor, he did not have to lose her to suicide, but the pattern sewn into Shyla’s life by parents who survived the Holocaust stitched her an early death."

Another contestant who actively supported the contest from the beginning and encouraged other participants is Dare Patton Evans. Dare wrote the following on Writers fo the South wall to express her appreciation for the contest." I want to say thank you to Writers of the South, Penne , Pat Conroy and Nan A. Talese/Doubleday for hosting this great contest. It has been fun and quite enjoyable reading the essays posted. I feel like I have made new friends even though I will most likely never met them. But we Southerners are a friendly lot. I am eagerly awaiting my new Conroy book... What a great addition to my library.…"

A talented artist and former student of mine, Cissy Hartley, who currently lives in Mobile, wrote this winning essay about family in Week 2. Her entry could easily have been an entry for the subject of fate as well as that of sense of place. Cissy wrote the following: " ‘My wound is geography.’ Tom Wingo's opening words in The Prince of Tides could have easily been spoken by Quentin Compson or Scout Finch or Dewey Dell Bundren. The line is emblematic of the struggle of characters in Southern literature: they traverse a terrain of division and dichotomy, negotiating a space that juxtaposes poverty and wealth, gentility and racism. It is not simply 'place' that defines Wingo's geography, but "sense of place." In the South, individual identity is inextricably bound to family identity, each marking the other, and 'Who are your people?' defines one as clearly as individual accomplishment. "

The second winner in Week 2 was Peggy Farlow whose entry about family indicated that the works of Pat Conroy  are not only informative and entertaining, they can be therapeutic. Peggy wrote   "After two divorces, I read every book on co-dependence, children of alcoholics, and dysfunctional families I could get my hands on. A girlfriend once asked me, 'Is there any book in this house I can read that won't make me healthier, more spiritual, or wiser?' I was seriously trying to learn how to survive in a world of chaos. About the same time I watched the film The Prince of Tides. I remember to this day the scene where the alcoholic father raged for his food while the children looked on with fear in their eyes. The mother never said a word. She simply continued to prepare his supper. I wanted to kill him and found myself clinching my fists. The mother quietly reached for a can of dog food, opened it, poured it into a skillet, and served him hash. In that one brief scene, I learned more than any self-help book ever taught me!"　

Kelly Kazek, a winner in Week 3, is managing editor of the Athens News Courier.  Kelly has just published a delightful book of humorous essays entitled  Fairly Odd Mother: Musings of a Slightly Off Southern Mom. Watch for my upcoming review of Kelly's book on Swampland. Kelly is also planning an article about Swampland: Cultures of the South  for the Athens New Courier.

I have posted only a few of the essays that we received in the past four weeks, but I plan to publish all of the winners. Meanwhile, you can go to the Writers of the South wall and read all of the submissions.

This week may signal the end of the Pat Conroy contest, but we look forward to hosting more such contests in the future. Thanks again to all of you for your enthusiastic participation. Stay tuned to Swampland to read more about the winners.

---Penne J. Laubenthal

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