Swampland:Tribute to Southern Literary Icon Barry Hannah

Tribute to Southern Literary Icon Barry Hannah

Posted: Mar 03, 2010

Award winning Southern author Barry Hannah died Monday, March 1, at his home in Oxford, MS. Hannah was 67. His first novel Geronimo Rex, a bizarre coming-of-age story, was nominated for a National Book Award and won the William Faulkner prize after its publication in 1972. His 1996 short story collection, High Lonesome, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Barry Hannah, head of the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Mississippi, was the author of eight novels and several short story collections. (photo courtesy of Maude Schuyler Clay)

Hannah's death occurred just a few days before the 17th Oxford Conference for the Book, which will now be dedicated to him and his work. The Conference will be held this weekend March 4-7 in Oxford, MS. Saturday, March 6, will be celebrated as Barry Hannah Day and Hannah's works will be a subject of discussion.

Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Hannah grew up in Clinton, MS, and received his BA Degree in English from Mississippi College in Clinton in 1964. He received his Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degree from the University Of Arkansas.

For a brief time in 1980, Hannah lived in Los Angeles and worked as a writer for the film director Robert Altman. For 28 years he taught creative writing at the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, where he was the director of the Creative Writing Program. He mentored a number of up and coming writers including acclaimed Mississippi novelist Larry Brown who died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 53 in 2004. See James Calemine's review of Larry Brown's Big Bad Love.

Mississippi writers have been hit hard in the past decade. Nationally known editor and author Willie Morris died in 1999 just days after what would have been his 65th birthday. Morris was the youngest ever editor of Harper's Magazine where he helped launch the careers of William Styron and Norman Mailer. One of Morris' most influencial works is a memoir entitled North Toward Home. Pultizer prize winning novelist Eudora Welty, born in 1909 in Jackson MS, died from pneumonia in 2001 at the rich age of 92. I had the great pleasure of meeting all four of these great writers, and I will always treasure the experience.

Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, Willie Morris, and Eudora Welty---stars in the southern sky--we honor your memory. Although this portion of your journey has ended, your works live on.

---Penne J. Laubenthal

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Ed Beakley says...

The "Ard" of Airships' "Testimony of Pilot," Hannah friend John Quisenberry, took me under his wing and taught me how to really "fight" in an F-8 Crusader. He also gave me a copy of Hannah's book. "I am the dragon, America the beautiful like you will never know" will reside in my head forever. It is as true a statement about the fighter pilot experience as can be made. The world of writers is a lesser place.

Eric Johnson says...

when I moved to Tuscaloosa in 2000 friends discovered that I hadn't read any of his work. they insisted i did. I started with Geronimo Rex and found that the hero moved to my hometown, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 3/4 of the way though the book. that book was pretty great I thought, and then I read High Lonesome, and Airships and was just completely blown away. One of the finest, most powerful, idiosyncratic and human crafters of the sentence ever to grace a page. At least we still have his marvelous work. My condolences to his family as well.

Gypsy Travis says...

RIP,BH

Jacques Heck says...

My first novel which made me discover this marvellous person and writer who's Barry Hannah , it is : Bats out of hell ( La tête à l'envers ). Since, I did not miss any of his books , tender and wild at the same time. It's a great loss of the literature. My condolences to the family.

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