Illinois
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By Ken Holmes
Illinois, the "Land of Lincoln," has offered and continues to offer a great deal to the literary culture of the United States through the publications of her writers. There is no state in the Union, however, whose writing could be discussed in detail in such a short overview. The intent here is simply to provide a snapshot of the writers who have called Illinois home. We want you to add to this overview. As you develop materials about the writers in your area and submit them to us, add a sentence or two that could be included in this brief essay, and tell us why you think the writer you are recommending should be mentioned.
Small Towns and the Big City
The literature of Illinois has its beginnings a long time ago but we will start with the early 19th century. However, many of the works that were published during the period from 1800 to 1910 are no longer in print. As a result, they are easily dismissed as having little literary merit. There are notable exceptions, though. Of particular interest are those novels dealing with small-town life: John Habberton's The Jericho Road (1887), Edward Eggleson's The Greysons (1887), and Francis Grierson's A Prairie Winter ( 1903). The "big city," Chicago, was also used as a setting for early novels. Interestingly, most of the earlier "Chicago novels" were highly critical of the city, emphasizing its harmful effects upon the individual because of the strenuous pressure upon city dwellers. The ugliness of the city was radically described in Theodore Dreiser's Jenny Gerhardt (1911) and Frank Norris' The Pit (1903). Taking a middle ground regarding the city was Robert Herrick. Herrick's love/hate relationship with the city and city life can be found in three of his novels: The Web of Life (1900), The Common Lot (1904) and Memoirs of an American Citizen (1905). Sherwood Anderson profiled the romance of Chicago's business world in his Windy McPherson's Son (1916). Hamlin Garland explored the initiation of a young woman into life in Chicago in Rose of Dutcher's Colly (1895). Women writers of the period also used the city as background for their work: Clara McLaughlin in Just Folks (1910) and Ella Peattie in The Precipice (1914).
A Place in American Culture
Shortly after World War I, a new awakening reached Illinois in the literary movement known as "modernism." Writers began exploring new ideas and new avenues for their expression. In the East, particularly in New York City, and in the Midwest, particularly in Chicago, the postwar period was marked by a "renaissance" in literary outpourings. This "rebirth" found its way to Illinois. Since then many of Illinois' writers have written not just a few masterpieces, but also works that have found, and are finding, their way into the heart of American literary culture.
Illinois writers have contributed a great number of works to the American screen, stage, and television. Ben Hecht, a sometime resident of Chicago, was a playwright and screenwriter. He was most noted for "Front Page" (1928) and writing the screenplay for many notable films of the 1930s. Ring Lardner, a Chicago sportswriter, in addition to writing short stories, was also a successful playwright. In more recent times, William Goldman, born in Chicago, rewrote many of his novels into screenplays and wrote the screenplays for some of Hollywood's biggest hits: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Great Waldo Pepper, and All the President's Men. Lorraine Hansberry, who grew up in Chicago, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and later saw her play The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1964) become a critically successful movie. Fort Sheridan-born Sam Shepard's enormous contribution to the stage includes his award-winning Fool for Love (1984). Shepard also published a collection of Seven Plays (1981). David Mamet, one of the highest critically acclaimed writer for both stage and screen was born in Chicago. His play and subsequent film Glengarry Glen Ross (1982) is an exposé of American business, specifically the real estate business. For his writing, Mamet has won both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critic's Circle Award. Michael Crichton, writer of The Terminal Man (1972) and Jurassic Park (1990), is also a most successful television personality, writing and producing scripts for Emergency Room. Urbana-born film critic Roger Eberts also contributed to television drama with his script for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970).
Through the years, Illinois writers have demonstrated a strong social conscience, writing about conditions in society and calling for social change to take place. As early as 1903, Carlinville native Mary Austin wrote of the horrors of the exploitation of the land and culture of the Native American in her novel The Lord of Little Rain. Another noted writer is Jane Addams, founder of Hull House, a pioneering social settlement in Chicago. Addams's critically acclaimed autobiographies are titled Twenty Years at Hull House (1910) and The Second Twenty Years at Hull House (1930). Addams went on to write a number of other books with a social theme. Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle (1906) was seen as an indictment against the meat packing industry and its practices; it is regarded as one of the earliest attacks upon the exploitation of recent immigrants. Nelson Algren, who lived sometime in Chicago, was one of the first to write about the horrors of the drug world in his novel The Man with the Golden Arm (1949). Peoria-born Betty Friedan brought the feminist movement to the front of America's awareness with her The Feminine Mystique (1963).
Award Winning Writers
Three notable writers of the fanciful have Illinois connections. Even though California likes to lay claim to him,
Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan. He has published numerous books of science fiction, most notably The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951) and Dandelion Wine (1957), a warm memoir of his boyhood days in Waukegan. Frank Baum gave us The Wonderful World of Oz (1900), written while Baum was a newspaper reporter in Chicago. In the realm of police work, Sara Paretsky created the female detective, V. I. Warshoski, introducing the detective in Bitter Medicine (1987) and continuing her story in Burn Marks (1990), and Tunnel Vision (1994).Two award-winning Illinois writers have used their war experiences as basis of some of their works. James Jones and Larry Heinemann have both received the National Book Award for their effort. Jones, a native of Robinson, used his World War II experience for his 1952 award winner, From Here to Eternity . Another of his war novels, The Thin Red Line, was recently made into a critically respected film. Native Chicagoan Larry Heinemann used his experiences in Vietnam and won his award in 1986 for Paco's Story.
Many more literary prizes abound for Illinois writers. The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Oak Park native
Ernest Hemingway in 1954 for his outstanding body of work which includes the masterful classics The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), and The Old Man and the Sea (1950). The Nobel Prize for Literature for 1976 went to Chicago resident Saul Bellow. His works, often comical in their detailing of contemporary American life, include The Adventures of Augie March (1953) and Herzog (1964). The 1924 Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Edna Ferber, who lived some time in Chicago, for her novel So Big. The 1949 Pulitzer also found a home with Gwendolyn Brooks for her collection of poetry, "Annie Allen." In 1969, Brooks was officially designated "Poet Laureate of Illinois," a title she still holds today. In addition to her poetry, Brooks also wrote a novel, Maude Martha (1953). Three Pulitzer Prizes (1932, 1953 and 1959) have been awarded to Glencoe native Archibald MacLeish for his poetry and poetic writings.Great Depth and Scope
Many of Illinois' writers have written and write from their particular ethnic background. Chicagoan Harry Mark Petrakis writes from his Greek experiences in Pericles of 31st Street (1965). James T. Farrell, born in Chicago, wrote of the Irish in his Studs Lonigan trilogy (1932-1935). One of the great African American perspectives was seen in Richard Wright's Native Son (1940) and in his autobiography Black Boy (1945). Today's African American residents continue writing from the Black experience: E. St. Louis native, poet and literary critic Eugene Redmond; Chicago poet Haki Madahabuti; and Southern-Illinois born Charles Richard Johnson, whose Middle Passage won the National Book Award in 1990. Though not Italian, Willard Motley wrote of the Italian experience of a young man growing up in New York City in his 1947 Knock on Any Door. Hispanic writers are well represented by the works of Ana Castillo through her novel Women Are Not Roses (1984) and through her poetry. The Hispanic tradition continues in the writings of Chicago native Sandra Cisneros, most recognized by her House on Mango Street (1985).
Writing for children and young adults has become a strong part of the publishing industry, and Illinois has some of the best. Among them are Decatur-born Richard Peck, whose long list of titles include his most recent novels Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death (1986), The Last Safe Place on Earth (1995), and A Long Way from Chicago, a Newberry Honor book for 1999. Stella Pevsner, born in Lincoln, also has a long list of titles. Her latest entries are I'm Emma: I'm a Quint (1996) and Would My Fortune Cookie Lie? (1996). Other notable writers for children and young adults include Jamie Gilson, Jim Alesworth, Bernice Rabe and the early works of Rebecca Caudill, for whom an Illinois literary award is named.
Poetry is alive and well in Illinois and has been throughout its literary history. The works of Edgar Lee Masters, Vachel Lindsay, and Carl Sandburg are popularly anthologized. But the state abounds with talented, published poets. Among some of the writings to be explored are the works of David Hernandez and Carmelo Romero; Lisel Mueller from Lake Forest; Lucien Stryk from De Kalb, or East St. Louis resident Katherine Dunham; from Bloomington, award-winning poet Lucia Cordell Getsi, or Chicago's John Logan. A listing of all the poets of Illinois would take much more space than this brief overview can offer.
Ken Holmes teaches at Belleville Area College in Illinois.