Kentucky
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  1. Berry, Wendell - 1934
  2. Hines, Duncan - (1880-1959)
  3. Stuart, Jesse - (1906-1984)
  4. Thompson, Hunter S. - 1937
     
Literary Kentucky from A to Z
By Susan Thurman

To slightly change the state song, the sun shines bright on—Kentucky literary tradition. From the Appalachians through the bluegrass to the Mississippi River from the long border with Tennessee north to the Ohio River, Kentucky writers have painted a rich portrait of the state or have taken Kentucky tradition with them and reflected it in their writing.

One such author is Kentucky-born mystery writer Sue Grafton (1940– ), who has delighted many readers with her alphabet series that uses different letters in the beginning of titles (starting with A Is For Alibi through the latest, O Is For Outlaw). Because of Grafton's Kentucky connections, and to give her a tip of the hat, the following list of Kentucky authors is written in the alphabetic style Grafton uses. While there are certainly many more authors who deserve to be included, the list was compiled to look at authors of various time periods, of different genres, and of diverse races.

    A is for…Harriet Arnow (1908–1986), whose work is closely associated with mountain life. She drew on her own experiences to create such memorable novels as The Dollmaker and Mountain Path , as well as short stories and works of nonfiction (Seedtime on the Cumberland).

    …James Allen (1849–1925), a short story writer and novelist. Many of his works (such as Kentucky Cardinal and The Reign of Law: A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields) involves themes about Kentucky. 

    B is for…Wendell Berry (1934– ), a contemporary poet, novelist and essayist who makes his home in Henry County. Among his many famous works are Home Economics: Fourteen Essays, Collected Poems, and The Memory of Old Jack.

    C is for…Letcher County's Harry M. Caudill (1922–1990), whose most famous work, Night Comes to the Cumberlands, gave light to the poverty of Appalachia and appealed for insight of the region, its people and their way of life. Caudill is also known for his two historical novels, Dark Hills to Westward and The Senator from Slaughter County.

    …Thomas D. Clark (1903– ), who is the dean of Kentucky history. Among his many works are A History of Kentucky, The Kentucky, and Kentucky, Land of Contrast.

    …Irvin Cobb (1876–1944), the favorite son of Paducah, was well known as a reporter and humor columnist (Paducah's Daily News and Democrat, Louisville's Evening Post, New York's Evening Sun, the Saturday Evening Post, and Cosmopolitan ) and as the author of several collections of short stories as well as humorous books (Exit Laughing).

    …J. Winston Coleman (1899–1983), the author of numerous books and pamphlets concerning Kentucky history, including Slavery Times in Kentucky and Historic Kentucky.

    D is for…Coleman Dowell (1925–1985), a writer of short stories, novels (including One of the Children Is Crying, which was set in Kentucky), plays, television shows and musical scores (The Tattooed Countess).

     …Robert Deitz (1940– ), the Wilmore native who is the co-author of Crisis in the Oil Patch: How America's Energy Industry Is Being Destroyed and What Must Be Done to Save It and Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair.

    E is for…Willie Snow Ethridge (1900–1982), known for such volumes as As I Live and Breathe and Mingled Yarn.

    F is for…Lucy Furman (1870–1958), a Henderson native who spent most of her writing years at the Hindman Settlement School. Her accounts about life as a teacher and housemother for mountain children became the basis for several books, including Mothering on Perilous and The Lonesome Road.

    G is for… Sue Grafton (1940– ), a Louisville native who now lives in Santa Barbara, California, and Louisville. In addition to her alphabet series described above, Grafton has also written screenplays (Sex and the Single Parent; Mark, I Love You; and Nurse).

    … Janice Holt Giles (1909–1979), who came to Louisville in 1940 and later settled in Adair County. Beginning in 1950, she wrote eighteen novels, including Kentucky-themed Hannah Fowler, The Kentuckians, The Believers, and Run Me a River.

    H is for…bell hooks (1952– ), the lowercased pseudonym of Hopkinsville native Gloria Watkins, whose writing mainly centers on racism (Black Looks: Race and Representation) and feminism (Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism).

    …Duncan Hines (1880–1959), a Bowling Green native often called the nation's first recognized food critic, who wrote several popular books which focused on food and traveling (Adventures in Good Eating, Lodging for a Night, and Adventures in Good Cooking).

    I is for…Gilbert Imlay (1754–1828), who came down the Ohio River to Kentucky in 1784 (before Kentucky's statehood). His 1793 novel The Emigrants, or the History of an Expatriated Family is among the earliest works describing life on what was then the western frontier.

    J is for…Annie Fellows Johnston (1863–1931), a writer of children's books, including the popular twelve-volume Little Colonel series.

    K is for…Gail King (1938– ), a contemporary nonfiction writer whose byline is often seen in the Wall Street Journal, Kentucky Living , and Victorian Homes.

    …Barbara Kingsolver (1955– ), the best-selling author who was reared in Nicholas County until she left for college. Her titles include The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and The Poisonwood Bible.

    L is for…George Ella Lyon, (1949– ), who grew up in Harlan. Her work includes collections of poetry (Mountain and Catalpa ), autobiography (A Wordful Child), children's books (Together and Mama Is a Miner), and fiction (With a Hammer for My Heart)..

    …Edwin Litsey (1874–1970), a poet ( Spindrift and The Filled Cup) and novelist (The Man from Jericho, Grist and Stones for Bread); some of his work centers around life in south central Kentucky.

    M is for… Bobbie Ann Mason (1940– ), a native of Mayfield, who has achieved literary fame for her novels (In Country and Feather Crowns) and her short story collections (Love Life and Shiloh and Other Stories).

    …Kentucky native Ed McClanahan (1932– ), whose best-known work is the coming-of-age novel The Natural Man. He has also written for such publications as Playboy , Esquire and Rolling Stone. His autobiographical work is Famous People I Have Known.

    …Thomas Merton (1915–1968), who entered a Trappist monastery in Kentucky in 1941. Of his fifty works, the most famous is his autobiographical The Seven Storey Mountain; volumes of his poetry include Thirty Poems, and Emblems of a Season of Fury.

     … Jim Wayne Miller (1936–1996), an essayist and poet who has been described as "one of Appalachia's brightest and best-loved poets…who is admired by the average reader as well as by the academic community." His works include Copperhead Cane, Vein of Words, Nostalgia for 70, and Newfound.

    N is for…Gurney Norman (1937– ), the author of Divine Right's Trip, the story of a young eastern Kentucky man's journey home from California, and Kinfolks.

    …Louisville-born Marsha Norman (1947– ), who won a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her acclaimed play 'night, Mother and a 1991 Tony Award for The Secret Garden. She has also written for television and film (Face of a Stranger).

    O is for…Eliza Calvert Hall Obenchain (1856–1936), a Bowling Green native, who is most noted for Aunt Jane of Kentucky, a collection of short stories. 

    P is for…John Ed Pearce (1919– ), the Pulitzer-winning journalist whose many books include The Ohio River, Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky and Divide and Dissent: Kentucky Politics 1930-1963.

    Q is for…all the quilts that were created by Kentucky women.  Oh, the stories these quilts tell!

    R is for…native daughter Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881–1941), a poet, short story writer and novelist whose "love of Kentucky ancestry, old tales—all were mingled and played an integral part in her writing." Her works include Great Meadow, and My Heart and My Flesh.

    S is for…Jesse Stuart (1906–1984), arguably the most famous of the writers who have treasured the Kentucky mountains as their home and inspiration. Over sixty of his books have been published, including novels (Taps for Private Tussie), nonfiction (The Thread that Runs So True, about his teaching experiences) short story collections (Head o' W-Hollow and Men of the Mountain), children's books and collections of poetry (Harvest of Youth and Man with a Bull-Tongue Plow).

    …Hindman's James Still (1906– ), Kentucky's Poet Laureate (1995–97), who has been a powerful literary force for more than sixty years. His novels ( River of Earth, Sporty Creek), stories and poetry (The Wolfpen Poems) depict Appalachian Kentucky life in the early part of the 20th century.

    T is for…Alan Tate (1899–1979), a native of Winchester, who gained fame for many years of writing poetry (Collected Poems, The Winter Sea), biography (Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson: The Good Soldier ), criticism (Reactionary Essays on Poetry and Ideas) and essays (Essays of Four Decades).

    U is for…Elizabeth Cox Underwood (?–1886), whose letters to her husband (who was away in Washington, DC, serving in the US Senate) provide slices of everyday life of a mid-19th century Kentucky family.

    V is for…Rachel M. Varble (1893–1976), a writer of children's literature; among her stories are the Kentucky-based Julia Ann and Romance for Rosa.

    W is for…Marianne Walker , a nonfiction writer whose works include Margaret Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone with the Wind and When Cuba Conquered Kentucky: The Triumphant Basketball Story of a Tiny High School that Achieved the American Dream.

    …Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), perhaps Kentucky's best-known writer. Warren was America's first Poet Laureate, and the winner of Pulitzer Prizes in both fiction (All the King's Men) and poetry (Promises: Poems, 1954–1956 and Now and Then: Poems, 1976–1978). In addition, Warren has written biography, textbooks, short stories, and literary criticisms.

    Y is for…Bennett Henderson Young (1843–1919), a prominent Louisville attorney, who was the author of Prehistoric Man in Kentucky, and other works about the Civil War, agriculture and religion.

    Z is for…Leane Zugsmith (1903–1969), a Louisville-born writer best known for her reform-minded works (The Reckoning, A Time to Remember, and The Sunshine Soldier).

"But," you ask, "what about other distinguished Kentucky authors such as Garry Barker, Sallie Bingham, Michelle Boissuea, Joy Bale Boone, Cleanth Brooks, Barry Brown, William Wells Brown, Charles Nevillle Buck, Rebecca Caudill, Madison Cawlin, Lillie Chaffin, Billy C. Clark, Joe Commer, Joseph Cotter, Alfred L. Crabb, Olive Dargan, Guy Davenport, David Dick, Julia Dinsmore, Leon Driskell, Bob Edwards, Dean Feldmeyer, Charles Flood, John Fox, James Goode, Patrick Googan, Charlotte Gordon, C. W. Grafton, Jonathan Greene, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., James Hall, Matt Hall, Elizabeth Hardwick, Beverly Taylor Herald, Lynn Hightower, Chris Holbrook, Felix Holt, Harlan Hubbard, Virginia Hudson, Fenton Johnson, Gayl Jones, Loyal Jones, Marcia Jones, Lisa Koger, Arthur Krock, Carole Marsh, Jayne Mayhall, Barbara Taylor McCafferty, Tierney McClellan, Teresa Medeiros, Boynton Merrill, Lynwood Montell, J. J. Niles, J. T. "Cotton" Noe, Chris Offutt, Theodore O'Hara, John Patrick, Lee Pennington, Joe Ashby Porter, Ted Poston, Betty Layman Receveur, Alice Hegan Rice, Diane Sawyer, Ellen Churchill Semple, Tres Seymour, James R. Sherburne, Bill Shoemaker, Verna Mae Sloane, Effie Waller Smith, Al Stewart, Martha Bennett Stiles, Hollis Summers, Pauline Autenreith Tafel, Richard Taylor, Walter Tevis, Helen Thomas, Hunter S. Thompson , Henry Watterson, George C. Wolfe, and Louisa Woosley—just to name a few?"

Space precludes our list from including other Kentucky authors, but that doesn't mean that you can't study them. One excellent source is William S. Ward's A Literary History of Kentucky (University of Tennessee Press, 1988). Another printed source is Mary Carmel Browning's Kentucky Authors: A History of Kentucky Literature (Keller Crescent Company, Evansville, Indiana, 1968). In addition, try the following websites to read about other writers and to get more information about those in the A-Z list above:

1)  Famous Kentuckians Authors and Journalists:  http://www.bigdogdesign.com/famous5.html 

2)  University of Louisville, Ekstrom Library, Kentucky Writers and Literature: http://www.louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/govpubs/states/kentucky/kylit/kylit.html

3)  KYLIT from the English Dept. at Eastern Kentucky University: http://www.arh.eku.edu/eng/services/kylit/default.htm

4)  The Kentucky Information Page:  http://www.louisville.edu/~easchn01/kentucky/1lite.html

5)  The Kentucky Literary Map:  http://kcte.org/map/index.html

6)  Kentucky Konnections (scroll down for authors):  http://www.bellenet.com/indexa.html

7)  Kentucky Romance Writers:  http://www.win.net/romance/welcomebody.html

8)  Mystery by Region:  http://www.bookbrowser.com/MystRegion/KY.html

Susan Thurman teaches at Henderson College in Kentucky.