Our conversation this week is with Katie McKee, Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.
What fascinates you? Answering this question honestly can lead to a life of constant learning and lifelong company from some interesting people - even if they're long gone. For Katie McKee, one of those people is Reconstruction-era writer Sherwood Bonner. Unconventional and impassioned, Sherwood transgressed cultural norms to live and write on her own terms (even if that got her in trouble with the Transcendentalists). She did this all in a period of intense transition for the United States and her home state of Mississippi. This coincidence of an intriguing human and time in American history became Katie's fascination, and she turned it into a great book.
In this episode, you'll learn more about the life and work of Sherwood Bonner, Katie's perspectives on teaching literature and film, the significance of the Center of the Study of Southern Culture, and why Katie still believes in the transformative power of literature.
Mentioned in this episode:
Center for the Study of Southern Culture
Reading Reconstruction: Sherwood Bonner and the Literature of the Post-Civil War South
Dialect Tales by Sherwood Bonner
Gentleman of Sarsar by Sherwood Bonner
Like Unto Like by Sherwood Bonner
The Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard
Willa Cather Foundation (donate and visit!)
