In this course, we will examine the texts and traditions of women writers from the American South. Through close readings and writing, we will analyze the use of autobiography in these texts, exploring how writing as a southerner and as a woman shapes one’s work and achievement. We will read works by some of the most distinguished writers of the last two centuries–including Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Alice Walker, and Ellen Douglas, as well as lesser known writers. As we read and write, we will also discuss our own experiences of the South, its people, and its writing.
