Southscapes: Geographies of Race, Region, and Literature

Acknowledgments

375 Acknowledgments This book has benefited from many generous friendships, old and new, professional and personal. In Nashville, Art and Helene Pellette, with Mary Elizabeth and Leah, enabled my work and dual residence with their care and commitment; Bill and Cecelia Tichi, David and Leah Marcus, and Sam and Scottie Girgus fed the body and the intellect ; Bettye Harwell, Paulette Coleman, and Carol Cresswell Betsch infused art into the everyday. Elsewhere, Nell Painter painted me and Southscapes by way of visualizing the possible; Aishah Rahman brought unmatched wit and wisdom; Michael Harper sent poetic missives; Leslie Sanders held the Toronto–New York respite in place; Candida and Amerigo Ferreira made Portugal a reward; John and Christine Smith became the ideal audience; Barbara Savage read and imagined; Deborah McDowell offered laughter with reality checks; Sybil Kein kept the faith; and Ralph Singfield remained a safe harbor. My library colleagues at the Huntington Library and the Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library gave me courage and models. My sisterprofessors in the Black Women’s Intellectual History Working Group inspired perseverance , and Farah Jasmine Griffin gave superb advice; Janie King at the Vanderbilt University Library responded with professional skill and Delta sisterhood to my calls for help with citations. The computer wizards, Brian Kirk and Adam Podlaski, provided expert support and never laughed at my persistence with WordPerfect, even after a major computer crash. I am especially grateful to colleagues for invitations to present keynote addresses derived from this book: Susan Donaldson, Randal Jelks, and the Southern Intellectual History Circle meeting at the University of Kansas, and Keith Cartwright, Maryemma Graham, and Minrose Gwin for their attentive responses to my talk; Barbara Ewell, Rebecca Mark, John W. Lowe, and the Society for the Study of Southern Literature meeting sponsored by Loyola University and Tulane University; Edith Frampton, Anne Donadey, Susan Stanford Friedman, and the Contemporary Women Writers International Meeting under the auspices of San Diego State University; Mike Hill, Marjorie Pryse, Joshua Bartlett, Erin Casey, and “Negotiating Land: New Readings” Graduate Student Association Conference, Department of English, University of Albany, State University of New York. I am also thankful for having the opportunity to present several sections of this work during formative stages at conferences (American Studies Association and Modern Language Association) and at the University of Pennsylvania (Women’s Studies Works-in-Progress and the Latitudes Group in the Department of English). Joni Adams (ASA) and Reggie Scott Young (MLA) included me on the stimulating panels they organized . Shannon Lundeen (Penn Women’s Studies) took the time to send thoughtful feedback. |376| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sian Hunter believed in Southscapes for the University of North Carolina Press, and the readers she selected there pushed the envelope. In the final stages, Sarah Cockrum was an efficient angel in assisting with the bibliography. Research funding through the College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Pennsylvania, enabled my work, and the resources of the Van Pelt Library made it possible. The outstanding editorial, design, and production team of UNC Press made the book a better reality. I especially thank Kate Torrey and Jay Mazzocchi for their thoughtful efforts at crucial moments. Brenda Marie Osbey generously provided a much-needed education on poetry permissions , which led me to an even greater awed respect for each of the poets included in Southscapes, and to an expanded gratitude for all the real work they do. My appreciation for so many kindnesses is heartfelt. My admiration is boundless for my family who, after the storm, inspires with a worldly, incomparable spirit of survival , and for my students, past and present, who continue to look back in wonder and thus encourage me to look forward in joy. ...