Mode of Program Participation
Performances and Arts
Participation Type
Performance
Presentation #1 Title
Mommas of Southern Men
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
William Faulkner famously said, “If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate.” That is true of Southern, male writers inside and outside Appalachia, including Rick Bragg; Tennessee Williams; Jamie Brickhouse; and Earl Hamner, Jr. They all told stories based, in part at least, on the women who birthed them.
Mark Lynn Ferguson is following suit. During this session, he will read a mix of nonfiction and fiction pieces inspired by his momma, an Appalachian woman that he has described as “fierce and loving in turns.” The pieces will include his popular essays “Life and Death Under the Roanoke Star,” which was published in Smoky Mountain Living and “Appalachian Women, Living Full Throttle,” which ran on his blog The Revivalist: Word from the Appalachian South.
He will also read a selection from his novel in progress, “An Impossible Flock,” which opens in 1970 as a young Appalachian woman named Reenie Dearing loses her newborn in a medical procedure gone wrong. The book draws heavily from his sister’s birth. She was born one year before Mark Lynn and lived for just a few hours.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
A Roanoke, Virginia native, Mark Lynn Ferguson has written about the Appalachians for many publications, including the Chicago Tribune, and discussed the region with news outlets, ranging from ABC News to local public radio. He now lives in the Washington, D.C. metro, but stays connected to his homeland by making fried taters, hightailing it to the mountains every chance he gets, and writing for his blog, The Revivalist: Word from the Appalachian South, which gets around 200,000 visitors annually. He’s also been in marketing/communications for 20 years and worked with some of the world’s biggest brands. Mark Lynn holds an ED.M. from Harvard University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte.
Mommas of Southern Men
William Faulkner famously said, “If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate.” That is true of Southern, male writers inside and outside Appalachia, including Rick Bragg; Tennessee Williams; Jamie Brickhouse; and Earl Hamner, Jr. They all told stories based, in part at least, on the women who birthed them.
Mark Lynn Ferguson is following suit. During this session, he will read a mix of nonfiction and fiction pieces inspired by his momma, an Appalachian woman that he has described as “fierce and loving in turns.” The pieces will include his popular essays “Life and Death Under the Roanoke Star,” which was published in Smoky Mountain Living and “Appalachian Women, Living Full Throttle,” which ran on his blog The Revivalist: Word from the Appalachian South.
He will also read a selection from his novel in progress, “An Impossible Flock,” which opens in 1970 as a young Appalachian woman named Reenie Dearing loses her newborn in a medical procedure gone wrong. The book draws heavily from his sister’s birth. She was born one year before Mark Lynn and lived for just a few hours.
