Writings
Ohio and Ohio Valley writers and writing, literary and cultural history with occasional ventures into the greater Midwest and Upper South.
Published Eighty Years Ago: Jesse Stuart’s “Man with a bull-tongue Plow.”
Today—October 14, 2014–marks the eightieth anniversary of the publication of Jesse Stuart’s rambling and powerful collection of 703 sonnets called Man with a bull-tongue Plow. Yes, you read that number correctly—703! Stuart was a tall and robust man from the hills of Kentucky who wrote like a force of nature. He was born in Greenup…
Books By The Banks: A Celebration of Books and Reading
Book lovers turned out in force on Saturday, October 11 for Books By The Banks: Cincinnati USA Book Festival. For six hours the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati was abuzz with activity as fans met their favorite authors, listened to panel discussions and author presentations, and met staff from local sponsors, which…
Cincinnati’s Books By The Banks: October 11, 2014
The eighth annual Books By The Banks: Cincinnati USA Book Festival will be held from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 11 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati. More than 100 authors will be there to sign copies of their books and talk with interested readers. Categories of books…
Mary Oliver: At Home in the Natural World.
The recent date of September 10, 2014 marks the seventy-ninth birthday of the distinguished poet Mary Oliver, born on September 10, 1935 in Maple Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. She is one of America’s most popular and best-selling poets, and she has accumulated numerous honors, having won the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize,…
Harlan Hatcher: Buckeye Extraordinaire.
The author Harlan Hatcher was born 116 years ago today on September 9, 1898 in Ironton, Ohio. He lived for nearly a century, dying at the age of 99 in 1998. Harlan Hatcher was a true man of letters: a novelist, editor, historian, and literary critic, as well as a teacher who became a successful…
Chicago……
“Great industries were moving in. The huge railroad corporations which had long before recognized the prospects of the place had seized upon vast tracts of land for transfer and shipping purposes. Street-car lines had been extended far out into the open country in anticipation of rapid growth. The city had laid miles and miles of…
Published 100 Years Ago: Theodore Dreiser’s “The Titan.”
This year marks the centennial of Theodore Dreiser’s novel The Titan. Dreiser published The Titan in 1914 with the John Lane Company. It is the second volume in his trilogy sometimes called The Trilogy of Desire. The trilogy follows the commercial and amorous adventures of ruthless businessman Frank Cowperwood, a character based on real life…