Robert Morgan, highly acclaimed author of "Gap Creek," will give a reading at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 19, at the University of South Alabama Laidlaw Performing Arts Center.
Born and raised in Green River, a small community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Morgan notes that he was "no stranger to ghosts."
The poet and novelist, who has won four National Endowment for the Arts grants as well as having his book selected as an Oprah Winfrey read, uses the language and stories of his childhood to weave a spell around the reader.
Morgan recounts tales of deaths and visions repeated to him by relatives as he sat around the fire when he was growing up.
"The story that terrified me most was told and retold by my mother," he noted. In that story his mother has a vision of his Uncle Robert's death in a B-17 plane crash.
News came later that Uncle Robert had died at the exact moment of the vision.
After each telling, Morgan's mother would turn to him and say, "You was marked by that vision of Uncle Robert's death."
Morgan was indeed marked, with a storytelling talent that has earned him acclaim and fans.
"Gap Creek," was released in 1999 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, and in October 2000 by Scribner. The cover describes it as "The story of a marriage."
The New York Times Book Review notes that, "At their finest, his (Morgan's) stripped-down and almost primitive sentences burn with the raw, lonesome pathos of Hank Williams's best songs."
The story is loosely based on Morgan's maternal grandparents and traces the life of 17-year-old Julie Harmon as she weds her beloved and scales the obstacles of a hardscrabble Appalachian life.
Morgan's visit is sponsored by the USA English Department and Creative Writing Program. Dr. Sue Walker, professor of English and chair, said that Morgan's visit is a continuation of the department's efforts to bring nationally prominent writers to USA.
"These writers enrich the lives of our students and the community," Walker said.
Dr. Patsy Covey, senior vice president for academic affairs, will introduce Morgan, who is her cousin. The talk and a 6:30 p.m. reception with hors d'oeuvres is free and open to the public. |
