Sailing the Inland Sea: On Writing, Literature, and Land

by Susan S. Neville

Overview

Calling on the image of the Midwest's vanished inland sea, Susan Neville has written a compelling collection of essays that ponder writing and the "landlocked imagination." The essays range from interviews with Indiana writers Kurt Vonnegut, Scott Sanders, Marguerite Young, and others, to discussions on techniques grounded in a Midwestern sensibility. As director of Butler University's Visiting Writers Series, Neville has had the rare opportunity to converse with such literary giants as Salman Rushdie, Ray Bradbury, and Toni Morrison, and some of those exchanges have been incorporated into this exciting new collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253219022
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	02/21/2007
Series:	Quarry Books
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susan Neville is a native Hoosier and professor of English and creative writing at Butler University. Her books include Indiana Winter (IUP, 1994), Falling Toward Grace: Images of Religion and Culture from the Heartland (edited with J. Kent Calder) (IUP, 1998), and Iconography: A Writer's Meditation (IUP, 2003). She is also on the faculty of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers in North Carolina. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
1. On the Banks of Lost River
2. Where the Landscape Moved Like Waves: An Interview with Marguerite Young
3. River of Spirit: An Interview with Dan Wakefield
4. Sacred Space in Ordinary Time
5. Quaker Zen: On Jessamyn West's Friendly Persuasion
6. Vonnegut: An Interview with Kurt Vonnegut
7. Free Singers/Be: On Etheridge Knight
8. On Wildness and Domesticity: An Interview with Scott Russell Sanders
9. The Gospel According to Lish
10. Imagination
11. On Being Fierce
12. Monopoly Houses: On John McPhee's In Search of Marvin Gardens
13. Sailing the Sea in New Harmony Indiana: On Digression in Creative Nonfiction
14. Driving Famous Writers Around I465
15. Leaping Across the Canyon: On Writing
16. Where's Iago?
17. Saturation: On Climate, Politics, and Sex in Magic Mountain and Snow Country
(or the Ballad of the S.A.D. Café)
18. Time Capsules: On Time in Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop
19. The Apprenticeship of Flannery O'Connor
20. The Gift of Fire: A Meditation on Art and Madness
21. On Common Ground: Indiana Literature and the Land
22. The Economy of Peace

What People are Saying About This

"What makes this book one that I would certainly put on my reading list is that Neville explores writing—and the study of writing—in interesting and tangible ways."

Sue William Silverman]]>

What makes this book one that I would certainly put on my reading list is that Neville explores writing—and the study of writing—in interesting and tangible ways.

Sue William Silverman

"What makes this book one that I would certainly put on my reading list is that Neville explores writing—and the study of writing—in interesting and tangible ways."

Editorial Reviews

"A native Hoosier, Neville celebrates place and her home state's considerable contributions to the literary world. The essays are eclectic, engaging, and entertaining. . . . Highly recommended for all libraries with large collections on creative writing and for all libraries in the Midwest."—Library Journal

"What makes this book one that I would certainly put on my reading list is that Neville explores writing—and the study of writing—in interesting and tangible ways."—Sue William Silverman, author of Love Sick

From the Publisher

"What makes this book one that I would certainly put on my reading list is that Neville explores writing—and the study of writing—in interesting and tangible ways." —Sue William Silverman, author of Love Sick

author of Love Sick - Sue William Silverman

Taking her title from the image of Indiana's landlocked status, Neville (English & creative writing, Butler Univ.; Iconography: A Writer's Meditation) addresses the Midwest consciousness, its literary scene, and the various authors with whom she's worked as director of Butler University's "Visiting Writers" series. A native Hoosier, Neville celebrates place and her home state's considerable contributions to the literary world. The essays are eclectic, engaging, and entertaining. Her conversations with the late Kurt Vonnegut are particularly timely, offering a portrait of a gentle spirit and an extraordinary writer. She also reminds readers of the contributions of, among other writers, Sinclair Lewis, Scott Russell Sanders, Marguerite Young, Dan Wakefield, Etheridge Knight, and Jessamyn West to American letters. The individual chapters have been previously published in smaller magazines and/or delivered as lectures. Taken together, they constitute a love letter to the Midwest as well as a lively commentary on creativity and the writing life. Highly recommended for all libraries with large collections on creative writing and for all libraries in the Midwest.
—Pam Kingsbury

Library Journal