The 1900-1950s was an important era for the South because of its literature. In this time period, a literary renaissance emerged. This renaissance brought different literary themes that contrasted with the South’s old romantic view of the Confederacy conveyed in literature. This literary renaissance is significant to southern history because this movement brought renowned authors such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams into the American literary spotlight. These authors challenged critics of Southern literature, such as H.L. Mencken. The 1900-1950s period was also significant to New Orleans because many authors of this era traveled to New Orleans and lived and wrote in the city, changing the literary culture of New Orleans, and also the South in general.
Beginnings of the Southern Literary Renaissance
After the Civil War, many southerners were devastated by the defeat of the Confederacy. The topic that dominated Southern literature at this time was the South’s “Lost Cause”, which glorified the Confederate Army and the way of living in the Antebellum Period. Northerners criticized the South by believing the South had narrow-minded literature and a lack of education. However, some literature from the Reconstruction helped spark a literary Renaissance in the South in the beginning of the 20th century. During Reconstruction, well-known authors such as George Washington Cable, Grace King, Mark Twain and Kate Chopin contributed to the evolving literary culture. This change in book culture is present in the early to middle 20th century history of New Orleans. Specifically in New Orleans, George Washington Cable is attributed to the “city’s first literary light” by writing about his progressive stance on civil rights and American race relations (Jeff Weddle, In Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of The Outsider and Loujon Press (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007) 25.0). During this Literary Renaissance, Southern authors commonly wrote about New Orleans and also lived there. The exotic culture of New Orleans, cheap housing, and literary network appealed to many American authors at the time. Publishing companies and literary salons were also prominent in New Orleans during the 20th century. Since the literary culture was so rich at the time, many people from all over the world contacted local bookstores for books and literary information, especially by Hollywood filmmakers.
Authors and Literary Salons in New Orleans
The 1880s and 1890s are essentially when New Orleans became a literary town. New Orleans attracted writers because of the “decayed elegance, live music, friendly watering holes, literary salons, and literary festivals”. (Patricia Brady, introduction to Literary New Orleans (Atlanta: Hill Street Press, 1999) VII–XII).
The city began to be nicknamed “Greenwich Village South”. Because of the uniqueness of New Orleans, each author visiting and living there each had different views of the city. Many authors who once lived in New Orleans during this time became nationally recognized for his or her work. These authors challenged the stereotype of Southern literature.
George Washington Cable was born in New Orleans in 1844 and can be viewed as the founder of this Southern renaissance. Cable was a columnist and reporter for The Picayune. His first literary works are about creole life because he studied New Orleans colonial history and thought that it was “a pity for the stuff to go so to waste”(Judy Long, “George Washington Cable” in Literary New Orleans (Athens: Hill Street Press, 1999) 45).
Cable wrote the book The Grandissimes in 1880. The content of the book dealt with racial injustice and multiracial families. Therefore, it is considered to be the first modern Southern novel by many because The Grandissimes was one of the first Southern novels that criticized the racial inequality of the South. Cable gave well-received public readings in New Orleans in 1884 and used his home at 1313 Eighth Street as a literary salon to entertain other Southern writers. However, when the South became increasingly democratic, much hostility was expressed against Cable. Therefore, in 1885, Cable and his family moved from New Orleans to Northampton, Massachusetts.
Grace King was also another author born in New Orleans. She was born into a prominent family that gained their wealth through their father’s law firm. She was a creole culture enthusiast and highly valued French education. King disagreed with Cable’s depiction of creoles so she started writing her own stories about creole culture. One of her most famous works is titled Monsieur Motte which was published in 1888. She also started an informal literary salon in her own home on 1749 Coliseum Street (Judy Long, “Grace King” in Literary New Orleans (Athens: Hill Street Press, 1999) 75-81.).
At her residence, she invited local and visiting authors for Friday afternoon teas. King wrote 13 books and many of them involved New Orleans such as Creole Families of New Orleans and The Pleasant Ways of St. Medard. The two books were published in 1921 and 1916 respectively.
William Faulkner is considered one of America’s greatest literary talents. He was reared in Mississippi but lived in New Orleans from 1925 to 1926. He lived in the French Quarter at 624 Pirate’s Alley, which is now known as Faulkner House Books (Judy Long, “William Faulkner” in Literary New Orleans (Athens: Hill Street Press, 1999) 93.).
Though Faulkner only lived here for a year, New Orleans was significant for him. Before living in New Orleans, Faulkner commonly wrote poetry. However, he started writing fiction in 1925 that was published in local newspapers and literary magazines such as the Times-Picayune and the Double Dealer. In New Orleans, Faulkner met another author, Sherwood Anderson, who encouraged him to begin writing novels. His first two novels Mosquitoes and Soldier’s Pay both gained success. In his work Mosquitoes, Faulkner writes about a man, Ernest Tallieferro, exploring the French Quarter and ends up dining with another character, Dawson Fairchild, whose character was based upon Sherwood Anderson. This novel gave a satirical account of common characters one can find in the French Quarter. When this book was published, Faulkner celebrated at the local restaurant Galatoire’s. Faulkner also won the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Sherwood Anderson, another well-known author, was a close friend of William Faulkner. Anderson was born and reared in Ohio. In Ohio, he was a successful business owner but in 1912, he pursued a career in writing. Though Anderson wrote many novels such as Windy McPhereson’s Son and Marching Men, his short stories are what made him nationally recognized as a literary talent. In 1922, Anderson wanted to liberate his life so after he gained literary royalties, he divorced his wife at the time and moved to New Orleans. Though Anderson is not considered a southern writer, he helped improve the literature coming out of the south at this time. He lived in New Orleans the same time Faulkner did. Like Faulkner, Anderson contributed to the success of the Double Dealer. The Double Dealer published many of Anderson’s short stories. Faulkner was an avid supporter of Anderson. Faulkner even wrote to his mother, “I sold a thing to the Double Dealer for cash, money you can buy things with, you know. There is only one other person in history to whom the Double Dealer has paid real actual money and that man is Sherwood Anderson” (Judy Long, “Sherwood Anderson” in Literary New Orleans (Athens: Hill Street Press, 1999) 83.).
Anderson wrote his only bestseller Dark Laughter in New Orleans. The book explored the idea of sexual freedom in the 1920s, which was most likely influenced by the culture of New Orleans, particularly the French Quarter. Anderson was quite fond of the French Quarter. Anderson and his wife at the time lived there for several years. Anderson would constantly go out with other artists in the city, such as Faulkner. Many newspapers even nicknamed him the “Lion of the Latin Quarter”(“Sherwood Anderson,” David Parker, Jr, last modified Dec 20, 2013, http://www.knowla.org/entry/1756/).
Lyle Saxon is another famous New Orleans writer. Though he lived in New Orleans, he was born in Baton Rouge, where he started writing. During his writing career, he worked for the Item and the Times-Picayune. He wrote many books involving New Orleans such as Fabulous New Orleans, Old Louisiana and Lafitte the Pirate. Fabulous New Orleans describes an afternoon stroll in the French Quarter. Saxon became known as “Mr. French Quarter” for restoring houses at 536 and 612 Royal Street (Judy Long, “Lyle Saxon” in Literary New Orleans (Athens: Hill Street Press, 1999) 115).
He used these residences as literary salons in the 1930s and entertained guests such as William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson. He also bought an apartment at the St. Charles hotel during the 1930s where he had another literary salon. In 1926, he won the O. Henry Award Prize.
Tennessee Williams is one of the later writers of this literary renaissance. Williams was born in Columbus, Mississippi into a highly dysfunctional family. The father was fairly absent and an alcoholic. His sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Many literary experts believe that some of his characters are based off of his family members. Williams was first recognized for his work when he won a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for his play Battle of Angels. After this, Williams continually achieved success for his work. He became the South’s most celebrated playwright and the dominant Southern writer in the post-WWII era. In the 1930s, Williams visited New Orleans, which was a city he frequently said he was fond of. W. Kenneth Holditch, an english professor at the University of New Orleans, explains that “Williams contended that living in New Orleans during several periods of his life turned him from a ‘proper young man’ into a ‘Bohemian,’ and facilitated his creativity” (W. Kenneth Holditch, The Last Frontier of Bohemia: Tennessee Williams in New Orleans, 1938-1983. Southern Quarterly, 23 (1985): 1-37.).
Williams was attracted to the freedom the culture allowed, especially the sexual freedom. From 1946-1947, Williams lived at 632 Peter Street. At this residence, he wrote A Streetcar Named Desire. This script turned into a popular movie. The play involves young adults living in the French Quarter and dealing with family drama. Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for this work. Another play he wrote influenced by New Orleans is the Vieux Carre. The setting of this play takes place in his first apartment in the quarter at 722 Toulouse St.. The city continues to celebrate his legacy by throwing the annual Tennessee Williams Festival in the French Quarter.
Magazine Publishing
Literary publishing flourished in New Orleans during the 1920s. The 1920s was nicknamed the first golden age of little magazine publishing. The Double Dealer was one of New Orleans’ most cherished literary magazines. It was published in 1921 and named after a William Congreve play. The main editor was Julius Weiss Friend. One of the main reasons why the Double Dealer started was because of H.L. Mencken. Mencken, a southern literary critic, wrote an essay titled “The Sahara of the Bozart”, which ridiculed the literary culture of the South and “dismissed the entirety of the southern United States as a cultural desert” (Jeff Weddle, In Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of The Outsider and Loujon Press (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999) 27). He wrote this essay in 1917. Mencken often criticized Southern literature despite the improvements in its literature in the late 1800s. This essay caught the attention of Friend and others. The essay motivated them to start the magazine and showcase selected Southern literature. Unlike many literary magazines at the time, the Double Dealer published many women and African-American writers. The Double Dealer started to publish works of Faulkner and Hemingway that circulated around the South. The Double Dealer was the initial small magazine publisher of New Orleans but the trend continued into the 1960s even though the Double Dealer was discontinued in 1926. The Double Dealer was significant to New Orleans and the South because it did prove that literary talents existed in the South and it helped contribute to the success of many famous writers such as William Faulkner, Ernst Hemingway, and Robert Penn Warren. In the early 1960s, Jon Edgar Webb and his wife Gypsy Lou Webb started the Loujon Press at their residence 1109 Royal Street (Jeff Weddle, In Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of The Outsider and Loujon Press (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999) 100.).
The Loujan Press published the Outsider. This magazine was published a little after the acclaimed literary renaissance in the South but it still conveys the literary richness the South developed. The Outsider is famous for publishing Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. This magazine contributed to the success of Charles Bukowski and Jack Kerouac. The Webbs were highly dedicated to their magazine. For instance, they printed each page individually on an archaic hand-press.
Hollywood and New Orleans Book Culture
Much like today, New Orleans and Hollywood had a strong business relationship. Hollywood communicated with New Orleanians frequently about literature in the early 20th century. There were many book shops open in the French Quarter as a result of the Southern Renaissance and one of them was the Old Book Shop owned by Charles Thompson at 134 Royal Street. The Louisiana Research Collection has telegrams and notes from him. One telegram is pictured above. Two telegrams are from Cedric Gibbons who was an Irish art director and production designer for many movie studios in Hollywood. Gibbons in the telegrams asks Johnson for books that had photos of interior and exterior architecture of New Orleans and photos of levees and river fronts. These telegrams convey that a owner of a small book shop in New Orleans was doing business with famous Hollywood movie-makers because his literary collection was so extensive. Also at the Louisiana Research Collection, there are notes taken by Charles Johnson that show Johnson critiquing many magazines on jazz. Through these notes, it is easy to infer that Johnson highly valued literature in high detail, which is contrary to the past stereotype of how Southerners viewed literature.
