From the early 20th century to the present, Southern literary talent has flourished. The newer poets, dramatists, essayists, and novelists of this region often use their writings to explore the changing social values of the South, while also drawing upon traditional Southern values and culture. This reference work is a guide to the writings of 50 contemporary Southern poets, dramatists, essayists, and novelists. Many of the authors profiled in this volume have established themselves as writers of lasting significance. However, the book also profiles the careers and work of authors who are emerging only now as masters of their art. Each chapter in this book is devoted to a single author, and arranged alphabetically for the reader's convenience. Each is written by an expert on the author, and includes a biographical sketch, a discussion of major themes, a survey of criticism, and a bibliography of works by and about the author. An introductory essay overviews modern Southern writing, and a selected, general bibliography concludes the work.

.,."The scholarship is meticulous and the essays are lucid and perceptive..." Library Journal

The contributors to this volume represent acknowledged experts in the field as well as a number of promising young scholars. They provide a thorough examination of how Romantic authors grappled with the problem of describing the connections between consciousness, unconsciousness, and language in their endeavor to capture this interplay in their art. As this collection bears witness, the Romantics sought to discard old ideas about language and literature and to mold new forms in their search to recover, in both literature and life, the sense of human possiblity. The essays, while strikingly diverse in topic and approach, explore this broad issue and come to a surprisingly similar conclusion: for Romantic writers, genuine consciousness, whatever it might imply about self-awareness, not only made it possible for an individual to affiliate with something outside himself, but even made such bonding necessary.