A Modern Southern Reader

Edited by Ben Forkner and Jesuit priest-scholar Patrick Samway, this 736-page anthology gathers the best of twentieth-century Southern letters — Faulkner, O'Connor, Welty, Walker, Williams, and more — spanning fiction, poetry, drama, essays, and interviews. It's the kind of comprehensive survey you'd assign in a college literature course, and it has been used exactly that way. The editorial pairing of a literary scholar and a Jesuit priest lends it unusual depth. That said, this is not curated for family reading: mature themes, period racial language, and moral complexity run throughout. Think of it as a serious academic resource rather than casual reading.