Southern literature consists of writing about the American South—the South being defined, for historical as well as geographical reasons, as the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and Arkansas. However, many famous Southern writers headed to other parts of the United States once they were able, thus the geographical birth of the author is not a defining factor in Southern writing.
Common themes that appear in southern writing might include slavery, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. The culture in the South has also produced a strong focus within Southern literature on the significance of family, religion, community in one's personal and social life, and the use of Southern dialect. The South's troubled history with racial issues also continually appears in its literature.
Periods in Southern Literature include:
In its original form, the Read North Carolina Novels website included only novels set in North Carolina that were readily available in bookstores or libraries. The site was meant to help readers identify novels set in the state that they could easily obtain for their own reading pleasure.
This blog now has a broader scope. It includes novels by the full range of publishing houses, and even self-published novels as we became aware of those works. We have added information on older novels set in North Carolina so that the blog can function as a source of information on North Carolina novels across the decades.
Home Grown eBooks pulls together eBooks from eight North Carolina publishers and makes them available to all of the NC LIVE libraries across the state. The collection of more than 1,200 fiction and nonfiction titles are part of NC LIVE's permanent collections (they are yours forever!), and can be read simultaneously by an unlimited number of readers as part of the pilot project.
We are still here for you!
Library Services on Campus are closed during the Covid-19 Event (this includes printing, computer usage, book checkout, and inter-library loans). For more information about Library Closings click here.
However, you can still receive reference help by using our Ask-A-Librarian webchat or emailing one of our Librarians. Tutoring is also completely online with a direct link in Blackboard. For technology help, see our schedule for Virtual Technology Chats, and stay tuned for Library Instruction Workshops coming soon.
Updated News!
Due to rising COVID-19 numbers, the Library will continue to provide remote services only during the 2020 Fall semester. The Library spaces will remain closed at this time…Learn More
