September 08, 2010

The Oxford American Releases Future of the South Issue

The Oxford American explores the Future of the South in its new issue, which is available now at bookstores and newsstands nationwide.

"While we can’t guarantee our predictions will come true, we can trust the minds of our fearless explorers—our writers and artists—to point us in the right direction," said Marc Smirnoff, editor of The Oxford American.

The Future of the South issue includes the Internet-fueled fears of Jack Pendarvis; William Caverlee calling upon Walker Percy's prophecies; Anne Gisleson coping with change in New Orleans; a surreal Frank Gehry structure beheld by Matthew Pitt; and Hal Crowther's version of the apocalypse.  And, philosophically, Philip Sasser draws the line on an ever-evolving South, while Andrew Furman examines the dwindling presence of a seemingly immortal object: the Southern live oak.

The greatest fears and unfathomable dreams come to light in a special section: "The Future of Fiction: Visions from 2050," wherein 11 adventurous storytellers probe the all-too-human desire to ascertain what is to come: sexually active nonagenarians, happy pills, viral false information, and deleted childhood memories.

As Smirnoff writes in his Editor's Note, "The stories are bold and startling. ... It is common to portray Southern writing as obsessed with the past and nothing else; this little experiment certainly gives a kick in the pants to that perception."

Select articles from the new issue are available free in their entirety at oxfordamerican.org.

The issue also showcases original art depicting buildings of the future, plus a slew of new OA comics forecasting "Life in 2050."

Throughout the month of September, The OA will post exclusive web content at oxfordamerican.org, including an exclusive forum on the future, wherein an array of experts (including Southern governors!) offer their crystal-ball prognostications.

ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Next month, The Oxford American will present a symposium about the Future of the South at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  This all-day event, which will take place on Oct. 5, is FREE and open to the public.  It will include lectures and panel discussions featuring the editors and writers from The Oxford American, and it promises to be a lively and creative discussion of the trends, forces, personalities, and issues that will impact and define the direction of the South during the next 40 years.  Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will deliver the keynote address.  A public reception will take place that evening at Johnny's Half Shell.

ABOUT THE OXFORD AMERICAN

The Oxford American is a national magazine that is dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South.  Billed as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing," it has won two National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992.  The magazine has featured the original work of such literary powerhouses as Charles Portis, Roy Blount, Jr., ZZ Packer, Donald Harington, Donna Tartt, Ernest J. Gaines, and many other distinguished authors, while also discovering and launching the most promising writers in the region.  The magazine has also published previously unseen work by such Southern masters as William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, James Agee, Zora Neale Hurston, James Dickey, Carson McCullers, to name just a handful.  The New York Times recently stated that The Oxford American "may be the liveliest literary magazine in America."