FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Southern Quarterly, a journal of Southern arts and culture, has devoted its most recent issue to honor University of Arkansas novelist Donald Harington.

Past issues of the journal have featured such legendary Southern figures as Eudora Welty, Elvis Presley, Tennessee Williams, Walker Percy, Kate Chopin, Elizabeth Spencer and Cormac McCarthy. Harington joins this elite list with good reason, claims Edwin T. Arnold, a professor of literature at Appalachia State University and guest editor of the issue.

"Since 1965, Don has been writing a series of books that are among the most amazing contemporary American fiction we have," Arnold said. "The comedy of his stories, the inventiveness of his narrative and the scope of his imagination are truly wonderful."

In his introduction to the special issue, Arnold reluctantly cites Harington as "the greatest unknown writer in America" - hoping the compliment therein will ease the implication of unrecognized talent. But the truth is, Harington’s novels gradually have been gaining popularity and acclaim, especially among literary scholars and fellow writers.

This literary following reveals itself in the Southern Quarterly special issue. Writers and critics alike have lined up to honor Harington’s work - contributing essays, letters and personal praise for the author and his books. The issue will feature scholarly criticisms by Fred Chappell, Linda K. Hughes and Brian Walter as well as a series of tributes from writers Jack Butler, Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle and J.W. Williamson. The Southern Quarterly also will publish the first chapter of Harington’s forthcoming novel, "Thirteen Albatrosses (or, Falling off the Mountain)."

In addition to these features, the special issue will include excerpts of letters exchanged between Harington and acclaimed author William Styron, dating back to 1960. The letters offer a commentary on American literature and culture, spanning a twenty-year period. They also contain frank interchanges about their work, particularly Harington’s novel "The Cherry Pit" and Styron’s "The Confessions of Nat Turner."

"Styron said he’d never imagined having his letters published before his death, but he made an exception to honor Don," Arnold said. "It’s a terrific, personal glimpse of two writers."

In 1965, Styron was one of the first people to read Harington’s first novel. Since that time, Harington has produced 11 more books, each set in or connected to the fictional Ozark town of Stay More, Arkansas.

According to Harington, this fictional setting is modeled after Drakes Creek - a real Arkansas town, where his grandparents ran the general store and where he spent many of his childhood summers. But the characters of Stay More have emerged from Harington’s imagination rather than from real-life sources. Their quirky antics and comic adventures show a streak of fantasy, not unrelated to magical realism. But the details of their colloquial lives are the true thing - embedded in the knowledge and realism of rural life.

Harington’s invention of Stay More has inspired comparisons to other legendary writers. William Faulkner set his novels in the mythic Yoknapatawpha County. Thomas Hardy created a fictional corner of English countryside called Wessex. But the similarity goes beyond setting. These writers place their characters in specific landscapes, not just to capitalize on familiarity of place, but to heighten the complexity of story and narration. Each of Harington’s books represents one piece of the puzzle - one episode in the history and community that is Stay More.

Because of that, Harington’s setting may be small, but it never becomes confining.

"I’ve gone beyond Hardy and Faulkner in limiting myself to one tiny little community of the Ozarks, which, as I have often said, can supply me with material for the rest of my life," Harington said. "I don’t think that my imagination has been constrained by being limited to that one spot. On the contrary, it’s been intensified."

Neither does Harington allow himself to be confined by words. Rather than teaching creative writing or literature, he’s a professor of art history. It’s an interest and expertise that allows him to escape the bonds of language while simultaneously honing his skills as a writer.

"The sharpness of vision required to examine and analyze works of art carries over into the sharpness of insight needed for good writing," he explained. "For example, I think my written landscapes are more pastoral and expressive because I’ve studied painted landscapes so carefully."

Harington’s most recent novel "Thirteen Albatrosses (or, Falling off the Mountain)" will be published in April by Henry Holt and Company, Inc. It continues the legacy of the Ingledew clan as Vernon Ingledew attempts to follow in the footsteps of his ancestor Jacob Ingledew by campaigning to become governor of Arkansas. Like many of Harington’s books, it links back to earlier works, particularly "The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks," published in 1975.

For more information about "Thirteen Albatrosses," visit www.henryholt.com/forthcomingnn.htm. The Winter 2002 issue of the Southern Quarterly featuring Donald Harington will be released to subscribers the first week in April. To request a copy or to subscribe to the journal, call managing editor Lola Norris at 601-266-4370, email lola.norris@usm.edu or write to:

The Southern Quarterly

PO Box 5078

University of Southern Mississippi

Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5078.

The cost of each copy is $7.00, plus $1.50 postage.

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