Program about a Writer Associated with the Federal Writers’ Project
“Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project” Online Site Support Notebook
Some points for discussion
- How did the Federal Writers’ Project affect opportunities for African-American writers? For all writers?
- How did the material they wrote for the Writers’ Project affect the later work of some of these authors? In subject? Sensibility?
- Did the Writers’ Project help revitalize American writing?
A selection of authors associated with the Federal Writers’ Project
- Conrad Aiken
- Nelson Algren
- Saul Bellow
- Arna Bontemps
- Ben Botkin
- John Cheever
- August Derleth
- Loren Eiseley
- Ralph Ellison
- Vardis Fisher
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Weldon Kees
- Stetson Kennedy
- Meridel LeSueur
- D’Arcy McNickle
- Kenneth Rexroth
- Sam Ross
- May Swenson
- Studs Terkel
- Jim Thompson
- Margaret Walker
- Eudora Welty
- Dorothy West
- Jessamyn West
- Richard Wright
- Frank Yerby
- Anzia Yezierska
Discussion guides
- Saul Bellow. The Adventures of Augie March
- Zora Neale Hurston. Their Eyes Were Watching God
- D’Arcy McNickle. The Surrounded
- Dorothy West. The Living Is Easy
- Richard Wright. Native Son
Other online discussion guides for books by FWP authors:
- John Cheever. The Wapshot Chronicle and The Wapshot Scandal
- Ralph Ellison. Invisible Man and Juneteenth
- Zora Neale Hurston. Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Jim Thompson. The Killer Inside Me
- Dorothy West. The Wedding
- Richard Wright. Black Boy and Native Son
Books about FWP authors
- Atlas, James. Bellow: A Biography. Random House, 2000.
- Boyd, Valerie. Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston. Scribner, 2003.
- Donaldson, Scott. John Cheever: A Biography. Random House, 1987.
- Drew, Bettina. Nelson Algren: A Life on the Wild Side. Putnam, 1989.
- Henriksen, Louise L. Anzia Yezierska: A Writer’s Life. Rutgers University Press, 1988.
- Jackson, Lawrence. Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius. Wiley, 2002.
- O’Gara, Geoffrey. A Long Road Home: In the Footsteps of the WPA Writers. Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
- Walker, Margaret. Richard Wright: Daemonic Genius. Warner Books, 1988.
- Walker, Margaret, with Maryemma Graham. Conversations with Margaret Walker. University Press of Mississippi, 2002.
- Yezierska, Anzia. Red Ribbon on a White Horse: My Story. Henriksen, 1987.
Websites
- “ Unmasking Writers of the W.P.A.,” by historian Douglas Brinkley, from the New York Times
- “ Conversations with America” is an extensive collection of interviews conducted by Studs Terkel for his books and radio programs. Uses RealPlayer.
