Literary Birthday – 16 July – James Still

James Still was born on 16 July 1906 and died on 28 April 2001.

James Still Quote

‘It always matters who the storyteller is. It’s a lens.’

James Still was an American poet, novelist, and folklorist. Still earned a master of art’s degree in English from Vanderbilt University in 1930. He was best known for the novel River Of Earth, which depicted the struggles of coal mining in eastern Kentucky. Still received the Southern Author’s Award shortly after publication, which he shared with Thomas Wolfe for Wolfe’s work You Can’t Go Home Again. Still went on to publish a few collections of poetry and short stories, a juvenile novel, and a compilation of Appalachian local colour he collected over the years. The children’s book Jack and the Wonderbeans was adapted for the stage by the Lexington Children’s Theatre in 1992. Several of Still’s short stories were selected for the O. Henry Memorial Prize Stories publications and for the Best American Short Stories series.

Source for photograph: Carnegie Center

by Amanda Patterson
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