Between the House and the Chicken Yard: The Life and Legacy of Flannery O'Connor

A presentation honoring the 50th anniversary of her death

with her friend and biographer William A. “Bill” SESSIONS, Regents' Emeritus Professor of English, Georgia State University, and Angela ALAIMO O’DONNELL, Poet and Associate Director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University

Presented by Crossroads Cultural Center, American Bible Society and the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies

On the 50th anniversary of Flannery O'Connor's death, her unique voice continues to amuse and provoke readers of all stripes who encounter her stories or her published letters. But where did she discover this voice, when she spent most of her days in Georgia between her "chicken yard" in Milledgeville and her childhood home in Savannah? We have a fascinating new window into Flannery O'Connor's journey from self-professed "mediocrity" to literary immortality due to the publication of her Prayer Journal in November 2013. This manuscript, which O'Connor wrote solely for herself and God while studying in the famous Iowa's Writer Workshop, was unearthed by her friend William A. "Bill" Sessions as he researched her authorized biography. Crossroads is pleased to host a lively conversation between scholar, poet and playwright, Bill Sessions, and professor, poet and author of The Province of Joy: Praying with Flannery O'Connor, and Flannery O'Connor : Fiction Fired by Faith, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, to discuss the many questions raised by the prayer journal and to touch on other aspects of O'Connor's life through personal events that shaped her voice. The event is open to the public and free of charge.  

About this Event

Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: The American Bible Society
1865 Broadway at 61st Street
New York, NY
click here for map

About the Speakers

Angela Alaimo O’Donnell
Associate Director, Curran Center for American Catholic Studies

Bill Sessions
Scholar of British literature, poet, and playwright

Invitation

Download here.

Video

Watch the video.

Photos - click on image below