Mystery & Manners in Savannah

Readings:
Selected fiction and essays by Flannery O'Connor
Selected fiction by Toni Morrison
Excerpts from The Origin of Others and Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison

 

Our Savannah tour is a unique invitation to study two great American writers, Flannery O’Connor and Toni Morrison, against the backdrop of a city as beautiful, complicated, and haunting as the works we will read.

In reading their works together, we can explore the ideas that occupied them both. ‘O my sweet Jesus, what kind of cross is that?’ Nel asks in Morrison’s novel Sula. Many of O’Connor’s characters might be understood as asking the same question. What do life — and faith — demand of us? Both writers were Catholics whose works address powerful theological and moral questions: What is grace? How can the divine penetrate the everyday world? What is the nature of freedom, and its relationship to religion?

They also shared a fascination with the idea of the stranger, the Other. How does each define the Other, and its role in society? Here we will study both the “intense, outsize” characters in O’Connor’s and Morrison’s fiction, and Morrison’s writings on racism and its effects on American history, literature, and life.

Our exploration of Savannah will help shape our literary journey. From our base in the historic city centre, we will visit O’Connor’s childhood home, the striking antebellum architecture, and sites that shaped white and Black life in Savannah from the 1600s to today. We’ll also make an excursion to Andalusia, the O’Connor family farm, and meet with O’Connor scholars at nearby Georgia College & State University. Throughout, we’ll enjoy delicious Southern cuisine and friendly hospitality.