Larry Brown (July 9, 1951 – November 24, 2004) is one of the most important contemporary Southern writers, and he is also one of the most important American writers. Brown’s work often focuses on the rural and small-town working class and those members of society who haven’t quite got their toe hold, or they’ve had it and lost it. He writes about men, women, and children struggling toward something better than what they have. His stories are real, they are gritty, and some would say they are gothic.  I say they’re damn good, and through his work, Larry Brown has become one of  my best teachers. You’ll hear more about Brown’s work in each installment this month. 

Brown left this world with a lot of stories unwritten, but he also left a legacy of instruction any writer would be smart to study. Larry Brown has said a writer signs on for an apprenticeship, and no one knows how long his or her apprenticeship will last. Brown also once said he shot and burned an early novel and would have hung it if he could have figured out how to do it. Yet he learned enough from the writing of that novel to do a better job writing the next novel. Barry Hannah says in the introduction to Brown’s last novel, Miracle of Catfish, that when Brown showed him the short story “Facing the Music” Hannah was foolish enough to think Brown had peaked. Larry Brown was just getting his engine warm.

 There’s no better place to start an apprenticeship than with Brown. This November is Larry Brown month on Dancing with the Gorilla.  I recommend a three point play approach:

 First base: Get your hands on the Gary Hawkins documentary The Rough South of Larry Brown.  It’s easy. You can order it from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Here’s the link: http://cds.aas.duke.edu/film/larrybrown.html.  Watch it over and over and pay close attention to everything that’s said and done.  It’s more than worth the price of the ticket: $19.95 individual copy/ $39.99 institutional copy.

Since Larry’s death, Hawkins has added additional footage that brings Larry’s story full circle. RSOLB tells the story of a writer who was determined to learn his craft, fulfill his vision, no matter how many books or stories or essays he had to write to accomplish that goal. Brown’s voice is solid and his execution is precise.  Larry was a Marine and a fireman and worked odd jobs to make extra money. He did take a writing class from Ellen Douglas at Ole Miss, but he never pursued an MFA.  His MFA was acquired in his room off the carport, a smoke fill place with papers and books stacked hi, a cloud of cigarette smoke floating above his head, and an electric typewriter at its heart.     

Second base: Read and study Conversations with Larry Brown, edited by Jay Watson and published by University of Mississippi Press. Paperback is available for $22.00.  Here’s the link: http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/865.  

In this collection of essays, Larry talks about his apprenticeship, about writing as work, craft, and art, and about the writer knowing his work and following his intuition, sometimes even in the face of criticism. There’s page after page of instruction in these interviews if you are open to learn.

Third base: Read and study the work. Larry wrote short fiction, novels, essays. He wrote letters, and songs, and may have been a closet poet.  We will discuss some of this work this month. I hope you weigh in with comments and questions and make this a rich experience for everyone, including me.  I’m still learning!

Exercise:  Look through some of your favorite novels, works by your favorite writers, and start a collection of sentences and paragraphs that you love, that you wish you had written.  Type them. Print them. Paste them in a notebook, or tape them over your desk. Roll the words around in your mouth like marbles.  Keep this up for all your writing life. Start with four excerpts this week.