Mississippi

Rick Bass revisits  Mississippi and thinks about  writers  who were from Mississippi. Some grew up in the delta, a few in the city, some left, and some returned— but they all were indebted for their language and geography— which worked its way into their insides.

He mentions Faulkner, Welty , Richard Wright, Shelly Foote, Lewis Norton, Willie Morris, Barry Hannah, and Larry Brown. Certainly there were and are more, but those Mississippi writers nurtured him as a writer.

Had it not been for my next door neighbor Anna I might not know anything about cotton mouth snakes hanging down from Cypress trees. And that those trees sat in the swamps buried feet deep in the swamp. I wouldn’t know about taking out a boat on the river and watching out for snakes or how hot it was almost every summer afternoon.

I remember taking a short story course and Anna read a story about listening to the older folks sitting around a front porch on a hot humid afternoon spinning tales—supposedly all true. One story in particular had such arresting details that I can still recall the refrigerator that rocked and rolled whenever the wind picked up. That refrigerator was in the backyard along with a washing machine.

I learned that details-particulars made a story come to life. And I learned that listening to a tale from Mississippi.

I found myself being open to the details that filled out a story, gave it life, drew a picture.