*throws confetti in air, blows horn*
This is going to be a new feature on Ye Olde Blog where I write about the "literary Midwest" - authors from the region, books... you get the idea. Since I'm from the region (Born in KC, lived a year in Chicago suburbs, currently attending college in Wisconsin), I'm familiar with the trope of the Midwest being some sort of culturally ignorant black hole, where people sit around in wheat/corn fields and chew cud. Well, screw that; I've been doing some research, and the Midwest has famous authors and novels coming out of the f*cking wazoo.
This feature is meant to showcase writers from the Midwest, their novels, as well as other books set in the region (although that last one might be a bit of a stretch). I want this feature to be as inclusive as possible in terms of writers and their work; to be honest, I'm a little worried that this is a big thing to tackle all at once, but I feel like I have more than enough material to get myself started. (Which is good...?)
Via.
To provide some parameters for this project, here's the Midwestern region that I'll be drawing from (above, in blue). To limit/eliminate argument, I am using a map from the CDC; the Midwest's borders, as seen above, are defined by the U.S. Census, and in my mind "official." I am also using this specific image because I think it highlights an important cultural divide between the "East North Central" and the "West North Central" (aka the "East" and "West" Midwest - never mind "North" and "South"). Being from Kansas City, I'm pretty familiar with how dramatically a culture can change over the distance of a single state (*waves* Hi, STL).
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