Literature

Knoxville has bred several prominent authors with followings around the world. Several have written in eloquent detail about their hometown, including James Agee, Nikki Giovanni, David Madden, Cormac McCarthy, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and others.

Knoxville is particularly featured heavily in A Death in the Family by James Agee (1909-1955), an autobiographical novel that was published posthumously and won a Pulitzer Prize for the author in 1957.

There are several sites around Knoxville worth visiting with connections to local authors:

1. James Agee Park, a one-acre pocket park who was born in this Fort Sanders neighborhood. He lived one block to the north of the park. (Located at 331 James Agee Street)
2. The Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum features “The Secret Garden” inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel of the same name. (Located at 2743 Wimpole Ave.)
3. Alex Haley Heritage Square features a huge and impressive bronze statue of Alex Haley in honor of the legacy of his famous novel Roots.  (Located in Morningside Park at 1620 Dandridge Ave.)
4. Nikki Giovanni, internationally renowned poet, is honored by a historical marker on Hall of Fame Dr. (formerly Mulvaney St.) opposite Cal Johnson Recreational Center. Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati but spent her summers here at her Grandmother’s house. Her essay, “400 Mulvaney Street” details this old neighborhood which was changed dramatically by Urban Renewal in the 1950s and ’60s.

Alex Haley Heritage Square at Morningside Park.

Related Stories by KHP’s Jack Neely: 

James Agee: Our Man in Havana

James Agee: Our Knoxville in 1915 Compares to Agee’s Idyllic Memoir

Frances Hodgson Burnett: Finding Vagabondia

Thomas Wolfe: New Found Celebrity

Seasonal: Literature’s Influence on Knoxville’s Christmas

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