Literary anthologist Ben Forkner has led a successful life, driven in many
ways by his love for the South and his appreciation for literature. Forkner
spent his educational career studying in Southern universities, where he could
learn about the history and culture of the South. He then went on to edit
multiple books in which he compiled the works of famous authors from around the
world. However, most of his works focus on authors from the South.
After graduating from Stetson University in Florida, Forkner received his
M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is
currently the director of the English department at the University of Angers in
France, where he teaches American and Irish literature. Throughout his life,
Forkner has enjoyed presenting and reading from the works of many famous authors
of the twentieth century, including William Faulkner and Anthony Burgess. His
thoughts on and descriptions of these authors are quoted in multiple
publications. In Louisiana Stories , published by Pelican, Forkner
compiles stories from an array of the most prestigious Southern writers to
demonstrate how Louisianans have particularly influenced the development of the
short story. Lewis Simpson, editor of the Southern Review, describes this
work as "an illuminating, and at the same time, thoroughly entertaining
compilation." He has coedited many other anthologies of Southern
literature, including Stories of the Modern South, A Modern Southern
Reader, and Stories of the Old South. He also wrote Modern Irish
Short Stories and Georgia Stories. |