Julia Mood Peterkin letter to M. H. Kowan


Descriptive Summary
Title: Julia Mood Peterkin letter to M. H. Kowan
Creator: Peterkin, Julia Mood, 1880-1961
Inclusive Dates: 1938 January
Language(s): English
Extent: 1 folder(s) (1 letter)
Collection Number: ms1461
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Julia Mood Peterkin was a South Carolina novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for her novel, Scarlet Sister Mary, which was later adapted for the stage.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of a letter written on a sheet of Lang Syne Plantation letterhead, undated (accompanying enveloped postmarked Jan 20, 1983), addressed to Mr. M. H. Kowan of Columbus, Ohio, signed "Julia Peterkin". The letter is written in reply to queries by Mr. Kowan about the fictive process, including the source of characters and the novelist's motivations in producing a work of fiction, she responds, "My writing came from a wish to record people, happenings that appealed to me. Everything I have written as fiction has had a parallel in my experience..." She continues for a total of 28 lines discussing her literary efforts and the reasons behind them.