Explore the life and world of literary icon Flannery O’Connor whose proactive fiction was unlike anything published before. On Tuesday, March 23rd at 8 p.m. watch never-before-seen footage. It includes newly discovered journals and interviews with Mary Karr, Tommy Lee Jones, Hilton Als and more.
A devout Catholic who collected peacocks and walked with crutches due to lupus, O’Connor’s illness, religion and experience as a Southerner informed her provocative, sharply aware stories about outsiders, prophets and sinners seeking truth and redemption. With her distinctive Southern Gothic writing style and characteristic wit and irony, the film investigates how O’Connor didn’t shy away from examining timely themes of racism, religion, socioeconomic disparity and more. Over the course of her short but prolific writing career, she published two novels, 32 short stories, numerous columns and commentaries, and won many awards, including the National Book Award and three O. Henry Awards, the annual award given to short stories of exceptional merit.
“As one of the best short story writers the nation has ever produced, O’Connor holds a mirror up to our contemporary moment, navigating the issues of racism, religious faith and disability that still haunt us today,” said co-director Mark Bosco, S.J.
“O’Connor managed to see the humor and the ridiculousness of society while documenting its injustices and imagining moments of redemption,” added co-director Elizabeth Coffman.
American Masters: Flannery is the winner of the first Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Ken Burns called the film, “an extraordinary documentary that allows us to follow the creative process of one of our country’s greatest writers.”
SPOTLIGHT
STAY in touch
with azpbs.org!
Subscribe to Arizona PBS Newsletters:
