University of Richmond Professor Publishes Book on Southern Fiction and Race

April 13, 2004

University of Richmond professor Suzanne W. Jones' new book, "Race Mixing: Southern Fiction since the Sixties," takes a close look at contemporary Southern writers who examine the complexities of interracial relationships.

In "Race Mixing," published this month, Jones offers commentary on novels written by new and established black and white writers, including Thulani Davis, Ernest Gaines, Reynolds Price, Alice Walker and Tom Wolfe. Their stories deal with such complex themes as cross-racial friendships, interracial love, racial violence and the civil-rights era as seen through children's eyes. They examine both rural and urban racial dynamics.

"We need these fictions," Jones says, "to help us imagine our way out of the social structures and mind-sets that mythologize the past, fragment individuals, prejudge people and divide communities."

Jones published an anthology in 2000, "Crossing the Color Line: Readings in Black and White," a collection of stories written by black and writers since the 1960s. She also is author of "South to a New Place: Region, Literature, Culture" and "Growing Up in the South."

Jones, who grew up in Surry County, Virginia, during the 1960s and who attended segregated Surry County Academy, said reading William Faulkner inspired her to examine race relations in literature, especially in works by post-civil-rights-era writers.