Howard Bahr
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Howard Bahr (born 1946) is an American novelist, born in
Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...
.


Early life

Bahr, who served in the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and then worked for several years on the railroads, enrolled at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
in the early 1970s when he was in his late 20s. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Ole Miss and served as the curator of the
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
house,
Rowan Oak Rowan Oak was the home of author William Faulkner in Oxford, Mississippi. It is a primitive Greek Revival house originally built in 1844 for Robert B Sheegog, an Irish immigrant enslaver from Tennessee. Faulkner purchased the house when it was i ...
, in
Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...
, for nearly twenty years.


Literary career

He also taught American literature during much of this time at the University of Mississippi. In 1993, he became an instructor of English at Motlow State College in
Tullahoma, Tennessee Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma microp ...
, where he worked until 2006. Bahr is the author of three critically acclaimed novels centering on the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. He currently resides in
Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...
, and teaches courses in creative writing at
Belhaven University Belhaven University (Belhaven or BU) is a private evangelical Christian university in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1883, the university offers traditional majors, programs of general studies, and pre-professional programs in Christian Ministr ...
. Bahr began his writing career in the 1970s, writing both fiction and non-fiction articles that appeared in publications such as ''
Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama Alabama ...
'', '' Civil War Times Illustrated'', as well as the short-lived regional publication, ''Lagniappe'' (1974–75) which he and Franklin Walker co-edited. His first published book, a children's story entitled "Home for Christmas," came out in 1987 and was re-published in 1997 in a different edition (with new illustrations) following the release of his first novel, ''The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War''. This latter book, set during the
Battle of Franklin The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, in Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin–Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. Confederate L ...
in 1864, was a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Notable Book. In 2000, Bahr's second novel, ''The Year of Jubilo'', was released. This novel, set in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War in the fictional Mississippi town of Cumberland, deals with the dehumanizing effects of war and its aftermath on Southern society. ''The Year of Jubilo'', like ''The Black Flower'', was a New York Times Notable Book. Bahr's third novel, '' The Judas Field'', was released in 2006. In ''The Judas Field'', Bahr again returns to the Battle of Franklin theme, but this time it is through the eyes of one of its participants, again from Cumberland, who travels back to the battlefield in the 1880s to recover the body of one of the fallen, and, in doing so, relives the horror of that fateful day in 1864. Bahr's fourth novel, ''Pelican Road'', published in 2008, is a novel of the railroads. It is named for its Christmas 1940 setting on "207 miles of ballasted heavyweight main line rail between Meridian, Mississippi, and New Orleans."


Awards

His novel '' The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War'' received the W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction in 1998.http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/2/all_years Boyd Award Recipients List His third novel, ''The Judas Field'' was awarded the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction.


References


External links


University of Mississippi Archives – Howard Bahr CollectionHoward Bahr Papers
Special Collections at The University of Southern Mississippi (de Grummond Children's Literature Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahr, Howard Writers from Mississippi American Episcopalians 1946 births Living people People from Meridian, Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni