Madison Percy Jones (1925–2012) was a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He published almost a dozen novels, and was considered "one of the major figures of contemporary southern letters".

Biography

Madison Jones was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 21, 1925. He was the son of a Presbyterian businessman, and spent his early years living in suburban Nashville. When Jones was 14, his father purchased Sycamore Farm in hill country 25 miles north of the city. At 17, Jones dropped out of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

to become a farmer, moving to Sycamore Farm where he lived for a year and a half. He became associated with the

Southern Agrarians The Southern Agrarians were twelve American Southerners who wrote an agrarian literary manifesto in 1930. They and their essay collection, ''I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition'', contributed to the Southern Renaissance, ...

, which proved a great influence on his later work. After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1949 (where he studied under Donald Davidson) and getting a master's degree at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

(where he was a student of

Andrew Nelson Lytle Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. Early life Andrew Nelson Lytle was born on December 26, 1902, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, part of a farming f ...

), he taught English at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

before accepting a creative writing position at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

in 1956. He retired from Auburn in 1987, having been a longtime writer in residence.

Literary work

His first novel, ''The Innocent'' (1957), was favorably reviewed by

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...

, who praised him for his "basic seriousness of intention, and his deep, natural sense of fiction." Success came slowly; his 1967 novel ''An Exile'' (originally published in ''

The Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism. History '' ...

''), for instance, was shopped around twice by Pat Kavanagh before

André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentist ...

, who had turned it down the first time, picked it up.

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems " Ode to th ...

referred to him as a southern

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

; other critics have also noted his "traditional social values and stern Puritanism." Though he is seen as a central figure in American literature, he is not well known; the first monograph on him wasn't published until 2005. He is regarded as having an "essentially religious outlook"; his later work is much darker than his earlier work, "primarily because he has seen the South losing the 'redemptive memory' which gives life meaning and substance." He received The Sewanee Review Fellowship for 1955/56, the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 1968, and the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973. The historical novel ''Nashville 1864'', set during 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 ...

, received the inaugural Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction in 1998. He is winner of the T. S. Eliot Award for Creative Writing.

Bibliography

*''The Innocent'' (1957) *''Forest of the Night'' (1960) *''A Buried Land (1963) *''An Exile'' (1967) *''A Cry of Absence'' (1971) *''Passage Through Gehenna'' (1978) *''Season of the Strangler'' (1982) *''Last Things'' (1989) *''To the Winds'' (1996) *''Nashville 1864: The Dying of the Light'' (1997) *''Herod's Wife'' (2003) *''The Adventures of Douglas Bragg'' (2008)

References

External links

Madison Jones
entry in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Madison Jones papers, 1950-1989
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Madison Vanderbilt University alumni University of Florida alumni Miami University faculty University of Tennessee faculty Auburn University faculty 1925 births 2012 deaths