Rilla Askew, Harpsong

Ken Hada (East Central University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2007

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Rilla Askew’s novel, Harpsong (2007), follows a collection of short stories, Strange Business (1992) and two novels: The Mercy Seat (1997) and Fire in Beulah (2001). A subsequent novel, Kind of Kin (2013), was followed by a collection of essays, Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place (2017). Askew’s work to date offers a fictionalized history of Oklahoma, with her settings and characters set in various periods of social and historical conflict. Much of her fiction is set in recognized places, often employing actual historical figures along with her created characters and scenes.

Although Harpsong does not use actual figures, her lead m…

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1658 words

Citation: Hada, Ken. "Harpsong". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 May 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40536, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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