I_

LECTURES

and

TALKS ON WRITING TECHNIQUE

Illustrated by Original Readings

Offered To

Colleges, Chautauquas, Writers' and

Literary Clubs

By

Katharine Hopkins Chapman

Selma, Alabama.

Samford University Library

P ERSONAL GLIMPSES OF FAMOUS AI' T HORS An account of the appearance, mannerisms and

Jwrsonal contact with J oel Chandler Harris, Betsey Hamilton, Henry Grady, Thomas Nelson Page and >\ugusta Evans Wilson, whom Mrs. Chapman knew when she was a child; and of Boothe Tarkington, Fannie Ilurst , Rex Beach, Gertrude Atherton, C'hunning Pollock, Kathleen Norris, Rupert Hughes, John Erskine, J oseph Auslande r, J ohn Galsworthy, Si r Phill ip Gibbs and others whom she meets at t he Author's League and the Pen and Brush Club 1n New York. A brief estimate of t he work of (•ach author is included.

P EN WO~t EN OF PE RSONALITY Similar to the fi rst but confined to the authors

who attend the annual meetings of t he League of American Pen Women, of which Mrs, Chapman is past President for Alabama and a National Vice­President. There are glimpses of Washington and the receptions given Pen Women at t he White Ilou~e; accounts of contacts with Mary Roberts Rinehart, Ruth Mason Rice, Helen Rowland (Mrs. Solomon,) Isabel F iske Conant, Grace Thompson Seton and oth<>rs. In each case there is summary of the authors work, in addition to personal in­cidents.

1.1\' I~G ALABr\1\f A AUTHORS

This lecture consists of brief biographies of Alabamians whose writings command acceptance from standard magazines and r eputable publishers, with resumes of t heir wor ks. Among other s con­Hidered nrc: Edgar Valentine Smith, Sa muel Min­ter n Peck, Frances Nimmo Greene, Octavus Roy Cohan, Frances Ruffin Durham, M. E . Henr y­Ruffin, Arthur K. Akers, J ames Saxon Childer s, Mary ('ha!le Cornelius, Sara Haardt , Martha Lyman Shillito, Mar tha Young, Alice Alison Lide, Scottie McKenzie Frasier , Artemus Ga lloway, Brokenborough F itzhugh Smith, Mary McNeil Fenellosa (Sidney McCall,) Mary Tarver Carroll Marie Bankhead Owen, Maud Lindsay, David Solo~

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mon, Carl Car mer, Hudson Strode and others. Mrs. Chapman is fortunate in knowing most of these personally and intersperses reviews of their work wit h entertaining anecdote and huma n in­terest items. ALABAMA STORY-STARTS

Presenting the state's richness and variety of historical, scenic, industrial and racial mater ial of­fered in unparalleled plenit ude to writers, citing instances where these have been used and where they have been neglected; concluding by reading "SANCTUARIES," a short-story which hinges about the hardships of French refugees who settled about Demopolis after Napoleon's exile. "Sanctuaries" took t he prize offered by the Axis Club in 1925 for the best Juvenile story. Or read­ing "THE POSTPONED FUNERAL," Federation prize storiette, which shows with mixed humor and pathos a vanishing negro custom.

MODE RN SHORT-STORY TECHN IQUE A concise exposit ion of t he essentia ls of a tech­

nically correct short -story, t he reasons for t hem, followed by their application to :-"The Sound of Souls" which took the Alabama State Fair Prize for the best short-story, 1925 or "The Br idge of Sires," which took t he prize offered by t he Axis Club of Birmingham, 1925. TECHNIQUE OF THE NOVE LETTE

An outline of the main points to be observed in this popular form of fiction ; followed by reading cut versions of "The Moulting Sea-Gull" published in NAVY LIFE; or "The Dance of Fear," published in the People's Home J ournal. Both of t hese are now to. be had from the author in gift-book form.

THE TREND OF PROSE WRITING IN AM ERICA A synopsis of apparent changes in the tone and

form of present-day fiction, citing examples and reasons for opinions.

THE VOGUE OF THE LIGHT ESSAY A miniature history of the essay, its rise, decline,

and return to popularity; followed by reading two,

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"Now or Never," and "Protesting Poetry as Punish­ment ."

THE CONFEDE RACY -A CRUCIBLE FOR CHARACTER A succinct description of "the times that tried

men's souls" showing the material it affords writers; followed by reading a one-act play founded on a historical incident during the Confederacy, called, "A Quilt For A Battleship."

"CARVING HEADS ON CHERRYSTONES" How to write the short-story. An article ac­

cepted by THE WRITER, of Cambridge, ns n chapter in the f icton section of the FREE-LANCE WRITERS' YEAR BOOK. Other chapters in t his section are by Hamilton Gibbs, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Katherine Fullerton Gerould; the editor assured Mrs. Chapman that her contribution sustains the high quality of the other chapters. Two storiettes are read to illustrate this form, one being serious, the other humorous. "Through A Glass Darkened," and "Knot and Nose-Glasses." This took the Federation prize for its class in 1926.

P ress Notices. "Katharine Hopkins Chapman, one of the best

known Southern writers, was on the program of the League of American Pen Women at the Uni­versity Men's Club last evening. She reads her own stories in a most fascinating manner and her negro dialect is inimitable. Her stories of colored folks are not slapstick comedies, nor yet harrow­ing hardships, but exactly that quaint combination of humor and pathos with which the negro him­self seems to view life. The dignified University Men's Club rang with merriment evoked by her story, "The Postponed Funeral."

-Washington Post.

Mrs. Chapman, Alabama's well-known author and lecturer, was invited by the Alumnae As­sociation of Shor ter College of which she was an honor graduate, to deliver the Annual Address this year. She spoke to an enthusiastic audience,

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many of whom recalled hl!r a !l a bnlhant stud~nl. She spoke on "The \ ' nlue o f Colll'IC'-' Educatton on the Average A ftc r- Life," handling hl•r subjn·t will• ra re insight combin1.'d wtt h ~uht l •• humor.

- Ro1m•, Ga .. Trihulw. __ - - --"Of popular living Ala ba ma Author>4 \ \ t' might mention, as coming quickl y to nund, ~lnnhn Young, Sa muel Mintcrn Peck, Frnncl'!l :-.1 mmo Greene, Katharine Hopkin:~ Chupmun und 1\l uy HntTis."- Edito rial in The Advt•rt ilwr, ~l ontgonu•r;,­Aiabama.

"The Fus ing Force," a novel h} 1\nthnrin,• llup­k ins Chapma n, publis hed by A. C. ~lcCiurg und Cu .. is an enjoyable tale of Sout herzwrs 111 thl \\ l''l, with scenes laid in Idaho. The ntllll.'ll nnd tlw1r cosmopolitan workers form the background for 1111

absorbing love s tory centering around a chal·minl{ g ir l- a beautiful and piquant Sou tlwr n lu". Tlw author has remarkable dcscl'i pll,·l' powt•r". und hu· story affords an exhilirating bn•ath of rnountu111 1 and plains and of prima l instinct:~, thn l I ll plcas1ng."

-Chicago Inter-Ocean. " Mrs. Chapman goes about among u~. ul­

tendi ng to her domestic, civic and churt·h dulil"' so regulal'ly and unostenta t iously, that ''l' arc apt to underest imate her wide reputation ns a \Hiler a nd speaker; or, realizi ng her allainml.'nl>~, to wonder how she f inds ti me for such varied occupa­tions. She is that rare combination, a Wl.'ll­rounded character."-llon. Rober t Mangum, 111 Selma Times-Journal.

"Mrs. Chapman's s tories arc full of the llunw wholesome, helpful view she tak<>s o f life, and which she imparts to othe:rs . She ~lt·Prs a happy­medium course between e1·otic Jll<simism and Pollyannaism. She gives t t·ue pictun·~ of pcoph• and conditions as they are in th1• South- though t here is an Old Sout h aroma exhaltng from hl.'r aristocratic background. A ftn<' example! of th1~ ~~ to be f ound in her novel, " The Fu~in~ Force," which is now being presented by Sehg Company as a f ive-reel film." Helen Smith Woodruff, 1n Boob and Aut hors, New York City.

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"Mrs. Kathar ine Hopkins Chapman, one of the outstanding writer s of the South, and as charming as she is brilliant, filled a lecture engagement with The Quakers Club and guests ____ __ Shc :omplctcly captiva ted her audience with the bright­est, most original talk on "Modern Short-story Technique" ever made before this cultured club. Her personality is a g ift. She speaks fluently, prc•scnting her subject with fascinating enthu­s iasm -------"-Tuscaloosa News.

" Mrs. Chapman has done more than any one per­son to encourage beginning writers in Alabama, givi ng freely of her time, experience and enthus­iasm. As Co-Founder and President of the Ala­bama Writers' Convlave, she conceived and ma­tured a fine organization for practical informa­t ion and comraderie among Ala bama aut hors."

- Birmingham News. . "Mrs. Chapman's stories present high ideals in clear, sometimes quaint E nglish"-Boston Trans­script.

_"Though her publisher s say Katharine Hopkins Chapman is a Southerner, she certainly caught t he spi rit of the West in her novel, "The Fusing Force."

- The Journal, Seattle, Wash. "Mrs. Chapman, a wr iter and discriminating

critic of fict ion, gave at J udson College recently three interesting lectures: Modern Short-Story Technique, Structure of The Novelet te, and The Trend of Modern Prose. She r ead from her own publi shed s tories to illustrate her points, hence there was presented in close sequence t he principles of the ar t and the practice of the aut hor.

"The technique wor ked out by Mrs. Chapman was clear and comprehensive. Free from the half-expressed mysteries of authorship, it was more pr actical than the principles formulated by the great masters of the past : P oe, Stevenson, Thackery, Maupaussant, etc. She almost made authorship communicable.

The stori es themselves ar e full of movement, in­teresting in situation and clever in dialogue.

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They are close to life, but touched to fineness by sympathy with youth. There are flashes of humor which enliven the stories and make us one with the wholesome mind of the author. She sees life through clear eyes and finds it not bad.

"There was a cumulative interest in the themes -and the speaker-which expressed itself at the close of the series in a prolonged demand for 'More."

"Mrs. Chapman's visit stimulated the ambitions of several students who, it is hoped, will in years to come be numbered among those 'predestined to fame."'

Miss Kirtley, English Department, Judson College, Marion, Alabama.

Alabama College Office of President

Montevallo• Ala.

August 9, 1926

Mrs. Katherine Hopkins Chapman has delivered a series of lectures each year for the past three years before the student body of Alabama College on the Technique of the Short Story and the E ssay.

It was my pleasure to hear these lectures and I am glad to state that they were not only interest­ing and entertaining but also instructive and help­ful. The lecture on "Personal Glimpses of Fa­mous Authors," was particularly well received by our student body.

It gives me pleasure to commend the series of lectures to any Club or College.

'

Yours sincerely, 0. C. Carmichael

President

Samford University Library

FOR TERMS AND DATES

Apply to

Katherine Hopkins Chapman.

219 Lapsley Street,

Selma, Alabama.

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