Upcoming Flannery O'Connor childhood home lecture takes the author to the Grammys

Maya Hawke and her famous father, Ethan, are not the only contemporary artists to have been inspired by the late Flannery O'Connor for their film "Wildcat."

Author Irwin H. Streight has penned "Flannery and the Grammys," which documents how O’Connor and her works have influenced popular musical artists. Within genres like folk, blues, rock, gospel and punk to heavy metal and indie pop, Streight's book examines how O'Connor inspired "the art and vision of multiple Grammy Award winners Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, R.E.M. and U2 along with celebrated songwriters Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Sufjan Stevens, Mary Gauthier Tom Waits and others" according to publisher University Press of Mississippi.

Streight, who is based in Ontario, Canada, will be trekking down to Savannah for a lecture on O'Connor at the Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home (FOCH) on Sept. 15. FOCH Director Janie Bragg said she was fascinated to discover that, "Springsteen, for instance, uses particular lines from her stories in his song lyrics." Bragg said Streight will be on hand to read as well as sign books.

Bragg appreciates the work of others who would bring O'Connor more into "contemporary folds" because "she is not ancient history... she's more contemporary than people realize."

Bragg said lectures such as Streight's directly serve the FOCH's mission, which "is to not only continue her [O'Connor's] legacy but to invite conversation around that legacy."

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The 'oversized cultural influence' of O'Connor

Streight, who is a full professor in the Department of English, Culture, and Communication at the Royal Military College of Canada, first encountered O'Connor's writing as many do, through a required reading list that featured "A Good Man is Hard to Find. He went on to read "Revelation." From there he was hooked and his interest grew out of a problem, which was, he said, "How does a writer who has these very orthodox Christian ideas, translate that into believable, credible fiction?" he had asked himself and it became the focus of his doctoral studies.

Along the journey of researching O'Connor, as well as conducting research and writing on musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, he came across a 1989 interview of Bruce Springsteen by Will Percy (the nephew of southern writer Walker Percy). In the interview, Springsteen talked about how O'Connor's writing influenced his album "Nebraska." In many ways that interview ultimately led Streight to write "Flannery at the Grammys."

One of the most interesting things to Streight about O'Connor's influence on popular musicians is the "absolute range of it right across the spectrum." Beyond the likes of Springsteen's "haunting, acoustic Nebraska songs," her works hit home for country ballad singers like Williams and for punk, alternative, and Southern trash rock bands, many of whom were drawn to O'Connor's novel "Wiseblood." Streight addresses the novel's unique following in his book, stating that the novel's allure for punk and heavy metal artists appeared to be their unironic misreading of the protagonist, Hazel Moates, as "some kind of paradigm of this licentious anti-hero."

As O'Connor once said of her stories, they seemed to attract "the lunatic fringe."

Though Streight might not be considered fringe, he was certainly been drawn to O'Connor enough to explore, via writing a book, her "oversized cultural influence" seeing as how she was considered "a minor writer in her day."

For those who attend the upcoming lecture, Streight plans to play a sampler of songs inspired by O'Connor, including "fairly heavy alternative rock."

If You Go >>

What: FOCH Sunday Lecture Series: Flannery and the Grammys!

When: 6 p.m. Sunday, September 15

Where: 207 East Charlton Street Savannah, GA 31401

RSVP here (capacity is limited): https://www.flanneryoconnorhome.org/sunday-series

Cost: Free, donation suggested

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Author Irwin H. Streight to share O'Connor's impact on popular music