The conception of the typical Southern writer has evolved just as dramatically over those decades. The imprint’s publisher and acquiring editor, Elda Rotor, recalled being “intrigued by his influence as an author and a teacher and curious about the craft of storytelling.” Struck by Crews’ “larger than life” mark on literature, she hopes the reissues will allow a new, wider readership to wrestle with his works and “revisit them through the lens of classics.” This week, Penguin Classics will reissue Crews’ memoir “ A Childhood: A Biography of a Place” (1978) and his debut novel, “ The Gospel Singer” (1968). “Papa often judged writing by the degree to which it is honest and resonates and is memorable - across time - across years.” “Art’s primary purpose was to offer up pleasure and crush the human heart with a living memory,” Byron Crews writes, of his father’s central focus, in an email. Others depend on word-of-mouth and prose that stands the test of time. Only later did she reassure him she didn’t share the cult author’s nihilistic take on true love.Ĭritics and awards anoint some authors as legends. The novelist Ryan Chapman picked up Crews when his now-wife declared “A Feast of Snakes” her favorite novel. The Tennessee writer Kevin Wilson happened upon Crews’ paperbacks while reading between classes in a Vanderbilt University English department office.

Cosby, author of “ Razorblade Tears,” remembering his first encounter with the late Southern author Harry Crews. “My uncle gave me a copy of ‘ A Feast of Snakes’ in exchange for cleaning out his shed,” says S.A. Locals now take the lack of the snake's appearance as a bad sign.Įvery year, the island celebrates the Theotokos and the miracle with a Snake Festival.If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores. Reportedly, the only years the snakes have not appeared on the island were during World War II, and in 1953 - the year of a massive earthquake. The usually-aggressive snakes are reportedly docile and calm during these days, when they are welcome in the church for Mass and prayers, and disappear from the island completely after the feast until the next year.

In recent years, the faithful have taken to transporting snakes to the church in jars and bags, to protect them from being run over by unwitting motorists. The snakes' patterning can produce a small black cross on their head, and they have a forked tongue, adding to the legend that these snakes are marked by the sign of the Cross. Since then, the small black snakes, known as European Cat Snakes, appear every year just before the feast, and make their way to the walls and entryways of the Church to 'venerate' the silver icon of Mary known as the Panagia Fidoussa, or the Virgin of the Snakes.

A feast of snakes