We are pleased to announce the publication of number 72 of the Journal of the Short Story in English/Cahiers de la nouvelle, devoted to Elizabeth Spencer. This issue is dedicated to our colleagues specialized in American literature, Michel Bandry, Danièle Pitavy-Souques and Claude Maisonnat (who authored one of the articles), but also to Spencer herself, who passed away in December 2019. Two previously unpublished short stories and two interviews are collected in this issue. Three writers have also agreed to share their memories of Spencer.
You will find below the table of contents, as well as links to the websites of the Presses Universitaires de Rennes and OpenEdition, where the beginning of the articles can be accessed.
We wish you a pleasant reading.
Sincerely,
Gérald Préher and Xavier Le Brun, for the editorial team.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Emmanuel Vernadakis |
| Foreword |
| Gérald Préher |
| Introduction |
| Marcel Arbeit |
| “It’s better if you let it sit and wait a while”: An Interview with Elizabeth Spencer |
| Gérald Préher |
| “all writing is taken from something known about or experienced as a base”: A Composite Interview with Elizabeth Spencer |
| Elizabeth Spencer |
| “Transformation” |
| Elizabeth Spencer |
| “Two by Moonlight” |
| Claude Maisonnat |
| From the Scopic Drive to Empowerment in Elizabeth Spencer’s “First Dark” |
| Marcel Arbeit |
| Are Emotions Contagious? Elizabeth Spencer’s “Judith Kane” |
| Gérald Préher |
| (Re)visiting the Past: Elizabeth Spencer’s Marilee and the Short Story Composite |
| Frédérique Spill |
| Elizabeth Spencer’s Other Southern Landscape: The Southern Woman in Italy, Or Voicing the Allure of Foreignness |
| Stéphanie Maerten |
| “I just run off sometimes”: Runaway Women in Elizabeth Spencer’s Short Fiction |
| Terry Roberts |
| Weaving Then and Now: The Artistry of “The Cousins” |
| Tanya Tromble |
| Elizabeth Spencer’s “Owl”: Building Psychological Tension through Ominous Portents |
| Sharon E. Colley |
| Active Response to the Past Imperfect: Elizabeth Spencer’s Starting Over |
| Emmeline Gros |
| Resisting the Traditional Construction of Fatherhood and Masculinity in Elizabeth Spencer’s “Sightings” and “The Everlasting Light” |
| Amélie Moisy |
| Return Trip with a Wolfean Spirit |
| Amy Weldon |
| Elizabeth Spencer’s Spacious Escapes |
| Allan Gurganus |
| Remembering Elizabeth Spencer |
| Lisa Alther |
| One Afternoon in Vermont |
| Bobbie Ann Mason |
| With Elizabeth and Her Cats |
| Peggy Whitman Prenshaw |
| Afterword: Elizabeth Spencer: Mississippi Literary Trail Marker |
| Bibliography |
| Contributors’ Notes |