Web posted on: Monday, April 19, 1999 11:11:19 AM

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (CNN) -- Creators and fans of Southern literature -- that geographically revealing style of writing that often warrants its own section in book stores -- gathered in Civil War territory this weekend for the Chattanooga Conference on Southern Literature.

The event, now in its 10th biennial and organized by Fellowship of Southern Writers, ran from April 15-17 and attracts some of the top names in Southern writing. This year's guest list included such notables as Horton Foote, Kaye Gibbons, Charles Frazier, Doris Betts, Lee Smith, and Randall Kenan. Also in attendance were readers and publishing industry representatives looking to find the pulse of the prose that Faulkner and Wolfe took to new heights, then left to the winds of their legacy.

When asked what attracted her to the Tennessee conference this year, Gibbons - the author of novels like "A Virtuous Woman" and "Sight Unseen" -- showed the sense of humor that is evident in her writing.

Gibbons

"I love meeting the readers. I've gotten to be such a hater of people that readers are the only people I like anymore," she said between signing autographs. She had just finished speaking on a panel titled, "Lace to Leather: Portrayal of Women in Southern Literature."

The panels are the heart of the conference, set up to engage writers in dialogue about the current state of Southern fiction and nonfiction. A common question at this year's festival: Where is this literary form heading at the dawn of the new millennium? And how does it differentiate itself from writing in, say, the Midwest?

"Southern literature is more concerned with language than literature in other parts of the country," Gibbons says. "The language is right on the mark; it's less cliché ridden. We write in the South to do honor to language."

Many readers agree. Clarence Hogeterp, a financial planner living in Grand Rapids, Michigan, likes Southern writing so much he has attended this conference on several occasions.

"There's more history to Southern writing," says Hogeterp. "In some respects it's a little more genteel, but it's also more passionate."

Linda Brooks, who hails from Atlanta and works for the book catalog Bas Bleu, says she goes to all the book festivals, but this one holds a special place in her heart. Most of her favorite authors live south of the Mason Dixon: Gibbons, Larry Brown, Dorothy Allison.

"I think it's the emotion" in the prose, Brooks says, describing what attracts her to this writing. "Southerners have so much more to go through. And they're never normal."

Brooks also likes the chance to hear the thoughts of writers in Chattanooga.

Knight

"The most wonderful thing about these conferences is that they have panels," she says. "And when they have a panel, I'll go to see one author I like and I'll discover other ones."

The conference also embraces new writers. Michael Knight, the 29-year-old author of "Divining Rod," attended for the first time, and on Friday night he was handed the Fellowship's New Writing Award. He says the conference is a great experience.

"It's amazing to sit at a table with people who are idols of mine," Knight said after one panel. "I mean, God bless, Barry Hannah was at that table. I've been trying to do a Barry Hannah imitation in fiction forever. I can't do it."

Knight shies away from a responsibility to carry the torch of Southern literature, but feels the constantly evolving style will continue to prosper.

"You always hear people predicting the end to Southern literature as the South becomes more homogenized, but there are great young writers out there … who are doing stuff that is distinctly Southern.

"I don't know how to describe Southern literature, but it's alive and well."