Introducing the Wordier Than Thou Author Spotlight Series

Florida grabs a lot of headlines and not all of them are flattering. But rarely does one read a story about this sandy peninsula and think, “that place sounds dull.”

Perhaps Florida’s long history of being peculiar helps explain why so many writers have lived here, retired here, or done some of their best work here. 

- Carl Hiaasen’s name is practically synonymous with Miami. 

- Zora Neale Hurston used her adopted hometown of Eatonville as the setting for many of her stories. (In addition to a museum of fine arts located there and named in her honor, Eatonville now celebrates her life and legacy with an annual festival.) 

- Key West bears the indelible stamp of Ernest Hemingway. 

- The Flamingo, a bar in St. Petersburg, still holds events to remember Jack Kerouac, who was a regular. 

- The Everglades owes a great deal to its tireless champion, journalist and ardent conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. 

- Pulitzer Prize winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings made the settlement of Cross Creek famous in American literature.

- Novelists, poets, and playwrights from Tennessee Williams to Judy Blume and from Elmore Leonard to Mary McLeod Bethune have connections to Florida.

Now it’s time to see who’s next. 

In the spirit of whatever humid subtropical essence inspires such creativity, over the next few months, Wordier Than Thou will be showcasing published writers who currently or formerly resided in and/or wrote about this state. We are kicking off the Wordier Than Thou Author Spotlight Series. 

Like Florida itself, these writers are an eclectic bunch. You might not have heard some of their names, but we hope you will consider checking out their work. And if someday a city names a high school after one of them or puts a statue of one of them in a city park, you can look back and remember that you saw them here first.

- Austin Scott Collins, Wordier Than Thou Board member