Jim Grimsley: Current state of research

Abstract

Jim Grimsley (b. 1955) is a southern author of literary fiction, literature of the fantastic as well as numerous plays whose road to publishing success in the United States has been a thorny one. Grimsley had published two novels in Germany with translations to French and Dutch under way before his first novel, Winter Birds, was put out in 1994 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill following 10 years of futile attempts to get the book to press in his home country. Since the publication of Winter Birds in the United States, he has published six literary novels, three science fiction or fantasy novels, a collection of short stories, a book of plays, and a memoir in English. Although Grimsley explores topical themes in his fiction such as child abuse, class issues in the United States, same-sex relationships in the American South, as well as the relationship between technology and society, he surprisingly remains one of the most under-researched contemporary American writers. Nevertheless, the amount of research on the author has been growing in the last 20 years, so there can be no doubt about his inclusion in the canon of contemporary southern literature. The present article provides an overview of scholarship on Grimsley both in the United States and Europe, identifying several main research areas: (southern/queer) Gothic elements, abuse in all its forms, southern culture and its elements (region, space, class), gay identity, literature of the fantastic, and theatrical plays. As this overview and bibliography of research into Grimsley up to the present is meant to further current research and stimulate interest in the author and his works, the article also identifies new areas that deserve scholarly attention. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.