Southern lit Sunday

2014 is certainly proving to be kind to Tennessee Williams fans on this side of the Atlantic. This week a successful run of Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning 1947 masterpiece - A Streetcar Named Desire draws to a close in London's West End; its final performance will be streamed live to audiences in cinemas throughout the UK this Tuesday evening.

Stanley, Stella and Blanche hand over to Big Daddy, Brick and Maggie, with curtain-up this week on a new Northern Stage, Royal & Derngate & Royal Exchange Theatre co-production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Sure to be one of the hottest tickets this autumn as it tours theatres in the north of England, complete with a slick new score composed by the White Lies.

Former New Yorker drama critic John Lahr’s much anticipated biography of Williams, Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh will finally hit the shelves later this month. The reviews so far are incredibly positive (no mean feat where biographies of Tennessee Williams are concerned), including this one from the Financial Times.

Lahr’s tome will also feature as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, the first instalment is due on September 22nd, which also marks the book’s publication date and the beginning of Lahr’s book tour in the UK.

Plenty to keep Williams fans entertained.

For all the latest in Southern lit, remember to keep up to date with Deep South Magazine’s weekly Literary Friday segment, filled with literary news, previews, reviews and much more.