LoginMay 2024 Notable Maryland Author - John Barth – Metafiction Master
Author: John Simmons Barth Genre: Metafiction
"Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story." – John Barth
John “Jack” Barth, born in Cambridge, Maryland, on May 27, 1930, was famous in the 1960s as a writer who challenged standard conventions of language and plot. It was in the 60s that he wrote his most well known books; The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a best-selling satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world and the hero is a character who is part goat; and Lost in the Funhouse, an experimental collection of short stories.
Barth graduated from Cambridge High School in 1947 where he wrote for the school newspaper. Being raised on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and following the adage to write what you know, many of Barth’s works take place there including Sabbatical: A Romance and The Tidewater Tales. He received a B.A. in 1951 and an M.A. in 1952, both from Johns Hopkins University.
The metafiction genre, where he undermines literary conventions, shows clearly in his novel LETTERS where Barth corresponds with characters from his other books. The Tidewater Tales and The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor are also metafiction, with writers as protagonists who interact with their own and other stories in elaborate ways.
Barth married, had two children, divorced, remarried and had a 3rd child. He was a professor at Pennsylvania State University, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, at Boston University, and then at Johns Hopkins University from 1973 until retirement in 1991.
He received or was nominated for several awards including: 1956: National Book Award finalist for The Floating Opera, 1965: The Brandeis University creative arts award, 1973: Shared the National Book Award for Chimera with John Edward Williams for Augustus, and 1997: F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Fiction.
Barth died last month on April 2, 2024, at the age of 93.
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Genre: Metafiction - Coined in 1970 by William H. Gass, metafiction is a form of fiction that through its narrative structure reminds readers they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art.
Sample Reading List - The Floating Opera; The End of the Road; The Sot-Weed Factor; Giles Goat-Boy; Chimera; LETTERS; The Tidewater Tales, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor .
Fun With Words - Maryland Writers’ Association ( MWA) invites you to have fun writing metafiction like John Barth. Using up to 100 words, pick a literary convention and parody it or explore a relationship between literature and reality, life, and art. Title your work and submit through this website by the 22nd of the month to receive an MWA Fun With Words submission certificate. Selected responses will be published on the MWA Website as comments to the article.
Beth Smith
Jun. 10, 2024Train Encounter - As Maggie sat down, the woman next to her whispered. “Hello, Maggie.” Maggie turned. The woman looked familiar. “Do I know you?” she replied. “I am Lilly, the mousey woman from Strangers on the Beach. I just loved being in your novel. It was a best seller, but basically a beach read, don’t you think? Not up for a Pulitzer,” the woman replied. Maggie stared at her. “Another thing, if you put me in a novel again, could I have big boobs and ooze with sex appeal?” The train bumped. “Gotta go,” she said exiting her seat. Maggie sat stunned
Lawrence McGuire
Jun. 10, 2024FOLLY'S WISDOM - In ancient Baghdad there lived a scribe named Abeez. Every day he scratched down with a distracted qalam on papyrus grain counts half-heard. Truly, he wished to write stories but lacked plots. One day he learned in the Storytellers' Precinct of the Plot Djinn. This magical being knew tales yet told. From that time on, Abeez searched for the storied spirit. Ten years later, he found the djinn haunting ruined Antara. Abeez said, "I desire original plots." "Turn around," the djinn said. "What do you see?" "My footprints shadowing dunes." The djinn smiled. "In them find the stories you seek."
Jon Hillbilly Anthology Ketzner
Jun. 10, 2024HAPPY ENDINGS - Within the zeitgeist of modern culture, three forms of "happy endings" abide: 1- the satisfying organic resolution to a real or fictional narrative that begins fraught and concludes well; 2 - the overwrought and over-written Hallmark Network tear-jerking formulaic caca-fest that requires a complete suspension of belief and rationality; 3 - and the mirthless carnal conclusion to an unlicensed and medically useless non-therapeutic massage by a bored and contemptuous "masseuse." I remain a fan of two out of three of those. It's silly, I know. Cannot help it. I bubble up, start quivering and soon need a Kleenex. If that's a crime, arrest me.
Christine Hickey
Jun. 10, 2024Chatter Boxing - You hear continuous chattering through walls pretty thin. What you hear is from two male dwellers, Bosco and Letague. Between the chatter you hear music playing, tenors singing opera or show tunes. The music prompts more activity like furniture moving, clatter of dishes. I recognize Bosco plainly. He sounds louder and even caustic. Letague, a more gentle soul, is meek in manor and does not retort. Sounds are shadows not permitting a full picture. Bells tinkle, doors close, and at middle age they rarely leave home. They are occupied by daily events between sunrise and sunset. How I came to adopt these two parakeets is another story.
Jim Coleman
Jun. 10, 2024Scenes from (Not Quite) True TV Detective - The night was dark, no stars, no moon. The building stood before them, a hulking half-acre maze of pitch-black rooms and hallways. The perps were in there, somewhere. Ignoring the obvious need for support, the detectives entered, the beams from their tiny flashlights dancing off the walls and corners. I want to scream, "No, you idiots! Wait for backup! Or at least turn on a freakin' light!" Who writes this stuff? Then…"Clear!" Wait, what's clear, that room you scanned for two seconds without looking in any closets or other obvious hiding places? That's clear?! Who writes this stuff?!
Steve Baker
Jun. 10, 2024ANYTHING GOES in OUR TOWN (in verse) This Fairy Tale it may sound 'Grimm', but The Princess Bride has heard, / That Don Quixote he has said: "I Want to Kill a Mockingbird." // And Uncle Remus has just crossed, The Bridge Over The River Kwai, / He's on The Hunt for Red October, with The Catcher in the Rye. // All their noise stirred Rip Van Winkle, who is no longer fast asleep, / From Wuthering Heights he asks us now: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" // Then The Maltese Falcon shared, a lesson from The Mouse That Roared: / The author's pen it really is, much more mighty than the sword. //