Charlottesville, VA

Charlottesville, Va., Jefferson's Literary Legacy

When a television crew came to Charlottesville, Va., recently and asked city leaders to pinpoint on a map exactly where area writers lived, the map soon filled with more than 50 dots—and the exercise was still incomplete.

Since before anyone can remember—perhaps as early as Thomas Jefferson’s days at nearby Monticello—writers have consistently made their home in the area the third president called “utopia.”

Some of these writers have been world-famous—such as Edgar Allen Poe, William Faulkner, John Grisham, Tami Hoag, Rita Mae Brown, Jan Karon, and Alexandra Ripley—while others have been quietly successful, producing poetry, textbooks, even technical manuals, from their homes. Today, Pulitzer Prize winners, former state and national poet laureates, and a National Book Award winner live in Charlottesville, in addition to the dozens of others.

“From a writer’s perspective, there’s just no better place,” says Jennifer Ackerman, a local science writer whose book Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity was published by Houghton Mifflin in June. She and her husband Karl, also a writer, moved here nine years ago after living in such large cities as Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York. “We came here really to settle in a place that was sane to raise kids and the standard of living was affordable, and it has all the resources of a university. It’s been ideal.”

Many say the presence of the University of Virginia—considered one of the top higher education institutions in the country—has been key to attracting literary types to the town.

“Without the university, there would still be some writers living here, I imagine, just because it’s a pretty place to live, but I don’t think you would’ve attracted the number they’ve had here over the years if it were not for the university,” says George Garrett, an author and recently retired director of the creative writing program at UVa. Garrett says the university’s academic emphasis produces a level of cultural activity unusual for a city of 40,000.

“It’s a small town, but it feels like there’s so much going on culturally here,” Ackerman agrees. In addition to writing-related activities, the town has several theater groups, a municipal band, art galleries, and often a variety of educational seminars and lectures.

Because Jefferson founded the university, some trace the town’s literary associations back to the statesman’s own personal library, which later became the Library of Congress.

“(Jefferson) was really obsessed with books,” says Paul Collinge, owner of Heartwood Books store and a founder of the Virginia Festival of the Book, held locally every spring. “He had thousands and thousands of books at a time when the average house had no books or maybe had a Bible and one reader of some sort. If he had not done anything else, he would still be considered one of the major early book collectors in America.”

Nearly 200 years after his death, locals continue Jefferson’s obsession: The town was recently found to have more households per capita engaging in “avid book reading” than any other place in the United States, according to a national data analysis.

“When people come here for the book festival, they say, ‘Wow, this is incredible. I can’t believe there are so many people here reading and talking about books,’” says Nancy Damon, program director for the book festival, which attracts more than 15,000. “We sort of take it for granted.”

In addition to their personal work, many local writers stay publicly active year-round in Charlottesville by participating in author readings, in the university’s master’s-level creative writing program—where they teach, mentor, and even take classes—and at a local writing center that helps wordsmiths develop their skills.

Despite Charlottesville’s appreciation of the written word, locals aren’t prone to swooning if they meet a superstar in the grocery store. Damon recalls sitting behind Grisham and his family in a movie theater recently and notes proudly that the best-selling author went unaccosted.

“It’s not that we’re not all going wild over him,” Damon says, “but we try to be discreet.”

Kara Carden is a regular American Profile contributor.

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