Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story
is an award-winning documentary on 1930s America and the Federal Writers’ Project, which documented life during the Great Depression. The film features Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, John Cheever, Richard Wright, Studs Terkel, Margaret Walker, Nelson Algren, and Jim Thompson.
Nominated for the 2010 Writer’s Guild of America award for best documentary, the film also received a CINE Golden Eagle award and a clutch of TIVA Peer Awards, including Best of DC. Order the dvd from Spark Media: https://sparkmedia.bigcartel.com/product/soul-of-a-people-dvd
Watch the C-SPAN Book TV feature here.
Get the book:
The Soul of a People book delves further into these human stories. Buy it direct from Turner Publishing or from Bookshop and your local independent bookseller. Listen to a sample of the audiobook from Audible.
Read my Village Voice article about Ellison’s Harlem before he wrote Invisible Man, a Smithsonian article on the WPA Guides, and about friendships on the Project in The American Scholar. See whether noir novelist Jim Thompson produced the darkest travel guidebook ever before he wrote The Killer Inside Me (download pdf here).
A pamphlet produced by the American Library Association sets the stage (download here).
Watch a webcast recording of the Library of Congress event celebrating the 75th anniversary of These Are Our Lives, a major oral history published by the Writers’ Project, with a look at its legacy and oral history since its publication.
Praise for Soul of a People
“A riveting attempt at recreating the trouble-plagued history of the government-funded arts program through the words of those who were there, including noted oral historian Studs Turkel (in one of his last interviews before passing away in October 2008) and Stetson Kennedy. Historian Douglas Brinkley, novelist David Bradley, and African-American literature scholar Maryemma Graham are onboard to lend a contemporary perspective in this outstanding production.” — PopMatters
“[Director Andrea] Kalin uses archival newsreel footage, still photographs, and even scenes from Hollywood movies, along with the words of the FWP authors. Actress Patricia Clarkson narrates, and authors and historians such as Douglas Brinkley, Roberto Polito, and David Bradley provide a modern perspective. This touching, straightforward, and well-paced look at a small piece of American history will be a welcome addition to literature and history collections.”
— Library Journal
Writers Guild of America Award Nominee
Participate in the Podcast:
Do you have a family story of a Writers’ Project worker, or a story about using the WPA travel guides yourself? Share it here. We would love to hear about it for The People’s Recorder.