. >> jack pendarvis: yeah, that was his greatest book. >> bill griffith: yeah, faulkner thought thisr body is changing," "the mysterious secret of valuable treasure," and "awesome," as well as staff writer for a game-changing animated series "adventure time" -- all works of which i am a huge fan. so he wrote right -- right on the wall. >> bill griffith: he just wrote on it. >> anthony: it's -- it's his man cave. >> bill griffith: yeah, it's his -- it's his version. he said that houses in mississippi who have a family business have one room dedicated to the family business and this family's business is writing. >> anthony: from as early as 1919 through the '60s, faulkner wrote extensively about the post-civil war south. he was the first author to do so at a time when most writers were writing about anything but. >> bill griffith: he always said that he wrote about a south torn between itself. torn between the old ways, the old traditional ways, and modern development. he said he was gonna break the antebellum code. >> anthony: right. >> bill griffith: and he did. >> anthony: but -- >>

grisham writers in residence, megan abbott, jack pendarvis, a poet chayuma elliott.velist ace atkins. poet derek harell is originally from milwaukee. crime novelist billy boyle from brooklyn. downstairs, currence's restaurant city grocery cranks out many delicious things. the man known as big bad chef, aka johnny snack, is sending some of those goodies upstairs as there's nothing professional writers like more than free food. usually, you put five writers in a room, it's an ugly, hell broth of envy, hatred -- >> we all hate tommy. >> yeah, that goes without saying. >> even me. i hate me worst of all. >> around here anyway the writers are really supportive of each other. for writers to argue would be like arguing over a piece of dirt. i mean, what are we fighting about? >> the stakes are too low. >> the stakes are so low. why would you be a jerk about it? >> if mississippi were a country and there were a national hero, dead or alive, by consensus, statewide, who would the statue be of? >> elvis. >> really? it wouldn't be b.b. king? >> it should be b.b. king. >> yeah.