Reviews & Praise

“Journey for Joedel is a strong book, with a vivid sense of the world it depicts. It is real—and how many books are that?” 

  — Robert Penn Warren, Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction for All the King’s Men and in poetry for Promises: Poems 1954-1956 and for Now and Then

“Guy Owen was my first teacher of writing, and I could not have been luckier. Taking a class with him at NC State in 1963 changed my life forever. Journey for Joedel is probably Guy's finest work of fiction, and I am thrilled and grateful that this gem of a novel is now available for readers in the 21st century.” 

  — Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek and Boone: A Biography

“Guy Owen was not only a pioneer and unresting champion of North Carolina literature, he was also one of its best practitioners. Journey for Joedel is his best work of fiction—warm, gracious, and wonderfully evocative. It is a novel fondly regarded by all its readers and a new edition is cause for joy.” 

  — Fred Chappell, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina and author of Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories

“It’s wonderful to have this reissue of one of Guy Owen’s best works. The sensitive portrayal of a young boy in the midst of change and understanding is as powerful now as ever. And here the poet Guy also was shows through—lighting the careful latticework of prose.” 

  — Betty Adcock, poet and former student of Guy Owen, author of six collections from LSU Press

About the Author

Guy Owen was a novelist, poet, editor, critic and teacher. He grew up on a tobacco farm in Bladen County, North Carolina. After serving in the army during World War II, he earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Owen taught at Davidson College, Elon College, Stetson University, and North Carolina State University. While at Stetson University, he founded Impetus, the literary magazine, which later became the Southern Poetry Review. Mr. Owen published four novels, three collections of poetry, and co-edited several anthologies of poetry. His most popular novel, The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man, was made into a movie in 1967 (The Flim-Flam Man) starring George C. Scott and Michael Sarrazin. His novel Journey for Joedel won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His poetry collection The White Stallion and Other Poems won a Roanoke-Chowan Cup. Dr. Owen's many honors included a Bread Loaf Scholarship, the Henry H. Bellamann Foundation Award, a Yaddo Fellowship, and the 1971 gold medallion North Carolina Award for Literature. Dr. Owen died on July 25, 1981, at the age of 56. He is survived by his wife Dorothy, and his two sons, James and John.