Research
My ongoing academic research and writing, like my education, lies at the intersection of literature and philosophy, focusing specifically on the philosophy and novels of Walker Percy. I've also written papers on other twentieth century authors: Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost. I also have over two decades of experience writing and editing for other than academic purposes: newspaper, magazine, fiction, professional and business writing and editing. See the Writing & Editing page for more information about my professional (non-academic) writing and editing experience and availability.
Selected Publications
Symbol & Existence: A Study in Meaning
written by Walker Percy
edited by Kenneth Laine Ketner, Karey Perkins, Rhonda McDonnell, and Scott Cunningham
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Walker Percy's philosophy, his "radical anthropology," is a primary focus of his intellectual journey and the underpinning of all his novels. While other collections of his philosophical essays give some insights into his thinking, Symbol & Existence is the only methodical, systematic presentation of semiotic, his attempt to bridge the gap between scientism and existentialism. Written in the 1950s and never published, this seminal work was discovered half a century later and provides the foundation for Percy's later writings, both non-fiction and fiction.
Read Reviews HERE.
Purchase Symbol & Existence HERE.
“Diamonds in the Rough: The Peirce-Percy Semiotic in The Second Coming,”
written by Karey Perkins for Walker Percy: Philosopher,
edited by Leslie Marsh, Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.
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"Diamonds in the Rough" makes the case for the view that Percy is more than a novelist with occasional random existential musings or themes. Although Percy begins in existentialism, his exploration of semiotics sparked his interest in language as the uniquely human symbolic activity. Moreover, Percy attempts a systematic philosophy based in Peirce’s semiotic, by applying semiotic principles not just in his philosophical essays, but also in his novels—something rarely mentioned, even by Percy himself.
Walker Percy, Philosopher is a collection of essays that
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Focuses on Walker Percy as a philosopher, rather than as a novelist,
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Explicates the Percy's philosophical ideas, and
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Explores key aspects of Percy's ideas, as well as his lesser known philosophical interests.
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Read Reviews HERE.
Purchase Walker Percy, Philosopher HERE.
Fellow Percy scholar, Rhonda McDonnell, and I guest edited a special issue of SAMLA's South Atlantic Review dedicated to Walker Percy. We invited well-known authors to write an essay on Percy, with particular attention to his relevance in the 21st century, and we each wrote an essay for the issue as well.
“Reading by the Numbers: The Peirce-Percy Semiotic in Walker Percy’s Fiction” by Karey Perkins.
South Atlantic Review, Volume 87.4, Winter 2022.
“Walker Percy's Importance in the 21st Century,” Editors' Preface, by Rhonda McDonnell and Karey Perkins. South Atlantic Review, Volume 87.4. Winter 2022.
Co-Editor of South Atlantic Review Special Issue, “Walker Percy in the 21st Century” with Rhonda McDonnell. Volume 87.4, Winter 2022.
Forthcoming
Three book projects have received publication interest, and two have been approved and are in process now. One book is a group editing project of Walker Percy's letters; the other two are my individual books on Percy's female characters as well as Percy's use of Charles Sanders Peirce in his novels.
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Perkins, Karey. Walker's Women: The Evolution of Walker Percy's Female Characters. Forthcoming.
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Perkins, Karey. Walker Percy by the Numbers: The Influence of Charles Sanders Peirce. Peter Lang. Query letter accepted. Forthcoming.
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Percy, Walker. The Letters of F. Gentry Harris and Walker Percy, edited by Rhonda McDonnell, Kenneth Laine Ketner, and Karey Perkins. Permission granted for publication. Forthcoming.
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Professional Writing and Editing
I have over three decades of experience writing and editing for a variety of purposes, academic and professional, in both print and digital formats. This includes journalism (newspaper and magazine), business and professional writing (including text as well as designing and publishing presentations, brochures, flyers, reports, websites), and fiction. I've taught college-level Professional, Business, and Technical Writing for two decades, and I created the Professional Writing course (E 330) for South Carolina State University for both traditional and online delivery formats.
I have designed, created, and written content for a variety of websites, newspapers, magazines, reports, and promotional and social media. For the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (GSU) as well as SCSU's 1890 Research and Extension Program, I wrote and/or edited for their conferences and projects, including articles, proceedings, newsletters, and other publications, including AYSPS's quarterly magazine, The Briefing, as well as their annual report. Most recently, I served as editor for SCSU's 1890 Research and Extension publications. My other writing and editing projects have been freelance.
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For samples of my academic writing, see links above and below on this page. A brief selection of my professional writing projects is available at the Writing & Editing page. Feel free to contact me for any of your writing and/or editing needs.
Presentations & Conferences
Paper Presentations & Interviews
“From Wanderer to Wayfarer: Seeing Walker Percy's 'Signposts in a Strange Land.' ”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, November 2024.
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“Walker Percy’s Four Stages of Symbolic Structure: Rescuing Symbol and Thought from Ossification.”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2023.
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"Walker’s Women: The Evolution of Walker Percy’s Female Characters.”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, November 2022.
“From Symbol to Sacrament: Walker Percy’s Fabric of Life.”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Remote, November 2021.
Podcast: Christian Humanist Profiles 197: Symbol & Existence. September 7, 2020.
https://christianhumanisprofiles.castos.com/podcasts/40498/episodes/christian-humanist-profiles-197-symbol-and-existence
“‘Draw Me a Picture’: A Chronological Tour through Walker Percy’s Search for the Elusive Coupler.”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2020.
“ArithmeCrit: Reading by the Numbers.”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2017.
“From Existentialist to Sem(e)iotician: Walker Percy’s Mid-Career Shift in his Social Theory.”
American Literature Association, San Francisco, CA, May 2016.
“Walker Percy: Modernist, Postmodernist, or Post-postmodernist?”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Durham, NC, November 2015.
“Swamps of Darkness, Swamps of Light,”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Durham, NC, November 2015.
“Diamonds in the Rough: The Peirce-Percy Semeiotic in The Second Coming,”
Still Lost in the Cosmos: Walker Percy and the 21st Century, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, October 2013.
“Walker Percy’s Search for a Radical Anthropology,”
Conference of the International Journal of Arts and Sciences, Bad Hofgastein, Austria, June 2009.
“ArithmeCrit: Walker Percy’s Cenopythagoreanism and the Semiotic Fabric of Life,”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2007.
“The Faculty Forum: A Scholarship Mentoring Project,”
Learning to Change: American Association of Higher Education Conference, Washington, DC, March 2003.
“Walker Percy and the Genesis Phenomenon: Towards A Radical Anthropology,”
Voices Far and Near: Myth, Legend, Folktale, and Fantasy: Northeast Conference on Christianity and Literature:, Brooklyn Heights, New York, October 2002.
“The Crisis in Higher Education and Three Approaches,”
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, December 2001.
“Alternative Professional Choices for the Ph.D. Candidate: Teaching in a For-profit Technical School Environment,”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2001.
“The ‘East Coker’ Dance in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: An Affirmation of Time and Place,”
Intersections of the Sacred and Profane: Midwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, Chicago, Illinois, March 2000.
“Ethics and Integrity” Idea Exchange Seminar and “Faculty Forum” Poster Session
National Faculty Symposium, DeVry, Chicago, Illinois, July 2000.
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“The Mariner in the Mirror: Irony and Death in Coleridge’s Rime,”
Doctoral Colloquium, Georgia State University, Atlanta, May 2000
Faculty Forum, DeVry University, Atlanta, June 2000.
Accepted to Coleridge Summer Conference, Somerset, England, July 2002.
Session Chair & Organizer
Every year, I organize and chair at least one, usually two or three, panels or sessions on Walker Percy at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association's annual conference. The goal is to keep dialogue and the exchange of ideas on Percy and his work alive and ongoing, promoting networking and camaraderie among Percy scholars.
Session Organizer and Chair:
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“Seeing Walker Percy's Signs and Symbols”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, November 2024.
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Session Organizer and Chair of two panels:
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“Walker Percy's Construction of Self and Identity”
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“Walker Percy and the Rescue of Symbol and Belief from Stagnation”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2023.
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Moderator:
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“Words Across the Water” Poetry Conference
South Carolina State University, February 2023.
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Moderator:
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“Transnational Intersectionalities”
2nd annual Intersectional Studies Conference: Cultural Crossroads in the Global Village, Virtual, South Carolina State University, March 2022.
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Session Organizer and Chair of three panels:
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“From The Moviegoer to The Thanatos Syndrome: Percy’s Semiotic Evolution in his Fiction”
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“Walker Percy’s Semiotic Fourthness”
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“Walker Percy’s Evolution on Social Issues”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, November 2022.
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Session Organizer and Chair of two panels:
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“Walker Percy and Social Networks: Humans as Symbol-Mongerers and Walker Percy”
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“Divine Networks: The Sacred in a Secular World”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Remote, November 2021.
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Session Organizer and Chair of two panels:
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“New Readings of Walker Percy’s Radical Anthropology: Intuition and Symbol Acquisition”
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“Walker Percy and Anxiety in Self and an Apocalyptic World”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Virtual, November 2020.
Roundtable Organizer and Chair:
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“Walker Percy in the 21st Century”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2019.
For this roundtable, I contacted and recruited six well-known, recently published authors on Walker Percy. They were:
Dr. Elizabeth Amato (The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime, 2018)
Dr. Brian Smith (A Political Companion to Walker Percy, 2013, and Walker Percy and the Politics of the Wayfarer, 2017)
Dr. Kenneth Laine Ketner (Symbol & Existence: A Study in Meaning, by Walker Percy, 2019, and A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy, 1995)
Dr. Michael Kobre (Walker Percy’s Voices, 2000, and Walker Percy’s the Moviegoer Turns 50: New Takes on an Iconic American Novel, ed. Lavasseur and McKay, 2016 )
Dr. Rhonda McDonnell (Walker Percy, Philosopher, ed. Leslie Marsh, 2018 and Symbol & Existence: A Study in Meaning, by Walker Percy, 2019)
Dr. Paul Elie (The Life You Save May be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage, 2004)
Session Organizer and Chair of two panels:
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“Walker Percy the Artist: The Craft of Percy’s Fiction”
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“Walker Percy the Semiotician: Language, Sign and Symbol”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2019.
Session Organizer and Chair:
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“The High and Low of Art, Self, and Language in Walker Percy's Work”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2017.
Session Organizer and Chair of three sessions celebrating:
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“Walker Percy's Centennial Anniversary”
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Jacksonville, FL, November 2016.
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Session Organizer and Chair
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“Signposts of a Semiotic: Walker Percy’s Peircean Anthropology for a Post-postmodern World"
South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Durham, NC, November 2015.
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Session Organizer and Chair
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“Walker Percy”