Faulkner died 40-some years ago, and whether southern literature passed with him has been a hot topic ever since. Regardless of the genre's health, the region has lately produced a bevy of talented writers. One to watch is Michael Knight, the head of the creative writing program at the University of Tennessee. Knight writes with an easy, colorful lyricism that is at the same time concrete; "Birdland," in his story collection Goodnight, Nobody, is one of the best short stories I've read in years.