Sentence:  Besides showing no inclination , apparently , to absent himself from his native region even for short periods , and in addition <WSD>writing</WSD> a shelf of books set in the region , he has handled in those books an astonishingly complete list of matters which have been important in the South during the past hundred years . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have (one's written work) issued for publication