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September 26, 2026 Festival
Participate
Official Panelists
Funders
About
What We're About
Who We Are
Most Recent Festival
Make a Contribution
Be a Funder
Become a Volunteer
Join as an Exhibitor
Suggest a Panelist
2026 Official Panelists
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Erin Austen Abbott
Erin Austen Abbott spent her early adult life globe-trotting through major cities before making the decision to settle in a small town in...
Elizabeth Agyemang
Elizabeth Agyemang is the author of several books, including the young adult mystery thriller
Heart-Shaped Lies
, and the graphic novels
...
Lokelani Alabanza
Lokelani Alabanza is a pastry chef with 20+ years' experience. Over the course of her career, she has invented over 300 ice cream flavors. Based...
Dr. Stanley Andrisse
Dr. Stanley Andrisse, PhD, is an endocrinologist, tenured professor, author, and nationally recognized advocate for education and criminal justice reform. He is an...
Lee Bains
Lee Bains is a poet and songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama, who has released four studio albums of what Rolling Stone calls "Southern gospel...
Angela Ball
Angela Ball's poems, prose, and translations have appeared in
Boulevard, Poetry, The Paris Review, The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, The North American Review,
...
Derrick Barnes
Derrick Barnes is a National Book Award Finalist for his 2022 graphic novel
Victory
.
Stand! - Raising My Fist For Justice
(Norton...
Eric Battle
Eric Battle is an illustrator, curator, and art director whose career has covered the spectrum of comic books and graphic novels, children's books,...
Christopher Benson
Christopher Benson is an Emmy Award-winning lawyer, journalist, and associate professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He co-authored, with the late...
Joe Bond
Hope House
is Joe Bond's first novel. He began working on it after his story "Damico" won The Masters Review Short Story...
H. W. Brands
H. W. Brands holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written more than...
Michael Buckley
Michael Buckley is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Sisters Grimm
and
NERDS
series and the...
A'Lelia Bundles
A'Lelia Bundles is the author of
Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance
- the first major biography of her ...
Belle Burden
Belle Burden is a pro bono immigration attorney specializing in juvenile cases. Her writing has appeared in the
New York Times
. She lives...
Tracy Carr
Tracy Carr is a researcher, editor, and writer in Jackson, Mississippi. A former English instructor and librarian, she has a BA in English...
Saddiq Dzukogi
Saddiq Dzukogi is a Nigerian poet and an assistant professor of English at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of
Your
...
W. Ralph Eubanks
W. Ralph Eubanks is a faculty fellow and writer in residence at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of...
Beth Ann Fennelly
Beth Ann Fennelly, a 2020 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, was the poet laureate of Mississippi from 2016-2021 and teaches in the MFA...
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Born and raised in the Acadiana in South Louisiana, Jordan LaHaye Fontenot's work as a writer and editor is an ongoing exploration of...
Emily Franklin
Emily Franklin is the bestselling author of twenty-five books including
The Lioness of Boston
, based on the life of trailblazer Isabella...
Chrystal D. Giles
Chrystal D. Giles is an acclaimed author of books for young readers. Her books have been nominated for multiple state book awards, earned...
Johanna Gohmann
Johanna Gohmann is an essayist, humor writer, and children's book author. Her work has appeared in
The New Yorker, The New York
...
Anand Gopal
Anand Gopal is a writer for
The New Yorker
, where he writes about democracy, inequality, and conflict. He has twice been a...
Stephen J. Gordin
Stephen J. Gordin is a former editorial writer and a freelance author of several novels, children's books, and nonfiction professional articles. He is...
Kaycie Hall
Kaycie Hall is a writer and translator from French. She lives in New York City with her son.
Jasmine L. Holmes
Jasmine Holmes is an educator, historian, and author whose work moves between the classroom and the archive. She has written several trade-published nonfiction...
Lauren Hough
Lauren Hough was born in Germany and raised in seven countries, and West Texas. She's been an Air Force airman, a bartender,...
Jennifer Iacopelli
Jennifer Iacopelli is the author of
Finding Her Edge
(premiering on Netflix in early 2026). She lives in New York and she invites...
Jenny Jackson
Jenny Jackson is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Pineapple Street
and
The Shampoo Effect
. A...
Randal Maurice Jelks
Randal Maurice Jelks is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is an...
John Jennings
John Jennings is a professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, Harvard Fellow,
New York Times
bestseller, 2018 Eisner Award–winner, and all-around champion of Black...
Dan Jones
Dan Jones is a Mississippi native and worked as a physician, medical missionary and humanitarian, educator, researcher, and university leader. He served as...
Robert P. Jones
Robert P. Jones is the president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and a
New York Times
bestselling author....
Tom Junod
Tom Junod is senior writer for
ESPN
, where his work has won an Emmy and the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting....
Logan Karlie
Logan Karlie is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Dream by the Shadows
. She holds a master's degree in...
Kelly Foster Lundquist
Kelly Foster Lundquist is the author of
Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage
, named by SheReads as a Most Anticipated Memoir of...
Anne E. Marshall
Anne Marshall is Professor of History at Mississippi State University, where she has taught since 2006. She has served as Executive Director of the U...
Andrew McCarthy
Andrew McCarthy is the author of four books,
Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain, Brat: An '8
...
Jack B. McGuire
Jack B. McGuire served as special assistant to the mayor of New Orleans, press secretary to the mayor, and director of public relations...
Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon is a #1
New York Times
bestselling author, award winning performer, and writer, who is celebrated globally for her work in film...
Tenaj Moody
Tenaj Moody is a mother, author, speaker, researcher, and social entrepreneur dedicated to advancing healing, leadership, and opportunity for women and girls impacted...
Loubna Mrie
Loubna Mrie is a Syrian journalist, photographer, and writer, and a frequent commentator on Syrian and Middle Eastern affairs. The recipient of fellowships...
Victoria Christopher Murray
Victoria Christopher Murray is the
New York Times
bestselling coauthor of
The First Ladies
and
The Personal Librarian
.
Judith Negron
Judith Negron is a justice reform advocate with a Master's in Mental Health, and over 20 years of experience as an educator, mentor, and...
Hallie Elizabeth Newton
Hallie Elizabeth Newton was born in Mississippi. She received her first screenplay credit for
At Any Price
, released by Sony Picture ...
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the
New York Times
bestselling author of two illustrated collections of essays:
Bite by Bite
and
World
...
M. J. (Mike) O'Brien
M. J. (Mike) O'Brien is a writer and researcher who spent 30 years as the chief communications and public relations officer for a national...
Timothy Pakron
Timothy Pakron is a cookbook author and food blogger from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Pakron graduated from the College of Charleston where...
Evan Peacock
Evan Peacock is an author, archaeologist, and long-time freshwater fishing enthusiast who grew up in the hill country of north-central Mississippi. He holds...
Deesha Philyaw
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection,
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
, won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2020/2021 Story Prize,...
Kevin Powers
Kevin Powers was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Since publishing his first novel in 2012, his books have been translated into more than...
Lauren Rhoades
Lauren Rhoades is a writer and editor living in Jackson, Mississippi. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Rhoades moved to Mississippi in 2013 to serve with...
Rick Ross
Rick Ross is an American rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur and founder of the Maybach Music Group. All eleven of his albums have landed in the Billboard 200,...
Gabriella Saab
Gabriella Saab is an acclaimed author of historical fiction. Her first two novels,
The Last Checkmate
and
Daughters of Victory
,...
George Saunders
The recipient of a 2006 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (“Genius” Award), George Saunders has authored two novels, four collections of short stories, a novella, a book of...
Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Laurie Gwen Shapiro is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared in
The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New
...
Samyak Shertok
Samyak Shertok's debut collection,
No Rhododendron
(University of Pittsburgh Press, 2025), was selected by Kimiko Hahn for the 2024 AWP Donald Hall Prize...
George Singleton
George Singleton has published eleven collections of stories, two novels, and two collections of essays. His stories have appeared in the
Atlantic
...
Elise Smith
Elise Smith received her M.A. from Vanderbilt and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, both in art history,...
Katy Simpson Smith
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Katy Simpson Smith is the author of
The Story of Land and Sea, Free Men, The Everlasting,
...
Stephanie Soileau
Stephanie Soileau is the author of the critically acclaimed story collection
Last One Out Shut Off the Lights
. Her work has...
Isabelle Spotts
Isabelle Spotts is the writer and narrator of two award-winning audio dramas,
Night Faces
and
Middle West
. She attended ...
Mancy Thompson
My name is Mancy Thompson and I am writing to provide a brief auto biographical to be used for the September Book signing. On...
Mychal Threets
Mychal Threets is a librarian and advocate for the spread of library joy! He is the creator of many viral clips sharing affirmations and encouragement...
Darnell Lamont Walker
Darnell Lamont Walker is a Death Doula and Emmy-Nominated Writer whose work lives at the intersection of creativity, care, and transition. Sometimes that...
Robyn Wall
Robyn Wall is the author of
Candi the Candicorn, I Worked Hard on That!
, and the
My Cool Family
board...
Tiffany L. Warren
Tiffany L. Warren is a novelist and screenwriter who has published over thirty novels. In addition to writing books, Tiffany has written and...
Marcus Wicker
Marcus Wicker was born in Ann Arbor and raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is the author of three books of poetry:
Dear Mothership<
...
Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including
The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map
...
Emily Yellin
Emily Yellin is a journalist, author, and producer. Her latest book,
Nonviolent - A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and Love
(Random ...
Michelle Young
Michelle Young is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book,
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of World War II
...
