2015 Festival
Highlights
Best-selling author John Grisham and the Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South” marching band launched the Mississippi Book Festival in 2015 as a loud and proud celebration of reading, writing, storytelling and the state’s significant contributions to American literature. Exceeding expectations, more than 3,700 flocked to the grounds of the Mississippi State Capitol and surrounding spots to hobnob with favorite writers and find new ones, making this August debut the hottest draw in more ways than one. Standing-room-only crowds crammed into historic State Capitol rooms and Galloway church to bask in book talk from authors Grisham (Sycamore Row), Greg Iles (The Bone Tree), Ellen Gilchrist (Acts of God) and 100 more, showcased on 20-plus panels. An Authors Alley with dozens of self-published authors, plus booksellers, exhibits, tours, food trucks, live music and kids’ activities made this first and festive literary lawn party one to remember. And repeat. 2015 Funders >
Slideshow
Panels
- African American History: Diane Williams, Alysia Burton Steele, Stephen A. Berrey, George Worlasi Kwasi Dor, and Michael Vinson Williams
- Books for Young Readers: Margaret McMullan, Kimberly Willis Holt, Deborah Wiles, Taylor Kitchings, Greg Leitich Smith, Cassie Beasley, and Carolyn Brown
- Children’s Illustrated Books: Ellen Ruffin, Sarah Campbell, Sarah Frances Hardy, Susan Eaddy, Hester Bass, Lori Nichols, and Chris Barton
- Civil Rights History: Robby Luckett, Tiyi Morris, Jon Hale, Aram Goudsouzian, and Devery Anderson
- Civil War: Tim Isbell, Michael Ballard, Timothy Smith, Thomas (Tom) Parson, and Justin S. Solonick
- Comics & Cartoons in Mississippi: Brannon Costello, Marshall Ramsey, Mike McCarthy, Mary Katherine Spencer, and Tim Fielder
- Cooking and Foodways: Robert St. John, Martha Hall Foose, John Currence, Deborah Hunter, and Dixie Grimes
- Crossing Borders: Across Literary Boundaries: Michael Farris Smith, Jamie Kornegay, Michael Kardos, R. B. Chesterton, and Lisa Howorth
- Eudora Welty: Letters, Flowers, Loves, and the Latest Scholarship: Peggy Whitman Prenshaw, Suzanne Marrs, Tom Nolan, Julia Eichelberger, and Sally Wolff
- Harper Lee Considered: Amanda Nelson, Kerry Madden, Sterling Plumpp, W. Ralph Eubanks, and Beth Ann Fennelly
- Historical Fiction: Howard Bahr, Matthew Guinn, Steve Yates, Katy Simpson Smith, and Jeffrey Stayton
- History and Biography: Curtis Wilkie, Haley Barbour, Don Thompson, Stuart Stevens, Dennis Mitchell, and Minion K.C. Morrison
- Margaret Walker Alexander, Eudora Welty and the Making of Literary Jackson: Robby Luckett, Carolyn Brown, Suzanne Marrs, Julia Eichelberger, and Alferdteen Harrison
- Mississippi Entrepreneurs: Polly Dement, Joel Bomgar ,Toni Cooley, Monica Sethi Harrigill, and John Palmer
- Poetry: Beth Ann Fennelly, Derrick Harriell, Catherine Pierce, and Richard Boada
- Romance: Mary Emrick, Aaron McCarver, Diane Ashley, Pam Hillman, and Beth White
- Short Stories: Michael Kardos, Andrew Malan Milward, Margaret McMullan, and William Boyle
- Southern Fiction Today: Matthew Guinn, Mary Miller, Deborah Johnson, MO Walsh, and Steve Yarbrough
- Southern Popular Fiction: Emily Gatlin, Julie Cantrell, Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, Joshilyn Jackson, and Sara Gruen
- Sports and Outdoors: Rick Cleveland, Billy Watkins, Mike Christensen, Don Jackson, and Sid Salter
- The Last Chapter: William Ferris, Ellen Gilchrist, Greg Iles, Julia Reed, and Steve Yarbrough
- U.S. Congressman Gregg Harper Interviews WWII Veteran for the Library of Congress’s National Veteran: Gregg Harper
- What Reading Means for Our Culture: Reading, Writing and Journalism’s Influence in Mississippi: John Grisham, Jerry Mitchell, and William Ferris
Activities