2016 Festival
Highlights
The Mississippi Book Festival’s second edition in 2016 saw a 70 percent spike in attendance. The crowd of 6,200 book lovers at the State Capitol and nearby venues counted dozens of young readers enthralled with children’s lit favorites Kate DiCamillo and Jacqueline Woodson, a birthday party for Curious George’s 75th anniversary and the family-friendly Kids Corner. Top, award-winning authors filled the spotlight for adults, including Jon Meacham (Pulitzer Prize, American Lion), Jesmyn Ward (National Book Award, Salvage the Bones) and Harrison Scott Key (Thurber Prize, The World’s Largest Man). Julia Reed (Julia Reed’s South), Roy Blount Jr. (Save Room for Pie) and Bill Dunlap (Short Mean Fiction) shared a spirited look at Southern culture that left listeners in stitches. Key improvements made a smoother festival with more on every front: authors, activities, air-conditioned panel venues, acclaimed exhibits. Food trucks, live music and a bustling marketplace of books turned the literary lawn party into a summer staple for downtown Jackson.
2016 Funders >
Slideshow
Panels
- A Conversation with Jacqueline Woodson: Jacqueline Woodson
- A Conversation with Jon Meacham: Jon Meacham
- A Conversation with Kate DiCamillo: Kate DiCamillo
- Art in Mississippi: Betsy Bradley, Bill Dunlap, Barbara Gauntt, and Ke Francis
- Book Club Picks: Mary Laura Philpott, Ashley Warlick, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Karen White, Natashia Deón, and Anton DiSclafani
- Children’s Illustrated: Sarah Frances Hardy, Louise Borden, William Joyce, Irene Latham, Barry Moser, and Carole Boston Weatherford
- Civil Rights History I: W. Ralph Eubanks, Crystal R. Sanders, Joseph Reiff, Jason Morgan Ward, and Debbie Harwell
- Civil Rights History II: Pamela Junior, Patricia Michelle Boyett, Trent Brown, Sally Palmer Thomason, and Martha Wyatt-Rossignol
- Comics and Cartoons: Brannon Costello, Marshall Ramsey, Ricky Nobile, Mary Laura Philpott, Tim Jackson, and Tim Fielder
- Historical Fiction: Howard Bahr, Tom Piazza, Katy Simpson Smith, Taylor Brown, and Ariel Lawhon
- Jesmyn Ward and The Fire This Time: Jesmyn Ward
- Memoir: Carolyn Brown, Ellen Gilchrist, Harrison Scott Key, Chris Offutt, Rheta Grimsley Johnson, Richard Grant, and Barry Moser
- Middle Grade Readers: Deborah Wiles, Augusta Scattergood, Shannon Hitchcock, Kathi Appelt, Esta Spalding, John David Anderson, and Jean Claude Bemis
- Mississippi History: Gerard Helferich, Anne Webster, J. Lee Annis, Jr., James F. Barnett, Jr., and Jim Woodrick
- Mississippi Noir: William Boyle, Michael Farris Smith, Mary Miller, RaShell Smith-Spears, and John M. Floyd
- Mystery and Thriller: Matthew Guinn, Randy Pierce, Melissa Ginsberg, Neely Tucker, and John Hart
- Photography: James Patterson, Maude Schuyler Clay, R. Kim Rushing, Langdon Clay, Ken Murphy, and Ed Croom
- Poetry: Derrick Harriell, Kendall Dunkelberg, Bee Donley, Caroline Randall Williams, James Kimbrell, and R. Flowers Rivera
- Schools in Change: Charles C. Bolton,Teena Horn, John Griffin Jones, Jon N. Hale, and Michael Copperman
- Short Stories: Margaret McMullan, Rick Bass, Becky Hagenston, Gerry Wilson, and Bill Dunlap
- Southern Cooking: Catarina Passidomo Townes, Robert St. John, Julia Reed, Sara Foster, and Ann Taylor Pittman
- Southern Culture: Julia Reed and Friends: Julia Reed, Roy Blount, Jr., and Bill Dunlap
- Southern Fiction Today: M.O. Walsh, Ed Tarkington, Lee Clay Johnson, Brad Watson, Steve Yates, and Paulette Boudreaux
- Sports and Outdoors: Sid Salter, Donald Jackson, Jason A. Peterson, and Stuart Stevens
- The Mississippi Experience / The Closing Chapter: Scott Naugle, Stuart Stevens, Richard Grant, Jim Dees, W. Ralph Eubanks, and Rheta Grimsley Johnson
- The National Page: Eliza Borné, Jay McInerney, John Hart, Robert Olen Butler, and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
- The Presidential Year: Stuart Stevens, Jon Meacham, and Trent Lott
- True Crime: James R. Crockett, Charlie Spillers, John Hailman, and Beverly Lowry
- William Faulkner: His Life and Writings: James Thomas, Robert Hamblin, Jay Watson, James Thomas, M. Thomas Inge, and Lorie Watkins Massey
- Willie Morris and His Books: Rick Cleveland, Teresa Nicholas, Larry Wells JoAnne Prichard Morris, David Rae Morris, Barry Moser and Jack Bales
- Young Adult: Clara Martin, Nicole Castroman, Kathryn Purdie, A.C. Thomas, Jeff Zentner, and Taylor Kitchings
Activities