2017 Festival
Highlights
The Mississippi Book Festival’s third turn around the block of the State Capitol in downtown Jackson kept more than 6,400 book lovers enthralled as they packed panels, heard stories, gained insights, reveled in the festival vibe and bought books by the tote-load and the thousands. Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, joined by Governor Phil Bryant and other state dignitaries kicked off the festivities and unveiled the Mississippi Literary Map of the state’s classic and emerging authors. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford
(Between Them, Independence Day) and New York Times best-selling author Greg Iles
(Natchez Burning trilogy) topped a long list of contemporary authors on hand for a day that was also peppered with fun and insights from state and regional culinary personalities, photographers and visual and musical artists. Kids and teen activities, including new best-selling Jackson author Angie Thomas
(The Hate U Give), ensured a festival that reached readers of all ages, and the debut of “Face-to-Face” time with select authors gave fans a chance for photos and more intimate book signing time with their favorites. Outdoors, the literary lawn party was in full swing, too, with live music, food trucks and the lively exchanges of readers and writers of every persuasion.
2017 Funders >
Slideshow
Panels
- A Conversation with Richard Ford: Dr. Robert Pearigen, Richard Ford
- A Conversation with the Librarian of Congress: Dr. Carla Hayden, The Honorable Gregg Harper
- A Culture of Food: John T. Edge, Jessica B. Harris, Susan Schadt, Leslie Hossfeld
- A Different Angle: Chandler Griffin, Phillip Hardwick, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Malcolm White, Neil White
- A Really Big Lunch: Jeffrey Lent, Jamie Harrison, Gregg Orr, Judy Hottenson
- A Special Report: Vietnam Fifty Years Later: Mark Bowden, The Honorable Trent Kelly
- A Year in Mississippi: Charline McCord, Sid Salter, Seetha Srinivasan, Diane Williams, JoAnne Prichard Morris
- Art in Mississippi: Elise Smith, Leif Anderson, Carolyn Brown, William Dunlap, H.C. Porter
- Capturing Mississippi: William Ferris, Langdon Clay, Panny Flautt Mayfield, R. Kim Rushing, Jack Spencer, David Wharton
- Celebrating our Roots: A Tribute to Mississippi’s Musical Heritage: Scott Barretta, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, Timothy Duffy, Tom Piazza, Roger Stolle, Jimmi Mayes
- Eudora Welty’s Legacy: Suzanne Marrs, Michael Pickard, Harriet Pollack, W. Ralph Eubanks, Ebony Lumumba
- First Fiction: The Discovery of the Debut: Richard Grant, Chanelle Benz, Ladee Hubbard, Phillip Lewis, Kayla Rae Whitaker
- Greg Iles and Stanley Nelson with Jerry Mitchell: Jerry Mitchell, Greg Iles, Stanley Nelson
- Her Story: Susan Cushman, Mary Ann Connell, Suzanne Marrs, Norma Watkins, Jessica B. Harris
- Historical Fiction: Matthew Guinn, Taylor Brown, Tim Gautreaux, Daren Wang, Steve Yates
- Hue, 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam: Mark Bowden, Howard Bahr
- In the Middle: Clara Martin, Cassie Beasley, Kristin L. Gray, Alison McGhee, Kimberly Willis Holt
- Kidnote: Candace Fleming, Eric Rohmann
- Larry Brown, the South, and the Modern Novel: Richard Howorth, Ron Rash, Mark Richard, Michael Farris Smith
- Mississippi Encyclopedia (Bicentennial Feature): Craig Gill, Odie Lindsey, Ted Ownby, James G. Thomas, Jr., Charles Reagan Wilson
- Mississippi History: Pamela Junior, Charles Eagles, Carter Dalton Lyon, Jeffery B. Howell, Carol Ruth Silver, Kathleen Wickham, Hollis Watkins
- Mississippi Middle Grade Readers (Bicentennial Feature): Taylor Kitchings, Corabel Shofner, Linda Williams Jackson, Augusta Scattergood, Barry Wolverton
- More Than Just a Cookbook: Robert St. John, John Currence, Martha Hall Foose, Asha Gomez, Matt Moore, Jill O’Connor
- National Literary Panel: Eliza Borne, Peter Geye, Jeffrey Lent, Jami Attenberg, Tim Gautreaux
- Poetry: Beth Ann Fennelly, Derrick Harriell, Catherine Pierce, Ron Rash
- Rising Stars in Young Adult: Mandy Robbins Smith, Moriah McStay, Joanne O’Sullivan, Shalanda Stanley, Angie Thomas
- Southern Fiction: Howard Bahr, John Gregory Brown, Kevin Wilson, Bill Loehfelm, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
- Southern History: Robert Luckett, Adrienne Berard, Patricia Michelle Boyett, Otis Sanford, Grif Stockley
- Stories from the South: David Crews, Michael Knight, Odie Lindsey, Mary Miller, Helen Ellis
- The Enduring Mystery with Otto Penzler: Otto Penzler, Michael Kardos, Robert Olen Butler, Lachlan Smith, Tom Franklin
- The Heritage of Mississippi Series (Bicentennial Feature): Katie Blount, James F. Barnett, Jr., Timothy B. Smith, Randy Sparks, Lorie Watkins
- The Power of the Picture Book: Ellen Ruffin, Margery Cuyler, Gilbert Ford, Peter Reynolds, Matthew Clark Smith
- The Reading Stack: Valerie Walley, Brian Contine, Toni Hetzel, Jessica Pearson, Eric Svenson
- Things Like the Truth: Jimmie E. Gates, Jack Bales, Jim Dees, Ellen Gilchrist, Marshall Ramsey, Sid Salter
- Two Cooks in the Kitchen: John Currence, Vivian Howard
- U.S. Presidents: John Marszalek, Alvin S. Felzenberg, Walter Stahr, Curtis Wilkie
- Voices of Home: Tracy Carr, Julie Cantrell, Susan Cushman, John Floyd, Johnnie Bernhard
- Write for Mississippi: Katy Simpson Smith, Marion Barnwell, W. Ralph Eubanks, Michael Pickard, Miriam Gray
- Write for Mississippi Workshop: Katy Simpson Smith, Marion Barnwell, W. Ralph Eubanks, Michael Pickard
Activities