2019 Festival

Presented by the State of Mississippi and the Community Foundation for Mississippi Join us as we set the 2019 Mississippi Book Festival in motion and unveil the first two markers of the Mississippi Writers Trail. Acclaimed and influential writers throughout the state will be honored with historical markers along the Mississippi Writers Trail and we are thrilled to unveil those recognizing the significant work of Richard Ford and Ida B. Wells. Many state leaders, friends and family will be there to help celebrate this milestone. Partners in this historic achievement include the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Community Foundation for Mississippi, Mississippi Humanities Council, Mississippi Book Festival, Mississippi Development Authority, Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Library Commission.

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Presented by University of Mississippi Department of English and MFA Program

Join these poets on the journey toward mindfulness and the eye-opening revelations such keen focus can bring.

• C. Leigh McInnis, MODERATOR
• Ann Fisher-Wirth, The Bones of Winter Birds
• January Gill O’Neil, Rewilding
• Frank LaRue Owen, The School of Soft Attention
• Danielle Sellers, Minor Territories

Presented by Butler Snow

Laugh along as wise and witty writers observe life with the gentleness of a knowing chuckle or the sharp edge of a raucous skewer.

• Todd Doughty, MODERATOR
• Helen Ellis, Southern Lady Code
• Harrison Scott Key, Congratulations, Who Are You Again?
• Mary Laura Philpott, I Miss You When I Blink

Presented by The Source by BankPlus Female protagonists rule in this gathering of authors whose books are funny, haunting, profound, poignant, audacious, and anchored in the strong bonds of family and friends.

• Lyn Roberts, MODERATOR
• Mamta Chaudhry, Haunting Paris
• Lisa Patton, Rush
• Deb Spera, Call Your Daughter Home

Go deep on the personality tool and the insights it offers with an Enneagram master and a leading voice in contemporary spirituality.

• George Patton, MODERATOR
• Brian McLaren, The Great Spiritual Migration
• Suzanne Stabile, The Path Between Us

Presented by Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival and the de Grummond Collection at USM The worldwide bestselling creator of Captain Underpants and Dog Man launches his “Do Good” tour at the Mississippi Book Festival. First 500 kids receive a FREE book!

• Dav Pilkey, Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls

Presented by Pigott Law Firm Contributors to the new collection of essays discuss Welty’s portrayal of race in the Jim Crow South.

• Harriet Pollack, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race, MODERATOR
• Ebony Lumumba, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race
• Rebecca Mark, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race
• Donnie McMahand, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race
• Kevin Murphy, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race
• Christin Marie Taylor, New Essays on Welty, Class, & Race

Presented by Entergy and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Little-known stories from the civil rights era shine in the spotlight, deepening understanding of this crucial period.

• Pamela Junior, MODERATOR
• Natalie Adams, Just Trying to Have School
• Jelani M. Favors, Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism
• Michelle Purdy, Transforming the Elite Black Students and Desegregation of the Private Schools
• Hezekiah Watkins, Pushing Forward

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Presented by Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area Find ways the storied region springs to colorful life, from the memories of natives and in the photos and tales of riverboat pilots.

• Kelle Barfield, MODERATOR
• Hank Burdine, Dust in the Road
• Melody Golding, Life Between the Levees: America’s Riverboat Pilots
• Steven Manheim, Blues Musicians from the Mississippi Delta

Presented by Mississippi Library Commission Early East Coast and outlaw Wild West get a nonfiction lens as authors look at the nation’s history in the hands of pirates and gunslingers.

• Katie Blount, MODERATOR
• Tom Clavin, Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter
• Eric Jay Dolin, Black Flags, Blue Waters
• Peter Houlahan, Norco ‘80

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Presented by Mississippi State University

Food never found better friends than this collection of authors who cover the spread with heart, health, humor, and a party spirit.

• Robert St. John, MODERATOR
• Elizabeth Heiskell, The Southern Living Party Cookbook
• Sheree Rose Kelley, Breads & Spreads
• Timothy Pakron, Mississippi Vegan

Presented by Sara and Bill Ray Picture book authors share the powerful punch illustrations add to their fanciful, charming stories of naughty cats, hungry llamas, adventurous owls, and more.

• Ellen Ruffin, MODERATOR
• Kathi Appelt, Max Attacks
• Heather Fox, Llama Destroys the World
• Jonathan Stutzman, Llama Destroys the World
• Jonathan D. Voss, Imagine That: A Hoot & Olive Story

Presented by Jackson State University Graduate School Hear from acclaimed journalists as they discuss their experiences and new challenges in today’s changing journalistic landscape.

• Ellen Meacham, MODERATOR
• Bracey Harris
• Jesse Holland, Who is the Black Panther?
• Laura Santhanam

Grab a seat for stories on the field of play and the field of life in the midst of a football-loving culture.

• Mike Frascogna, MODERATOR
• Margarita Jurcovic, Margarita’s Gridiron Adventure
• Jeff Roberson, Midnight Train
• Wright Thompson, The Cost of These Dreams
• Jim Weatherly, Midnight Train
• Neil White, 125 Years of Ole Miss Football

Presented by Sarah McCullough First-time novelists bring fresh insights as their characters navigate the troublesome waters of a horrifying, not-so-distant future, strained family ties, and connections forged through a tragic crime.

• Katy Simpson Smith, MODERATOR
• Juliet Grames, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
• Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth
• Maurice Carlos Ruffin, We Cast a Shadow

Presented by Mississippi College School of Law Follow a journey of inspiration and achievement with a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Margaret McMullan.

• Margaret McMullan, Where the Angels Lived: One Family’s Story of Exile, Loss, and Return
• Sonia Sotomayor, Turning Pages: My Life Story

Get an in-depth look into Casey Cep’s non-fiction debut on Harper Lee and the story she left untold.

• Ellen Rodgers Daniels, Mississippi Book Festival Deputy Director, MODERATOR
• Casey Cep, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and The Last Trial of Harper Lee

Presented by The Eudora Welty Foundation Discover Eudora Welty’s groundbreaking photography from the people who have brought this newly re-issued collection to life.

• Suzanne Marrs, MODERATOR
• W. Ralph Eubanks
• Forrest Galey
• Todd Lape
• Mary Alice White

A conversation about all the things Mississippi led by one of our state’s most beloved cartoonists.

• Marshall Ramsey, MODERATOR
• Josh Foreman, Hidden History of the Mississippi Sound
• Luke Lampton, Images in Mississippi Medicine
• Kate Stewart, Parchman Farm: Mississippi’s State Penitenitiary in the 1930s
• Janice Branch Tracy, Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How Bootleggers & the Law Kept a Dry State Soaked

Presented by Mississippi Humanities Council

Michael Dobbs, historian and author of The Unwanted, published in conjunction with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum initiative “Americans and the Holocaust,” takes a closer look at WWII with Mississippi Humanities Council Executive Director Stuart Rockoff.

• Stuart Rockoff, MODERATOR
• Michael Dobbs, The Unwanted

Presented by The Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi Find out more about packing big thoughts into smaller packages with humor, candor, and soul from a trio who’ve found success doing just that.

• Olivia Clare, MODERATOR
• Polly Rosenwaike, Look How Happy I Am Making You
• Kimberly King Parsons, Black Light
• George Singleton, Staff Picks

Mississippi artist, author and all-around bon vivant brings special guests to talk all things Mississippi. You never know who will show up when Bill Dunlap throws a party!

• Bill Dunlap, Pappy Kitchens and the Saga of Red Eye the Rooster
• Martha Hall Foose
• Diane C. McPhail, The Abolitionist’s Daughter
• Robert St. John

Presented by Entergy and Visit Jackson Examine how the Well-Read Black Girl movement weaves together readers, groups, and the online community through the love of books.

• Ebony Lumumba, MODERATOR
• Glory Edim, The Well-Read Black Girl
• Dhonielle Clayton, The Everlasting Rose
• Nic Stone, Odd One Out
• Angie Thomas, On the Come Up

Presented by University of Mississippi Friends of the Library Get swept up in the expansive fiction of these widely acclaimed authors and the insights their novels offer on the legacy of violence, the courage of pioneering immigrants, and the shaping of the American identity.

• Tom Franklin, MODERATOR
• Karl Marlantes, Deep River
• Kevin Powers, A Shout in the Ruins

Presented by Mississippi Humanities Council and Mississippi State University

Gain insights from battlegrounds of war and the home front in the South, with authors’ studies of Ulysses S. Grant, family problems and women soldiers.

• Jim Woodrick, MODERATOR
• Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Sisters & Rebels
• Shelby Harriel, Behind the Rifle: Women Soldiers in Civil War Mississippi
• John F. Marszalek, Hold On with a Bulldog Grip: A Short Study of Ulysses S. Grant
• Ben Wynne, The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis

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Presented by Nautilus Publishing International best-selling author Ann Patchett will discuss her innovative work and literary career.

• Ann Patchett, The Dutch House: A Novel

Presented by Mississippi Humanities Council and Gregg Harper An illuminating look at figures both on the stage and in the wings in the national struggle toward civil rights for all.

• W. Ralph Eubanks, MODERATOR
• Rebecca Tuuri, Strategic Sisterhood: The National Council of Negro Women in the Black Freedom Struggle
• Shennette Garrett-Scott, Banking on Freedom: Black Women in US Finance Before the New Deal
• Ted Ownby, Hurtin’ Words
• William Sturkey, Hattiesburg: An American City in Black & White
• Dave Tell, Remembering Emmett Till

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Presented by Carolyn and Chris Ray and Fischer Galleries Explore how photography is a medium to archive the legacy of the South.

• Ryan Steed, MODERATOR
• James T. Campbell, Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars
• Maude Schuyler Clay, The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston
• Timothy Duffy, Blue Muse
• Andrew Moore, Blue Alabama

Presented by Pass Christian Books and Mississippi Humanities Council Delve deep with authors whose memoirs — heartrending, uplifting, quirky, provocative and surprising — share key revelations on the human condition.

• Alan Huffman, MODERATOR
• Beth Ann Fennelly, Heating & Cooling
• Kiese Laymon, Heavy
• Margaret McMullan, Where the Angels Lived: One Family’s Story of Exile, Loss, and Return

Presented by Bean and Floyd Sulser Revel in suspense with the authors who can craft it into fine storytelling with more than a few surprises.

• Matthew Guinn, MODERATOR
• Chanelle Benz, Gone Dead
• Saul A. Lelchuk, Save Me from Dangerous Men
• S. J. Rozan, Paper Son
• Philip Shirley, The Graceland Conspiracy

Bill Dunlap and Richard Gruber share their insight into the lives of Mississippi artists Dusti Bonge and Pappy Kitchens.

• Bill Dunlap, Pappy Kitchens & the Saga of Red Eye the Rooster, MODERATOR
• J. Richard Gruber, Dusti Bongé: Art and Life: Biloxi, New Orleans, New York

Presented by Carroll, Warren & Parker Step back in time with novelists whose evocative stories tap the settings of history — racial injustice in the 1940s, the Romanov family execution, pre-Roe vs. Wade America — for more nuanced perspectives on the present.

• Tracy Carr, MODERATOR
• Melanie Benjamin, The Mistress of the Ritz
• Minrose Gwin, The Accidentals
• Ariel Lawhon, I Was Anastasia
• Elizabeth H. Winthrop, The Mercy Seat

Presented by Cornerstone Consulting Group, Inc. Successful young adult (YA) fantasy authors take your imagination for a ride into bold, enchanted landscapes with magical characters that still resonate with earthbound mortals.

• Sarah Frances Hardy, MODERATOR
• Kathi Appelt, Angel Thieves
• Jimmy Cajoleas, The Good Demon
• Roshani Chokshi, The Gilded Wolves
• Margaret Owen, The Merciful Crow

Presented by Beard+Riser Architects Journey toward understanding, acceptance and justice with authors whose characters, candor, and community work break down barriers.

• Jaime Harker, MODERATOR
• Robert W. Fieseler, Tinderbox
• Mesha Maren, Sugar Run
• Nick White, Sweet & Low

Hear four young adult (YA) authors hot on the heels of new releases that span the genre from best friends grappling with an uncertain future to coming-of-age in the modern world.

• Taylor Kitchings, MODERATOR
• Mason Deaver, I Wish You All the Best
• Shalanda Stanley, Nick & June Were Here
• Nic Stone, Odd One Out
• Jeff Zentner, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee

Presented by the University of Southern Mississippi Center for the Study of the Gulf South Explore the power of photography with photographers who have captured the culture of the South.

• Malcolm White, MODERATOR
• Michael Ford, North Mississippi Homeplace
• Ken Murphy, Local Color
• Marc Perrusquia, A Spy In Canaan: How the FBI Used a Famous Photographer to Infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement

Learn the ins and outs of publishing as a modern Southern writer.

• Allen Mendenhall, Writers on Writing, MODERATOR
• Johnnie Bernhard, Writers on Writing
• Bren McClain, Writers on Writing

Presented by Butler Snow and University of Mississippi Center for the Study of Southern Culture

Hear the distinct voices behind compelling and poignant tales about the human condition and a place we thought we already knew.

• Jamie Kornegay, MODERATOR
• Lisa Howorth, Summerlings
• Michael Knight, At Briarwood School for Girls
• Mary Miller, Biloxi
• Snowden Wright, American Pop

Get a primer on the small literary presses and their niche focus from the team at Soho.

• Valerie Walley, MODERATOR
• Bronwen Hruska, Publisher, Soho Press
• Juliet Grames, Associate Publisher, Soho Press
• Paul Oliver, Director of Marketing and Publicity, Soho Press

Presented by Nancy and Cecil Brown Gangster-era Chicago, serial murder in 1970s Alabama, and a bootlegger king — a deep dive into true crime and tales of greed on the national front.

• Curtis Wilkie, MODERATOR
• Karen Abbott, Ghosts of Eden Park
• Casey Cep, Furious Hours: Harper Lee and an Unfinished Story of Race, Religion and Murder
• A. Brad Schwartz, Scarface and the Untouchable

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Presented by University of Mississippi College of Liberal Arts and Margaret and Bob Montgomery Literary giants and personal friends Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates discuss their lives and works.

• Richard Ford, Between Them: Remembering My Parents
• Joyce Carol Oates, My Life as a Rat

Presented by Millsaps College Writing teachers and alumni of the McMullan Young Writers Workshop share insights about what it means to teach, write, and grow in an immersive creative environment.

• Liz Egan, MODERATOR
• Jamie Dickson
• Kiese Laymon
• Margaret McMullan
• Areial Thomas

Presented by Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway Crime meets the law in these true stories anchored in the region and ranging far and wide.

• Charlie Spillers, MODERATOR
• Lovejoy Boteler, Crooked Snake
• John Hailman, Foreign Missions of an American Prosector: From Moscow to Morocco and Paris to the Persian Gulf
• Patrick O’Daniel, Crusaders, Gangsters, and Whiskey: Prohibition in Memphis
• James L. Robertson, Heroes, Rascals, & the Law

Presented by First Commercial Bank Find contemporary resonance in the powerful story of German Jews and the brave individuals who risked it all under the threat of Nazi Germany.

• James A. Peden, Jr., MODERATOR
• Michael Dobbs, The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz and the Village Caught In Between
• Alex Kershaw, The First Wave
• Sam Kleiner, Flying Tigers

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Presented by Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi Humanities Council Words are like jewels in the hands of eminent poets, so expect the conversation to sparkle as the Poet Laureate of Mississippi and the former U.S. and Mississippi Poet Laureate sit down and visit.

• Beth Ann Fennelly, Heating & Cooling
• Natasha Trethewey, Monument

Presented by Holly and Alan Lange Best-selling author of Sex and the City and Is There Still Sex in the City? Candace Bushnell will join her original editor and Grove Atlantic Associate Publisher Judy Hottensen in conversation about life and love in New York City.

• Candace Bushnell, Is There Still Sex in the City?
• Judy Hottensen, Associate Publisher, Grove Atlantic

Presented by Capitol Resources Celebrate the 50th anniversary of historic Malaco Records and delve into the best of the Mississippi blues.

• Jim Beaugez, MODERATOR
• Robert M. Marovich, The Gospel According to Malaco
• Roger Stolle, Mississippi Juke Joint Confidential
• Tammy L. Turner, Dick Waterman: A Life in Blues

Good impressions for an impressionable age.

• Sami Thomason, MODERATOR
• Jimmy Cajoleas, The Rambling
• Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the Song of Death
• Shannon Greenland, Scouts
• Kimberly Willis Holt, The Lost Boy’s Gift
• Jodi Kendall, Dog Days in the City