2026 Workshop Schedule

Start your festival day with a moment to move, breathe, and be present. Jennifer Gordon, author of Stay, a memoir and meditation on healing, connection, and coming home to the body, leads a morning yoga practice inspired by the book’s themes of mindfulness and embodied healing. Join us on the lawn from 9:00–10:00 a.m. and begin the day feeling grounded, connected, and ready for all the festival has in store.

• Jennifer Gordon (Workshop Leader) — Stay: A Memoir

Presented by Atmos Energy

Celebrate Curious George’s 85th birthday with an adventure that’s out of this world! After reading Curious George Discovers the Stars, young explorers will learn about stars and constellations, then make their very own telescope to take home. Get ready to look up, get curious, and discover the wonders of the night sky!

• Dr. Tonja Murphy (Workshop Leader)

Presented by University of Southern Mississippi Center for Writers

Take the road less traveled in this writing workshop led by graduate students from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers.

• Creative Writing Grad Students (Workshop Leaders)

Presented by Ellen & Greg Daniels

In this fast-paced, generative session, we'll focus on the people we love who also wind up being a disaster, even a danger to us. Whether this is a lover, a family member we couldn’t escape, and/or a friend, nearly all of us have been there.

In this class, we’ll look at ways to mine these potent experiences for our writing. We’ll explore our hopes and wishes about these love relationships, the ways they disappoint and betray us, and the ways in which we conspire against ourselves by failing to recognize the damage that this person might be doing to us.

We’ll do a free write together, and use those pieces to talk about craft: narration, plot, characters, conflict and more—all with an eye toward transforming those events into writing that helps of make sense of the mysteries of the human heart.

• Steve Almond (Workshop Leader) – Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories

Presented by Mississippi Library Commission

Celebrate Mississippi through music, art, and storytelling with One Mississippi, Steve Azar’s song that became the official state song of Mississippi and, later, a beautifully illustrated book. Illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy will share how she brought the song’s words to life on the page, while Steve picks up his guitar to perform and teach kids the state song. 

Every participant will leave with their own copy of One Mississippi. Limited to 50 spots.

• Steve Azar (Workshop Leader) – One Mississippi
• Sarah Frances Hardy (Workshop Leader) – One Mississippi

Presented by Terry & Dick Molpus; Carla & Randy Wall

What happens when a fish wishes for water, a dog starts to bark, or one small action sets off a whole chain of surprises? Inspired by Thirteen Chapters: Stories for Children in Which Simple Things Happen, this playful workshop invites kids to discover how the simplest ideas can become stories.

After exploring the book’s thirteen delightfully simple chapters, young storytellers will answer the big question: What happens next? Using their own imaginations, they’ll dream up, write, and create the 14th chapter, discovering that a story can begin with something as simple as a wish, an animal, a sound, or one little thing happening after another.

Every participant will leave with their own copy of Thirteen Chapters! Limited to 50 spots.

• Diane Stevenson (Workshop Leader) – Thirteen Chapters: Stories for Children in Which Simple Things Happen
• Geri Lipschultz (Workshop Leader) – Thirteen Chapters: Stories for Children in Which Simple Things Happen

Presented by Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing

From Charlotte's Web to Old Yeller to Where the Red Fern Grows, writers throughout history have celebrated the animals who’ve brought joy into their lives. It’s a potent topic—befriending an animal is a lifelong education in delight, attention, patience, discovery, silliness, communication, loss, grief, and enduring love.

In this freewheeling session, we'll focus on the lessons our pets have taught us, and the unconditional love that we allow ourselves to feel for them. We’ll look at the work of masters such as E.B. White and Milan Kundera and use a writing prompt to explore the special bonds we have with our furry friends.

You’ll leave with fresh writing and tools for writing into the warmth of cross-species relationships that have shaped and continue to shape you.

• Steve Almond (Workshop Leader) – Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories

Music and poetry have always shared a language of rhythm, imagery, emotion, and story. Led by poet and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis, this workshop invites participants to explore that creative connection, using favorite songs, singers, and musicians as inspiration for their own writing. Through discussion and guided exercises, participants will transform the music that moves them into original poems that celebrate, respond to, or converse with the artists and songs they love.

• C Liegh McInnis (Workshop Leader)

Presented by Huntington Bank

In this interactive creative writing workshop for ages 12 and up, young storytellers will use creative prompts to find their voice, shape their ideas, and bring their stories to life. This workshop is 1.5 hours.

• Dr. Tonja Murphy (Workshop Leader)

Presented by The McMullan/O’Connor Fund

Every great story keeps readers asking one question: What happens next? But what happens when the writer doesn’t know the answer either?

In this lively, hands-on fiction workshop, writers will discover how a little randomness and a few rolls of the dice can open up surprising new possibilities for their stories. Using multicolored dice and specially designed prompts, participants will introduce unexpected characters, conflicts, betrayals, twists, and turns into their work and see where the story takes them.

Part brainstorming exercise, part writer’s-block breaker, and part creative game, What Happens Next? offers writers a playful new way to generate ideas, solve storytelling problems, and discover just how many stories they have waiting to be told. The workshop will include guided writing time, group discussion, and a Q&A about participants’ own works in progress.

Appropriate for writers of all ages and experience levels.

• Liz Egan (Workshop Leader)