Since its inauguration in April 1993, the Oxford Conference for the Book has celebrated books, writing, and reading and has also dealt with practical concerns on which the literary arts depend, including literacy, freedom of expression, and the book trade itself.

The 1998 conference, the fifth in the series, is set for March 13-15, 1998. The program will consist of readings, lectures, discussions, and a performance of a musical interpretation of Lee Smith's novel Fair and Tender Ladies. The Young Authors Fair, a special event sponsored by the Oxford Junior Auxiliary and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, will take place in conjunction with the conference.

Among the notable authors participating in the 1998 Oxford Conference for the Book are Stephen E. Ambrose, Rick Bragg, Larry Brown, Randall Kenan, Thomas P. Slaughter, and Elizabeth Spencer. Ambrose is the author of numerous books of history, including the bestseller Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West. Examining the era portrayed in Undaunted Courage, Slaughter will lecture on the topic "Writing the Wilderness from Meriwether Lewis to William Bartram and Back." Slaughter, who teaches history at Rutgers University, is the author of  The Natures of John and William Bartram and editor of William Bartram: Travels and Other Writings.

In addition to reading from his work, Ambrose will be on the panel "Wieners and Rebels: Writing from the Trenches of Southern Culture." Other panelists for this session will be historian Jerry E. Strahan and journalist Tony Horwitz. Strahan, manager of Lucky Dogs Inc. in New Orleans, is the author of Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter. Horwitz is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and his book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War is soon to be published by Pantheon.

Elizabeth Spencer, whose fiction includes The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales and The Voice at the Back Door, will read from her latest work, Landscapes of the Heart: A Memoir. Bragg, correspondent for the New York Times, will also read from his recent memoir, All Over But the Shoutin'.

Randall Kenan and Alane Mason will lead sessions on writing, being published, and reaching an audience. Mason, an editor at W. W. Norton, has published Magda Denes's Castles Burning and Last Days of the Dog-Men by Brad Watson. Kenan is the author of a story collection, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, and a novel, A Visitation of Spirits. He is currently Visiting Southern Writer at the University of Mississippi.

Among those participating in the sessions with Kenan and Mason will be Oxford native Larry Brown, local resident Jere Hoar, and Fredric Koeppel, book review editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Brown is the author of Facing the Music, Dirty Work, On Fire, and, most recently, Father and Son. He is currently teaching writing at the University. Hoar, author of the story collection Body Parts, is an emeritus professor of journalism at the University and an attorney.

Brown will also participate in a panel on "Skeletons in the Closet: Writing about the Family." Joining him in this discussion will be Rick Bragg, Elizabeth Spencer, and Daniel Woodrell, author of several acclaimed novels, including Give Us a Kiss. Another family-oriented session, "Writers' Spouses Speak Out," will feature Stephen Ambrose's wife, Moira; Larry Brown's wife, Mary Annie; and Barry Hannah's wife, Susan.

Book designer and packager Bea Jackson will moderate the panel "Bookmaking in the 21st Century: Technology, Creativity, and Design." Panelists for this session will include Wylene Dunbar, Oxford resident whose first novel, Margaret Cape, was recently published; Rita Marshall, a book designer; Claire Bradley Ong, a production manager at Alfred P. Knopf; and Rubin Pfeffer, president of Harcourt Brace.

Appearing on the panel "The Endangered Species: Readers in the Year 2004" will be Jack Gantos, author of children's books, Barbara Bonds Thomas, owner of Toad Hall Bookstore in Austin, Texas. Elaine H. Scott, moderator of the panel, has been involved with the Reading Is Fundamental program since 1974 and received the RIF Leader for Literacy Award in April 1994. Gantos will also give a presentation on his work, which includes the Rotten Ralph and Jack series, and visit local schools as part of Young Authors Fair activities.

John F. Marszalek, a history professor at Memphis State University, will give a presentation on his new book, The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in Andrew Jackson's White House. Commenting on the book and its relevance to the present will be Bragg and Horwitz, both winners of the Pulitzer Prize for their work as journalists.

In addition, composers/performers Tommy Goldsmith, Tom House, and Karren Pell will present a preview of their musical version of Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies. The work was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, where the premiere is scheduled for December 1998.

The registration fee for the entire conference is $50 for students, $100 for Friends of the Center, and $150 for other participants. The daily rate is $25 for students, $50 for Friends of the Center, and $75 for other participants. Additional, optional events are a cocktail buffet on Friday ($30 per person) and brunch on Sunday ($30 per person).

The conference is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and Square Books, supported by the Oxford Junior Auxiliary and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, and partially funded by the University of Mississippi and through a grant by the City of Oxford. The Institute of Continuing Studies is coordinator of the event.

For more information concerning the conference, contact Charlene Dye at the Institute for Continuing Studies, P.O. Box 879, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677; telephone 601-232-7282; fax 601-232-5138; e-mail cdye@olemiss.edu. For tourist information, contact the Oxford Tourism Council, P.O. Box 965, Oxford, MS 38655; telephone 800-758-9177 or 601-234-4680; fax 601-234-0355.

--Linda Peal White