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MIAL to Celebrate Mississippi Artists
and Writers on June 14 in Jackson
On June 14, 2008, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) will hold a banquet to celebrate Mississippi’s stunning legacy of outstanding writers, artists, photographers, and musicians. Award winners, who must have strong ties to Mississippi, will receive cash prizes as well as Mississippi-made gifts.
This year’s recipients are Margaret McMullan for When I Crossed No-Bob (Fiction); Joseph Crespino for In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution (Nonfiction); Angela Ball for Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds (Poetry); Albert Oppenheimer for Ravenous (Classical Musical Composition); Talbot Easton Selby for An Unconscious Reality (Photography); and Carlyle Wolfe for The Little House (Visual Arts).
Upon the discretion of the MIAL Board of Governors, Lifetime Achievement and Special Achievement awards are occasionally bestowed. This year will be one of those rare occasions. Award-winning author Ellen Douglas (Josephine Haxton) of Jackson will receive the Lifetime Achievement award, joining the ranks of illustrious former winners such as Eudora Welty, Walter Anderson, and Leontyne Price. A three-time winner of the MIAL award in literature, Douglas has published novels, The Rock Cried Out, Can’t Quit You, Baby, and A Lifetime Burning, among others. Her nonfiction includes Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell and Witnessing. About her award, Ellen Douglas said, “Because my life’s work as a writer has been grounded in Mississippi and because the people in my books live and die in Mississippi, it makes me especially happy to have the work recognized by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.”
MIAL was founded in 1978 by former Governor William Winter of Jackson, Dr. Aubrey Lucas of Hattiesburg, Dr. Noel Polk of Starkville, the late Mrs. Keith McLean of Dockery, and other wise individuals. Judges are chosen from outside the state to select the award recipients from seven categories. MIAL is the only organization in the state that chooses its winners through a juried process.
The annual banquet held in June rotates to various locations around the state. Last year’s festivities in Greenwood included readings at Turnrow Books and a banquet on the top floor of Staplcotn. The daylong June 14 festivities in Jackson will begin with tours of the Eudora Welty House beginning at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. At 1:30 p.m. readings and signings by the winners will take place at Lemuria bookstore. At 5:00 p.m. the annual membership meeting will be held in the Community Room of the Mississippi Museum of Art, 380 South Lamar Street. From 5:30 to 6:30 a reception in the lobby of the museum will honor all 2008 nominees and previous winners.
The events will culminate with an elegant, black-tie awards banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the museum’s Grand Hall. Master of ceremonies for the awards will be Mississippi State Senator John Horhn, noted for his abilities as a speaker, actor, and writer, and as a staunch supporter of the arts. The invitations, designed by artist Peter Halverson, feature a phoenix, mythical bird of rebirth, to suggest rejuvenation of the arts in Mississippi, exemplified by the gala’s location, the newly opened Mississippi Museum of Art, home to the event at 380 South Lamar Street.
For tickets to the banquet or the Welty house tours, contact Margaret Anne Mitchell at 601-366-0761 or 601-573-2076 the MIAL Web site, www.ms-arts-letters.org.
MARION BARNWELL
Seetha Srinivasan Retires from UPM
Seetha Srinivasan, director of the University Press of Mississippi, has announced her retirement as of June 30, 2008. She will end a 29-year career at UPM, with 10 of those years as director of the Press.
Among her reasons for retiring, Srinivasan said, “I want to walk away at a time when I still have the highest degree of enthusiasm for what I do. I also wanted to retire while I was still able to pursue interests for which my job at the Press leaves limited time.”
When Seetha Srinivasan came to UPM in 1979 as an editorial and promotion assistant, the Jackson-based publisher was 10 years old and slowly beginning to distinguish itself nationally. Almost three decades later, Srinivasan’s editorial vision and leadership have driven UPM to the forefront of the university press publishing world. The Press, affiliated with the eight state universities, publishes 65 titles each year and sells over two million dollars of books worldwide annually.
As an acquisitions editor Srinivasan elevated the Press to a level of international recognition. Included among the works she developed for publication are Photographs by Eudora Welty, three titles by noted historian Stephen Ambrose, a retrospective of the work of William Dunlap, and most recently a collection of nonfiction by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison.
Srinivasan’s drive and dedication have allowed her to make contributions in the national publishing world as well. In 2002 Srinivasan was awarded the Association of American University Presses Constituency Award for Outstanding Service to the University Press Community. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the AAUP. And from 2003 Srinivasan served as president of the AAUP. During her term as president she traveled to Berlin to address the Congress of International Publishers Association on “The Future of the Academic Book.”
Looking back on her fruitful career, Srinivasan remarked, “My fondest recollections will all surround the press’s growth in size and stature during the time in which I have been associated with it and my role in its development. Our strong editorial program, our many grateful and happy authors, the respect of sister presses and of the larger publishing world, the appreciation of leaders in our various constituencies—these are just a few of the things that will stay with me.”
Looking forward to her retirement, Srinivasan has plans to pursue several interests. Although she does not necessarily want to “fill” her nonworkings days, Srinivasan will be spending guilt-free time performing community-based volunteer work, traveling, reading for pleasure, and playing with her grandchildren.
Srinivasan lives in Jackson with her husband, Asoka. Their family includes Arjun and Gautam, daughters-in-law Lindy and Alison, and three grandchildren. Srinivasan is currently a member of the steering committee for the Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson. She has served as a member, and president, of the Millsaps College Arts and Lecture Series board.
CLINT KIMBERLING
