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Notable authors, editors, publishers, and
others in the trade as well as educators,
literacy advocates, readers, and book lovers
will gather for the 12th Oxford Conference
for the Book, set for April 7-9, 2005. Beginning
on Thursday afternoon with two sessions
and a special conference edition of Thacker
Mountain Radio, the program will continue
through Saturday afternoon with addresses,
panels, and readings.
The
2005 conference will be dedicated to
author Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)
in
recognition of her contributions to American
letters. Three speakers--Paul Elie, Kelly
Gerald, and William A. Sessions--will
participate
in the "Tribute to Flannery O'Connor" session,
making presentations about her life and
literary legacy.
Another special session will bring young
readers, teachers, parents, and others to
the conference for a program by Richard
Peck, award-winning author of A Year
Down Yonder, A Long Way from Chicago, and other
celebrated children's books. As part of
the Young Authors Fair, all fifth graders
in Lafayette County will read A Year
Down Yonder and produce books of their own before
attending the session. The students' books
will be on display during the week of the
conference.
Participating in the annual session celebrating
National Poetry Month will be poets John
Kinsella, who currently teaches at Kenyon
College in Ohio; Davis McCombs, a park ranger
at Mammoth Cave; and Katrina Vandenberg,
a visiting writer at the Minneapolis College
of Art and Design. Beth Ann Fennelly, poet
and assistant professor of English writing
at the University of Mississippi, will moderate
the session.
Ellen Douglas, Tayari Jones, Brad Watson,
and other notable fiction writers will be
on hand to read from their work and talk
about writing. David Galef and Tom Franklin,
who teach creative writing at the University,
will also be on hand to discuss fiction,
as will Amy Stolls, program officer in the
literature division of the National Endowment
for the Arts.
Ole Miss journalism professor Curtis Wilkie
will moderate a session with New Yorker editor
and writer Rick Hertzberg, Boston Globe
Washington correspondent Thomas Oliphant,
and Nick Kotz, whose most recent book is Judgment
Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther
King Jr., and the Laws that Changed
America . Other nonfiction authors addressing
the
conference will include Julia Reed, whose
book Queen of the Turtle Derby and
Other Southern Phenomenon will appear in a paperback
edition, with additional essays, in the
spring of 2005.
Among participants will be John Y. Cole,
founding director of the Center for the
Book in the Library of Congress; artist
and arts commentator William Dunlap; Ted
Genoways, editor of the Virginia Quarterly
Review; and literary agent Jeff Kleinman.
Keith Stephens, of the National Endowment
for the Arts, will give a presentation on
NEA's recent report Reading at Risk:
A Survey of Literary Reading in America. Other speakers
will be announced as they are confirmed.
The conference is open to the public without
charge. To assure seating space, those interested
in attending should preregister through
the Center's Web site (www.olemiss.edu/depts/south).
Reservations and advance payment are required
for three optional events honoring conference
speakers: a cocktail buffet at Isom Place
($50) and a country dinner at Taylor Catfish
($25).
Conference
sponsors include the Center for the Study
of Southern Culture, Department
of English, Department of Journalism, John
Davis Williams Library, Sally McDonnell
Barksdale Honors College, John and Renée
Grisham Visiting Writers Fund, Barksdale
Reading Institute, School of Education,
Sarah Isom Center for Women, Junior Auxiliary
of Oxford, Lafayette County Literacy Council,
Lafayette County-Oxford Library, Mississippi
Library Commission, Mississippi Center for
the Book, and Square Books. The 2005 conference
is partially funded by the University of
Mississippi, a contribution from the R&B
Feder Foundation for the Beaux Arts, and
grants from various agencies.
The 2005 conference will
be dedicated to author Flannery O'Connor
(1925-1964) in recognition of her contributions
to American letters. For up-to-date information
on the schedule and speakers, check the
Center's Web site (www.olemiss.edu/depts/south).
Courtesy Jean W. Cash, Flannery O'Connor:
A Life
Brad Watson
John Cole
Tayari Jones
Fiction and Poetry
Jam
Start writing now for the
Fiction and Poetry Jam at the
2005 Oxford Conference for the
Book Any and all are encouraged
to read original poetry or fiction
at the open mike event, scheduled
for for 9:00 p.m. on Thursday,
April 7, the first night of
the Oxford Conference for the
Book. The Fiction and Poetry
Jam takes place at one of our
favorite hangouts, the bar and
restaurant Two Stick, a block
off the Oxford Square. For more
information or to participate,
contact David Galef, University
MFA Program Administrator, at
dgalef@olemiss.edu.
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Elderhostel
for Book Conference Participants
An easy way
to attend the Oxford Conference for the
Book is through Elderhostel, an international
program of educational travel for adults
55 and older. For $444 per person, everything
is provided: the entire conference (including
special events), three nights' lodging
at the newly renovated Downtown Oxford
Inn and Suites, and all meals from dinner
April 7 through lunch April 10. To register,
call toll free, 877-426-8056, or go to
www.elderhstel.org and refer to program
12317. Or call Center Advisory Committee
member and longtime Elderhostel provider
Carolyn Vance Smith in Natchez at 601-446-1208,
or email her at carolyn.smith@colin.edu.
Center
for the Study of Southern Culture ·
The University of Mississippi
P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848
· telephone 662-915-5993 ·
fax 662-915-5814 · e-mail cssc@olemiss.edu
Internet: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south
Oxford Tourism Council
For tourist information call
800-758-9177
Square Books
160 Courthouse Square · Oxford,
MS 38655
telephone 800-468-4001 · 662-236-2262
· fax 662-234-9630
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