I was a familiar statement, made by many participants and attendees at the Ninth Oxford Conference for the Book, held April 11-14, 2002, in Oxford on the campus of the University of Mississippi: “This is the best conference yet.”
The weekend’s events began Thursday evening with a special book conference edition of Thacker Mountain Radio, an hour-long author reading and live music radio show sponsored by Square Books and the Center. “There’s a certain America I grew up loving in your writing, the America of Whitman, something that sees writing and books essential to a truly free life that seems to not only live on but prosper here,” Tasmanian novelist (and three-time conference veteran) Richard Flanagan told the packed house at Off Square Books during the live broadcast, which also featured poet Beth Ann Fennelly, music by Duff Dorrough and the Revelators, and a surprise appearance by Debra Winger and Arliss Howard, who were there to discuss their film version of Larry Brown’s Big Bad Love.Later that evening, a crowd of curious locals and conference-goers packed Fulton Chapel to view the Oxford premiere of Big Bad Love. 

Featuring notable screen actors Debra Winger, Rosanna Arquette, Angie Dickinson, and writer/director/star Arliss Howard, the film was a refreshing departure from the ordinary Hollywood fare, celebrating the North Mississippi music and landscape in addition to the short stories of Larry Brown. A panel discussion with Winger, Howard, and Brown (moderated by Thacker Mountain host Jim Dees) followed the screening. After a reception in the Union Ballroom, many retired to hear more music by Duff and the Revelators at Ajax Diner, where the published authors outnumbered the cooks and waitresses.
Friday’s traditional morning panels on writing and publishing were moderated by Barry Hannah, whose obliteration of pretensehas made him a perennial conference favorite. The sessions drew a large attendance to the new and more intimate setting in Johnson Commons. Hannah first led a discussion on submitting and publishing for new writers. Joining him as panelists for the session were current University visiting writer Tom Franklin (Poachers) and his agent, Nat Sobel; novelist Brady Udall (The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint) and his editor at W. W. Norton, Carol Houck Smith; and Grove-Atlantic Press editor Amy Hundley, with one of their newest authors, Sheri Joseph (Bear Me Safely Over). The second panel, focusing on finding a voice and reaching an audience, was comprised of diverse authors, including Aishah Rahman, a playwright and author of a strong memoir called Chewing Water, about her hard upbringing in Harlem; Rick Moody, who managed his best with some of the panel’s hardest questions; Steve Almond, the up-and-coming author of My Life in Heavy Metal, showing no fear of fierce subject matter; and Mississippi’s native poet Natasha Trethewey, author of Bellocq’s Ophelia, who was joined by her publisher from Graywolf Press, Fiona McCrae.

The afternoon was devoted to readings by writers who had held the John and Renée Grisham Visiting Southern Writer in Residence position at the University of Mississippi. (See related story, page 25.). The evening’s official culmination came with a fund-raising buffet at Isom Place, which provided a beautiful setting for participants and conference attendees to interact.
Among the many informal events that proliferated well into the night (and often the next morning) was the Oxford premiere of North Carolina filmmaker Gary Hawkins’s documentary The Rough South of Larry Brown, which was screened at the Lafayette County-Oxford Public Library and attended by the film’s director and its two main subjects, Larry and Mary Annie Brown.

Saturday’s sessions began with “The Endangered Species: Readers Today and Tomorrow,” an annual panel moderated by Elaine H. Scott and featuring local literacy advocate Claiborne Barksdale, children’s author Gloria Jean Pinkney, and outspoken book industry columnist Pat Holt, who also added gusto to the following panel on the book business, which was hosted by American Booksellers Association president Neal Coonerty. Also on that panel were Graywolf publisher Fiona McCrae and Boston-area bookseller Timothy Huggins, who cut his teeth at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi, before opening his own shop, the highly popular Newtonville Books in Newtonville, Massachusetts.

Some of the conference highlights occurred in the Saturday afternoon sessions. Former Boston Globe reporter Curtis Wilkie (Dixie) led an intriguing discussion with his pals and fellow journalists Jack Nelson and Thomas Oliphant in a session labeled “Covering Trouble,” in which they discussed gathering facts in volatile times and places.

The annual poetry readings and remarks were widely hailed by various audience members as the best they’d ever attended. “I’ve never been so rapt, sitting for an hour of poetry,” one participant was overheard to say. The poets included Beth Ann Fennelly, who read from her collection Open House and who will be joining the University English staff teaching poetry in the fall of 2002; Natasha Trethewey, who currently teaches at Emory University; and William Trowbridge, who wrote the collection Flickers and drew big laughs for his readings.
The afternoon readings featured Steve Almond, who read to an appreciative audience, the biggest he encountered on his national book tour, he later reported; Rick Moody, who read a selection from his new memoir, The Black Veil; and Richard Flanagan, who delivered a brief, powerful excerpt from his novel Gould’s Book of Fish. Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Paula Vogel wrapped up the day’s session with inspiring remarks on her career as a playwright. The evening culminated officially in a fundraising cocktail party at Off Square Books and carried on into the wee hours at the various and vital cultural emporiums Oxford offers.

Those still standing convened at 8:00 a.m. Sunday for a continental breakfast in the Mississippi Hall of Writers, hosted by Dean of University Libraries John M. Meador. The sessions continued later that morning with readings by Ace Atkins, local mystery author and recent addition to the University journalism department; David Galef, author of the story collection Laugh Track and head of the University’s new M.F.A. program in creative writing; Brady Udall, whose first novel The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint has fastly become one of the most popular summer-reading choices; first-timer Sheri Joseph, a creative writing teacher in Kentucky; and Aishah Rahman, who made a strong impression on those unfamiliar with her work.
The remainder of the day, and of the conference, was dedicated to Tennessee Williams, in a fitting display of commemoration and discussion. (See related article, page 24.)
The Tenth Oxford Conference for the Book, which is already in the planning stages and promises to feature another great line-up, will be held April 10-13, 2003.

Jamie Kornegay