Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for Dec. 14, 2001 - Jan. 3, 2002.

Editor’s note: Because of the Christmas holidays, this newsletter will cover three weeks. Our next scheduled newsletter will be Jan. 4, 2002.

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• New features in the Mississippi Writers Page web site
• Author events: readings, book signings, and appearances
• On the horizon: upcoming events to plan for

THIS WEEK in MISSISSIPPI LITERARY HISTORY

The following events all happened during these three weeks in Mississippi history.

Year:

1801: The Treaty of Fort Adams officially opened Old Natchez District to settlement and the Choctaw agreed that the United States could open a road, the Natchez Trace, through their lands. (Dec. 17)

1879: Irwin Russell died of exposure and pneunomia in New Orleans at the age of twenty-six. (Dec. 23)

1924: William Faulkner published his first book, The Marble Faun, a collection of poems. (Dec. 15)

1938: Tennessee Williams arrived in New Orleans. He found a small room in the French Quarter at 431 Royal Street where he would live until spring 1939. He began calling himself “Tennessee.” (Dec. 29)

1939: Tennessee Williams received an Authors’ League of America fellowship for $1000. (Dec. 18)
Editor’s note: This entry was corrected on 8 Aug. 2002. It originally indicated Williams had received a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation on Dec. 22; however, the Rockefeller Foundation was rather the donor of a $25,000 grant to the Authors’s League of America for use over the period July 1, 1938 - June 30, 1941 “for the protection of the rights of authors in all phases of creative writing.”

1939: James Seay was born in Panola County, Mississippi. (Jan. 1)

1940: Battle of Angels by Tennessee Williams premiered in Boston, starring Miriam Hopkins. It bombed. (Dec. 30)

1944: Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie opened in Chicago, starring Laurette Taylor. It was greeted by rave reviews but sparse audiences attended. (Dec. 26)

1946: Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi. (Dec. 25)

1950: The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams premiered at the Erlanger Theatre in Chicago. (Dec. 29)

1950: Short Stories by Eudora Welty was published by Harcourt, Brace, & Company, New York. (Jan. 1)

1953: William Faulkner met Jean Stein while in Europe working on Land of the Pharaohs for Howard Hawks. (Dec. 24)

1956: James Meredith married Mary June Wiggins. (Dec. 16)

1958: Period of Adjustment High Point over a Cavern by Tennessee Williams opened at Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami. (Dec. 29)

1960: William Faulkner willed his manuscripts to the William Faulkner Foundation. (Dec. 28)

1961: Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams opened at the Royale Theatre in New York. (Dec. 28)

1962: William Faulkner was injured in a fall from his horse in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Jan. 3)

1968: Sterling Plumpp married Falvia Delgrazia Jackson. (Dec. 21)

1974: A Pageant of Birds by Eudora Welty was published by Albondocani Press, New York. (Dec. 31)

1975: Murry C. Falkner died in Mobile, Alabama. He was later buried in Oxford, Mississippi. (Dec. 24)

1979: Women!! Make Turban in Own Home by Eudora Welty was published by Palaemon Press Limited. (Dec. 16)

NEWS about MISSISSIPPI WRITERS

"Call for Papers: Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha 2002, 'Faulkner and His Contemporaries' "

The Department of English and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture have announced a call for papers for the 2002 Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference, to be held at the University of Mississippi from July 21-26, 2002. The deadline for submissions of plenary papers (approximately 6,000 words) and short papers (approximately 2,500 words) is January 15, 2002.

For more information, please read the entire article
www.olemiss.edu/mwp/news/2001/2002_cfp_faulkner.html

Do you have a news item about a Mississippi writer? Please send your information to mwp@olemiss.edu.

NEW FEATURES in the MISSISSIPPI WRITERS PAGE

The following articles were recently added to the Writer Listings:

• Mildred D. Taylor (1943-    )
• Ellen Gilchrist (1935-    )

AUTHOR EVENTS: Book Signings, Readings, and Appearances

Dec. 22: Lemuria Books, 202 Banner Hall, Jackson, Mississippi, 11:00 p.m.
Southern Cook's Handbook, by Courtney Taylor. Courtney Taylor, the Food columnist for Jackson’s Clarion Ledger, brings us this wonderful collections of recipes and general cooking tips that is a must-have reference for Southern cooks of all skill levels. For more information, call (601) 366-7619.

Dec. 22: Lemuria Books, 202 Banner Hall, Jackson, Mississippi, 1:00 p.m.
Wilder Mississippi, by Stephen Kirkpatrick. Back by popular demand! If you missed him the first time, now is your chance to meet the man behind the most beautiful book of Mississippi nature photography we have seen in a long time. For more information, call (601) 366-7619.

If you know of upcoming readings and appearances by Mississippi writers, please let us know by writing us at mwp@olemiss.edu.

NEW BOOKS from or about the state of Mississippi

ON THE HORIZON

The following events are planned for the coming weeks and months. You may want to begin planning to attend or participate.

March 21, 2002
Clinton, Mississippi, resident Nevada Barr will return to Square Books in Oxford this time on Thacker Mountain Radio, with her newest novel, Hunting Season. It’s the tenth book in the Anna Pigeon series. Anna investigates the murder of a man at a Natchez Trace tourist spot. The show starts at 5:30 p.m.
www.ThackerMountain.com

March 22, 2002
Richard Ford returns to Square Books in Oxford with a new collection of short stories, A Multitude of Sins. 5 p.m.

March 27, 2002
Edward Cohen returns Square Books in Oxford to read from his book The Peddler’s Grandson: Growing Up in Jewish in Mississippi. 5 p.m.

The Ninth Oxford Conference for the Book
April 11-14, 2002
The University of Mississippi and Oxford, Mississippi

Check back for registration information.

The 29th Annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference:
"Faulkner and His Contemporaries"
July 21-26, 2002
The University of Mississippi, Oxford

Information on registration will be available in early 2002.

If you know of additional news items for this newsletter or if you have suggestions, please write us at mwp@olemiss.edu.

For more information about events in the Oxford and University, Mississippi Community, see the Ole Miss Community Calendar:
www.olemiss.edu/calendar/

The Mississippi Writers Page is online at
www.olemiss.edu/mwp/

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