Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for December 13-19, 2002

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• Author events: readings, book signings, and appearances
• On the horizon: upcoming events to plan for

The following events all happened during this week 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)

1916: Actor, writer, and lightweight boxing champion Archie Lee Moore was born in Benoit, Mississippi. (Dec. 13)

1918: Baptist minister William S. Cannon was born in Meridian, Mississippi. (Dec. 16)

1921: Children’s writer John T. Carter was born in Mantee, Mississippi. (Dec. 16)

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

1926: Sportswriter Perian Collier Conerly was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. (Dec. 17)

1929: Technical writer and editor Charles W. Ryan was born in Greenville, Mississippi. (Dec. 14)

1933: Baptist minister and historian Bill Russell Baker was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi. (Dec. 14)

1935: Journalist Wesley Pruden, Jr., was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (Dec. 18)

1938: Civil rights activist L. C. Dorsey was born in Tribbett, Mississippi. (Dec. 17)

1939: Tennessee Williams received an Authors’s League of America fellowship for $1000. (Dec. 18)

1942: Novelist Bo Hathaway was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. (Dec. 14)

1946: Religion writer Isabel Anders was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. (Dec. 16)

1948: Richard Wright delivered a speech at the Writer’s Congress in Paris, France. (Dec. 13)

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

1963: Children’s nonfiction writer Renea Denise Nash was born in Morehead, Mississippi. (Dec. 14)

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

1996: Historian Nash K. Burger died in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Dec. 19)

2000: Musician and photographer Milt Hinton, also known as “The Judge” and hailed as the dean of jazz bassists, was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, died in Queens, New York, after an extended illness. (Dec. 19)

Jan. 9: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi

Acclaimed novelist and short story writer Bobbie Ann Mason will read from her new biography of Elvis Presley. For more information, visit the Square Books web site, www.squarebooks.com.

Jan. 16: Bondurant Auditorium, University of Mississippi campus, Oxford, Mississippi, 7 p.m.

Tom Chandler, poet laureate of Rhode Island and author of Wingbones and Sad Jazz, reads from his poetry. Sponsored by the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writers Series and the English Department. For more information, contact the department at (662) 915-7439, or online at www.olemiss.edu/depts/english.

Feb. 6: Bondurant Auditorium, University of Mississippi campus, Oxford, Mississippi, 7 p.m.

U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2002) Billy Collins reads from his poetry and offers commentary on his work and other matters. Sponsored by the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writers Series and the English Department. For more information, contact the department at (662) 915-7439, or online at www.olemiss.edu/depts/english.

Feb. 17: Old Chemistry Auditorium, University of Mississippi campus, Oxford, Mississippi, 7 p.m.

Clifton L. Taulbert, author of the acclaimed classic Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, will speak. This event is in conjunction with Open Doors, the University of Mississippi’s yearlong observance of the 40th anniversary of the integration of higher education. Sponsored by the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writers Series and the English Department. For more information, contact the department at (662) 915-7439, or online at www.olemiss.edu/depts/english.

If you know of upcoming literary events by or about Mississippi writers, please let us know by writing us at mwp@olemiss.edu. 

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

March 25, 2003

Poetry Reading by Andrew Hudgins, Bondurant Hall Auditorium, The University of Mississippi campus, in Oxford.

March 26-30, 2003

Seventeenth Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana. For information, visit their web site at www.tennesseewilliams.net.

April 10-13, 2003

Oxford Conference for the Book, Oxford, Mississippi.

July 20-25, 2003

30th Annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference, The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi

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 of Mississippi community, see the Ole Miss Community Calendar:
www.olemiss.edu/calendar/

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