Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for January 3-9, 2003

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:
1700: Iberville returned to Fort Maurepas, named “Biloxi” by the settlers, with more settlers and an appointment for Sauvolle as governor. (Jan. 6)

1861: The Mississippi legislature voted to secede from the Union. (Jan. 9)

1894: Journalist, historian, and fiction writer George W. Lee was born in Indianola, Mississippi. (Jan. 4)

1919: William Faulkner was discharged from the Canadian division of the Royal Air Force “in consequence of being Surplus to R.A.F. requirements.” (Jan. 4)

1946: Author John A. Williams was discharged from the U.S. Navy after having been one of the first blacks to be admitted to the hospital corps during World War II. (Jan. 4)

1954: The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty was published by Harcourt, Brace and Company. (Jan. 7)

1958: Two plays by Tennessee Williams, Suddenly Last Summer and Something Unspoken, opened under the collective title Garden District (after their shared New Orleans locale) Off-Broadway at the York Theatre in New York. (Jan. 7)

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

1963: Novelist Stark Young died in New York. He was buried in Friendship Cemetery in Como, Mississippi. (Jan. 6)

1989: Photographs by Eudora Welty, with a foreword by Reynolds Price, was published by the University Press of Mississippi, Jackson. (Jan. 6)

1990: Sara Dodge Kimbrough, a portrait painter and art teacher on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, died in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. (Jan. 8)

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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