Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for January 9-15, 2004

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• Author events: readings, book signings, and appearances
• Announcements: News briefs, conferences, calls for papers, and reader announcements
• On the horizon: events coming up in the weeks and months ahead

The following events all happened during this week in Mississippi history.

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

1892: Historian Dumas Malone was born in Coldwater, Mississippi. (Jan. 10)

1900: Baptist minister Ewart Autry was born in Hickory Flat, Mississippi. (Jan. 15)

1925: Journalist and editor Edward Preston Guess was born in Rome, Mississippi. (Jan. 11)

1926: Baptist minister W. Stanley Mooneyham was born in Houston, Mississippi. (Jan. 14)

1929: Poet Turner Cassity was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (Jan. 12)

1931: William Faulkner’s daughter, Alabama Faulkner, was born prematurely on this day. She died nine days later. (Jan. 11)

1936: Historian Stephen E. Ambrose was born in Decatur, Illinois. (Jan. 10)

1949: Novelist Mary Robison was born in Washington, D.C. (Jan. 14)

1941: Home economist Mary Wallace Crocker was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. (Jan. 15)

1989: Writer Anne Clark died after a sudden illness in Austin, Texas. (Jan. 14)

1993: Historian Aubrey C. Land died in Athens, Georgia. (Jan. 14)

1994: Novelist Alice Walworth Graham died in Natchez, Mississippi. (Jan. 10)

Jan. 20, 2004: Off-Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Elijah Wald presents his work Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. Signing/reception at 5 p.m., reading at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.squarebooks.com.

Through Feb. 29, 2004: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.

Passionate Observer: Photographs by Eudora Welty, highlighting over 50 of Welty’s black-and-white photographs from the 1930s, will be exhibited at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. For more details, visit the museum web site at www.nmwa.org.

Feb. 12, 2004: Johnson Commons Ballroom, The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, 7:00 p.m.

Reading and lecture by Richard Ford. Sponsored by the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writers Series and the Department of English at the University of Mississippi.

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

‘Mockinbird Journal’ online

A new online magazine, Mockingbird Journal, is now online to “celebrate the heart and art of life in the South.” The editor, Celia Stevens, is a Mississippi native and a former editor and staff writer for The Macon Beacon in Macon, Mississippi, where she won numerous awards from the Mississippi Press Association. The magazine is based in Sarasota, Florida, but features a number of Mississippi writers and subjects. For more infomation, visit the magazine web site, www.mockingbirdjournal.com.

Send your Mississippi writer-related announcements to 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.

April 1-4, 2004

The 11th Oxford Conference for the Book, in Oxford, Mississippi. Notable authors, editors, publishers and others in the trade gather with educators, literacy advocates and book lovers for panel discussions, readings and scholarly presentations. The 2003 conference is dedicated to Mississippian and author Walker Percy (1916-90). Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Oxford Tourism Council, and Square Books. Free admission; preregistration recommended through the Center for Study of Southern Culture (www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/).

June 17-20, 2004

Oxford Film Festival, in Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford’s second annual community-sponsored film festival consists of 4 days of screenings, along with workshops on film-making, screen-writing, etc., for adults and children, juried professional independent and amateur films, presentations and awards. Ticket prices and details are available at www.oxfordfilmfest.com.

July 25-29, 2004

31st Annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference, “Faulkner and Material Culture.” The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi. More information, including registration fees and online application forms, available at www.outreach.olemiss.edu/events/faulkner.