1940

• The Hamlet, a novel by William Faulkner (Random House).
• How "Bigger" Was Born: The Story of Native Son, nonfiction by Richard Wright (International Publishers).
• Native Son, a novel by Richard Wright (Harper).

Thomas Harris born in Jackson, Tennessee; his family later moves to Rich, Mississippi, his father's hometown.

April 25: Margaret-Love Denman was born in Oxford, Mississippi.

September 15: Anne Moody born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi.

December 30: Battle of Angels by Tennessee Williams premieres in Boston, starring Miriam Hopkins. It bombs.