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Mississippi Book Festival
The Mississippi Book Festival started when a group of like-minded
literary friends got together over the course of a year, studied
other book festivals and decided it was time to make a concerted
effort to start a festival. The spark was lit when Malcolm White
connected Holly Lange to Jere Nash and they met with John
Evans of Lemuria Bookstore and Steve Yates of University Press
of Mississippi. Soon thereafter, a board was formed and a date
was set for first ever Mississippi Book Festival. August 22, 2015
was a bright, sunny day when John Grisham welcomed large
crowds, lines of festival-goers wrapped around corners in the
Capitol and our literary lawn party was born.
The festival represents the best of Mississippi and, while some
of our legendary authors may be long gone, their work endures
for all time. There always seems to be a new book on Welty,
Alexander, Faulkner, Wright, Morris, Wells, et al. and panels
are structured to continue to delve into those literary giants.
But the festival also honors our current host of authors whose
notable talents are recognized not just within our state, but well
beyond; Jesmyn Ward, John Grisham, Richard Ford, Angie
Thomas–the list goes on and on. We want to celebrate those
authors, and so many others, here and now! When we do that,
we hope to inspire a new generation of writers.
The book festival celebrates our readers. We typically host over
170 authors and connect them with more than 9,000 readers
through a series of panels, interviews, and book signings on
the day of the festival. Our booksellers sell thousands of books.
That’s what we call a celebration! Meeting a favorite author
can be life-changing and if we inspire even one young child to
continue reading, or write a book, the festival honors our state
in the best way we know how.
In 2019, the festival celebrated its 5th anniversary with a record
crowd of over 10,000 at the State Capitol Complex. In five years,
we’ve hosted poet laureates, a Librarian of Congress, a Supreme
Court Justice, several Pulitzer Prize winners, and while we paused
in 2020, the 7th Annual Mississippi Book Festival will be held
on August 21, 2021, live and in-person.
This year’s line-up features some of today’s brightest and
best authors, such as Walter Isaacson, Kiese Laymon, Aimee
Nezhukumatathil, Jerry Mitchell, Richard Grant, Angie
Thomas, and Nic Stone, just to name a few. You won’t want
to miss Curious George’s 80th Birthday Celebration in the
State Capitol.
To learn more about the festival and to view past panels from
the festival, please visit msbookfestival.com and signup for our
regular email newsletter. As always, the Mississippi Book Festival
is free and open to the public. We look forward to seeing everyone
on August 21st for Mississippi’s own Literary Lawn Party!
Hometown RANKIN • 63