Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for November 8-14, 2002

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• New books by Mississippi writers
• 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:
1897: Speech professor Sara Lowrey was born in Blue Mountain, Mississippi. (Nov. 14)

1901: Educator and translator Olga McCants was born in Magnolia, Mississippi. (Nov. 10)

1903: French professor Edward A. Jones was born in Indianola, Mississippi. (Nov. 10)

1914: Historian and memoirist Frank Bogart was born in Meridian, Mississippi. (Nov. 11)

1920: English professor William R. Seat, Jr., was born in Lexington, Mississippi. (Nov. 9)

1925: Baptist minister John Warren Steen, Jr., was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (Nov. 9)

1926: Accountant James Don Edwards was born in Ellisville, Mississippi. (Nov. 12)

1931: Historian Polly Ann Davis was born in Pittsboro, Mississippi. (Nov. 11)

1931: Historian Winthrop Jordan was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. (Nov. 11)

1935: Dean Faulkner, father of Dean Faulkner Wells and youngest brother of Murry Falkner, John Faulkner, and William Faulkner, was killed in a plane crash. (Nov. 10)

1936: William Faulkner published “The Unvanquished” in the Saturday Evening Post. (Nov. 14)

1937: Six photographs by Eudora Welty appeared in Life magazine. (Nov. 8)

1939: Scientist and environmentalist Claude E. Boyd was born in Hatley, Mississippi. (Nov. 14)

1940: Writer and former police officer Diane Patricia Muro was born in Tylertown, Mississippi. (Nov. 10)

1942: Historian Frederick F. Travis was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi. (Nov. 10)

1942: Eudora Welty won a $300 O. Henry Memorial Prize for her short story “The Wide Net” published by Harper’s Magazine. (Nov. 13)

1950: William Faulkner was notified that he had won the Nobel Prize for literature. (Nov. 8)

1959: The Mansion, a novel by William Faulkner and volume three of the Snopes trilogy, was published by Random House. (Nov. 13)

1960: Period of Adjustment High Point over a Cavern, by Tennessee Williams, opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York to “respectful but tepid reviews.” (Nov. 10)

1970: Writer and activist Rebecca Walker was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (Nov. 11)

1990: Novelist and journalist Elliott Chaze died following a brief illness in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (Nov. 11)

1997: Writer and University of Mississippi Professor William R. Ferris was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. (Nov. 9)

To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian

By Stephen E. Ambrose

Simon & Schuster (Hardcover, $24.00, ISBN: 0743202759)

Publication date: November 2002

Description from the publisher:

In To America, Stephen E. Ambrose, one of the country’s most influential historians, reflects on his long career as an American historian and explains what an historian’s job is all about. He celebrates America’s spirit, which has carried us so far. He confronts its failures and struggles. As always in his much acclaimed work, Ambrose brings alive the men and women, famous and not, who have peopled our history and made the United States a model for the world.

Taking a few swings at today’s political correctness, as well as his own early biases, Ambrose grapples with the country’s historic sins of racism, its neglect and ill treatment of Native Americans, and its tragic errors (such as the war in Vietnam, which he ardently opposed on campus, where he was a professor). He reflects on some of the country’s early founders who were progressive thinkers while living a contradiction as slaveholders, great men such as Washington and Jefferson. He contemplates the genius of Andrew Jackson’s defeat of a vastly superior British force with a ragtag army in the War of 1812. He describes the grueling journey that Lewis and Clark made to open up the country, and the building of the railroad that joined it and produced great riches for a few barons.

Ambrose explains the misunderstood presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, records the country’s assumption of world power under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, and extols its heroic victory of World War II. He writes about women’s rights and civil rights and immigration, founding museums, and nation- building. He contrasts the presidencies of Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout, Ambrose celebrates the unflappable American spirit.

Most important, Ambrose writes about writing history. “The last five letters of the word ‘history’ tell us that it is an account of the past that is about people and what they did, which is what makes it the most fascinating of subjects.”

To America is an instant classic for all those interested in history, patriotism, and the love of writing.

Nov. 11: Bondurant Hall Auditorium, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, 7:00 p.m.

Poetry Reading by J. D. McClatchy. He is the author of four books of poetry, including The Rest of the Way (1992) and Ten Commandments (1998), two collections of essays, and has edited numerous books, including The Vintage Book of World Poetry (1996) and The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (1990). Since 1991 he has been editor of The Yale Review, and in 1996 he was named a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Sponsored by the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writers Series and the Department of English. For more information, contact the English Department at (662) 915-7687, engl@olemiss.edu.

Nov. 12: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:00 p.m.

Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides, Beach Music and The Great Santini, will be at Square Books to read and sign copies of his new book, My Losing Season. For more information, visit the Square Books web site, www.squarebooks.com.

Nov. 13: Lemuria Bookstore, 202 Banner Hall, Jackson, Mississippi, 5:30 p.m.

Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History, will sign and read from her long-awaited second novel, The Little Friend, at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi. For more information, visit the Lemuria Books web site, www.lemuriabooks.com.

Nov. 14: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 5:30 p.m.

Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History, will sign and read from her long-awaited second novel, The Little Friend, at Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi. For more information, visit the Square Books web site, www.squarebooks.com.

Nov. 14: Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi, 4:00 p.m.

Mary Carol Miller will sign copies of Lost Landmarks of Mississippi. For more information, visit the Square Books web site, www.squarebooks.com.

Nov. 15: Burke’s Bookstore, Memphis, Tennessee, 5:00 p.m.

Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History, will sign and read from her long-awaited second novel, The Little Friend, at Burke’s Bookstore in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information, visit the store web site, www.burkesbooks.com.

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.

January 16, 2003

Poetry Reading by Tom Chandler, Bondurant Hall Auditorium, The University of Mississippi campus, in Oxford.

February 6, 2003

U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2002) Billy Collins reads from his poetry and offers commentary on his work and other matters. Bondurant Hall Auditorium, The University of Mississippi campus in Oxford.

February 17, 2003

A reading by Clifton L. Taulbert on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford.

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/

Mississippi Writers Page Links
About This Site | New Book Info | News & Events | Literary Landmarks | Mississippi Literary History | Mississippi Publishing | Other Features | Other Web Resources

WRITER LISTINGS:
by author | by title | by place | by year | by genre

SEARCH THE MISSISSIPPI WRITERS PAGE

Ole Miss Links
UM Home Page | English Department | Center for the Study of Southern Culture | The University of Mississippi Foundation