The University of Mississippi announced on March 12 that the Oxford Conference for the Book will take place from March 25-27, bringing together authors, poets, scholars, and publishers at various locations across the Ole Miss campus and Oxford. The event is organized by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and is free and open to the public.
The conference aims to foster a love of reading and writing through discussions, panels, and author talks. Organizers say it provides an opportunity for both established and emerging voices in literature to connect with audiences in a unique setting.
Conference director Jimmy Thomas said, “Watching people come back to Oxford year after year is one of the great joys of this conference. The setting, the university and the community combine to create an atmosphere that celebrates reading and writing in a truly special way. Oxford has a character all its own, and it turns the conference into something genuinely memorable.”
The event begins with a “Prologue” hosted by Square Books on March 24 featuring Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s new poetry collection “Night Owl.” Janisse Ray, naturalist and former John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at UM, will deliver the keynote Ann J. Abadie Lecture. Ray said she is honored to speak in memory of Ann Abadie: “Ann Abadie was a quiet, powerful force. Her brilliant ideas, combined with a gentle tenacity, helped establish the Center for the Study of Southern Culture as the revered institution that it is. To speak in her memory is a gift to me, and I am delighted beyond measure to do it.” She added about her connection to place: “It can offer groundedness, meaning, depth, a sense of belonging, an antidote to despair… This ethos contradicts so many cultural expectations thrown at us, to put the global above the local.”
Other highlights include sessions with Jay Wesley and Eddie Johnson discussing their book on Choctaw traditions; National Book Award honorees Sarah Thankam Mathews and Camonghne Felix; historian Robert Colby in conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Edda Fields-Black; flash writing events featuring Steve Almond and Beth Ann Fennelly; as well as children’s programming serving over 1,200 students from local schools.
The conference concludes with presentations such as Nicholas Lemann’s session at Off Square Books and ceremonies for the Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing. Works by participating authors will be available for purchase at Square Books throughout the event.
Sponsors include several university departments along with organizations such as Square Books, Southside Gallery, Mississippi Book Festival, Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, National Book Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, R&B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux Arts, Visit Oxford and Mississippi Arts Commission.
