The Oxford Conference for the Book is organized and sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and is free and open to the public. Visit oxfordconferenceforthebook.com for more details.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3
1:00 p.m. UM Campus Slavery Research Tour
Tour led by Don Guillory
Meets on the steps of the Lyceum facing the Circle
6:00 p.m. Oxford Conference for the Book Authors’ Party
Music by Ole Miss Jazz Quintet
Memory House/John Faulkner’s House
University of Mississippi Campus, 406 University Ave.
Purchase Ticket
THURSDAY, APRIL 4
9:30 a.m. “Following the Footprints of Slavery”
Welcome by Katie McKee
Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier, Sleeping with the Ancestors
Jodi Skipper, moderator
Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics
University of Mississippi Campus
11:00 a.m. Welcome Lunch
Hosted by the Friends of the Library
Archives and Special Collections
J. D. Williams Library
University of Mississippi Campus
(Lunch is free, but registration appreciated)
11:30 a.m. “National Book Awards Presents: Myth Making and Breaking”
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars
José Olivarez, Promises of Gold (Promesas de Oro)
Melissa Ginsburg, moderator
Archives and Special Collections
J. D. Williams Library
University of Mississippi Campus
1:00 p.m. “Notes on the State of America”
Heather Cox Richardson, Democracy Awakening
Katie McKee, moderator
Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics
University of Mississippi Campus
2:30 p.m. “The Poetry of Place”
January O’Neil, Glitter Road
A. H. Jerriod Avant, Muscadine
Saddiq Dzukogi, moderator
Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics
University of Mississippi Campus
4:30 p.m. Square Books Presents: “Téa Obreht and The Morningside”
Téa Obreht, The Morningside
Introduction and Q&A with Snowden Wright
Off Square Books, 129 Courthouse Square
Oxford Square
6:00 p.m. Thacker Mountain Radio and Book Signing
Readings by Kaveh Akbar
Music by Creekbed Carter Hogan, and Hope Clayburn and Soul Scrimmage
The Powerhouse, 413 South 14th St.
(Authors from Thursday’s sessions will sign books at Thacker Mountain Radio)
8:00 p.m. “Open Mic Night,” with the Southern Literary Festival
Oxford University Depot, 101 Depot St.
FRIDAY, APRIL 5
10:00 a.m. “Southern Transplants: Diverse Connections with the South”
Jen Fawkes, Tales the Devil Told Me
Jennifer Maritza McCauley, When Trying to Return Home
Gabriel Bump, The New Naturals
Michael X. Wang, moderator
Student Union Ballroom
University of Mississippi Campus
11:30 a.m. Lunch on Your Own
1:30 p.m. “Looking Backward to Move Forward”
Eddie Glaude, We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For
Ralph Eubanks, moderator
Student Union Ballroom
University of Mississippi Campus
3:00 p.m. Oxford Conference for the Book and Southern Literary Festival Keynote
Andre Dubus III, Such Kindness and Ghost Dogs
Student Union Ballroom
University of Mississippi Campus
4:30 p.m. Winners of the Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing
Welcome by David Crews
Lauren Crawford, “Galveston” (Poetry Winner)
Cassandra Jackson, The Wreck: A Daughter’s Story of Becoming a Mother (Nonfiction Winner)
David Joy, Those We Thought We Knew (Fiction Winner)
Amber Nichols-Buckley, moderator
Off Square Books, 129 Courthouse Square
(Authors from Friday’s sessions will be available to sign books)
5:30 p.m. A Willie Morris Awards and Oxford Conference for the Book Celebration
Closing Reception and Book Signing
Hosted by the Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing
Off Square Books, 129 Courthouse Square
9:00 p.m. Postscript
“Noir at the Bar: A Gathering of Crime Writers and Musicians”
William Boyle, Michael Farris Smith, Lisa Howorth, David Joy, Tom Franklin, Derrick Harriell,
Tyler Keith, Max Hipp, and Clair Lamb
Music by Kell Kellum and Bark
Ajax Diner, 118 Courthouse Square
