Celebrate Writers and Storytelling at the Oxford Book Conference

Three days of panels, discussions and events in Oxford and at the University of Mississippi transform William Faulkner's hometown into a vibrant literary playground.

The 31st iteration of the conference, organized by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, is as expansive as ever, thanks to support from national sponsors and local partners. Most events are free and open to the public.

"I'm happy to say that people return to Oxford year after year for the conference," said Jimmy Thomas, conference director. "It's the perfect opportunity to experience the best of what the city and the university have to offer.

"At the same time, it's a community event that brings locals together to celebrate reading and writing. There really aren't many places like Oxford – it makes for a truly enchanting experience."

This year's conference is dedicated to the late Ann Abadie, who helped found the Southern studies center in the mid-1970s. She also had a pivotal role in creating the book conference. Ole Miss officials plan to dedicate the Dr. Ann Julian Abadie Pollinator Garden at the University Museum at 5 p.m. April 2.

The only ticketed event is the annual Author's Welcome Party at Memory House at 6 p.m. April 2. Tickets are $50 and include food and special craft drinks.

The conference is preceded on March 21 by the Children's Book Festival, which OCB plans and operates in collaboration with the Lafayette County Literacy Council, Junior Auxiliary, First Regional Library and Square Books Jr. The festival at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts is open to Lafayette County first and fifth graders, and all attendees get a book of their own.

The Children's Book Festival is underwritten by the Elaine Hoffman Scott Memorial Fund. Writer and filmmaker William Joyce, known as an artist for "Toy Story" and writer and executive producer for "Meet the Robinsons," will read to first-graders from his book "Rocket Puppies" (Simon and Schuster, 2024). New York Times bestselling-author James Ponti will read to fifth-graders from "City Spies" (Aladdin, 2021).

The book conference also has a prologue event at 5:30 April 1 at Off Square Books, with readings from the collaborators of "Attached to the Living World: A New Ecopoetry Anthology" (Trinity University Press, 2025). The volume explores the issues and conversations in ecopoetry over the past decade and features more than 150 established and emerging poets. It was coedited by retired Ole Miss English professor Ann Fisher-Wirth.

Panels begin April 3 on the Ole Miss campus with a discussion between Southern studies instructor Xavier Sivels and author Elijah Wald, whose "Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories" explores the censored voices of early blues and jazz, guided by the songs and memories of Jelly Roll Morton. Wald, also a musician, will perform that evening on "Thacker Mountain Radio Hour" at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center, 413 South 14th St.

Wald's 2016 book, "Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties," was recently adapted into the film "A Complete Unknown," starring Timothée Chalamet. Joining the evening's lineup is acclaimed American country blues singer, guitarist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jontavious Willis. 

The "National Book Foundation Presents" session is set for 11:30 a.m. April 3 in the Baxter Room of the J.D. Williams Library. It features National Book Award-honored authors Hanif Abdurraqib, whose latest book, "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" (Random House, 2024), is a reflection of basketball, life and home; and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, author of "Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders" (Penguin Random House, 2024).

Preceding the panel is a welcome lunch hosted by the Friends of the UM Library.

"The National Book Foundation is honored to partner with the Oxford Conference for the Book for the fourth year running, fueled by our shared goals of connecting readers with authors and exceptional books, and to recognize Mississippi as a vibrant center of the nation's literary culture and community," said Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation.

That afternoon, a conversation between Natasha Trethewey and W. Ralph Eubanks will take place in the Overby Center auditorium. Trethewey, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and the 19th U.S. poet laureate, and Eubanks, a faculty fellow at the Southern studies center and winner of the 2023 Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in Literature, will explore a variety of topics. Among them, they will discuss Trethewey's memoir, "House of Being" (Yale University Press, 2025).

Fans of suspense writing will thrill at the "The Suspense of Writing" session featuring Lilliam Rivera, author of "Tiny Threads" (Penguin Random House, 2024), Rachel Lyon, author of "Fruit of the Dead" (Simon and Schuster, 2024), and Zach Williams, author of "Beautiful Days" (Doubleday, 2024), in conversation with Melissa Ginsburg, UM associate professor of English and creative writing.

Poetry enthusiasts won't want to miss the event at 4 p.m. at Southside Gallery, 150 Courthouse Square, moderated by Ole Miss professor, poet and former Mississippi poet laureate Beth Ann Fennelly. Poets Philip Metres, Rose McLarney and Julia Kolchinsky will read from their latest works.

At 8 p.m. that evening, Price Walden, Michael Rowlett and other members of the Department of Music will give a special performance in Nutt Auditorium. The program features an original composition by Walden, set to poems by Michael McFee, alongside "Portraits of Langston," a trio for flute, clarinet and piano by composer Valerie Coleman. Coleman's piece includes readings of Langston Hughes's poetry between movements. Rowlett will perform with faculty colleagues Philip Snyder and Adrienne Park.

Friday's events begin at 10:30 a.m. at the UM Museum, with a presentation by painter Noah Saterstrom, author of "What Became of Dr. Smith" (University Press of Mississippi, 2024). Saterstrom, a 1998 UM alumnus, spent years uncovering the mystery of his great-grandfather, Dr. David Lawson Lemmon Smith, who was hospitalized in 1925 at the Mississippi State Insane Hospital in Jackson before being moved to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, where he died in 1965.

Smith's belongings and fragments of stories became material for Saterstrom's artistic process, which he transformed into a panoramic narrative composed of 183 canvases arranged in a grid spanning 122 feet. Saterstrom will discuss both his painting and his book.

At noon on Friday, the Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library will host the Poetry Talk and Lunch, with poet Philip Metres presenting "Poetry's Magic."

The remaining sessions, all at Off Square Books on the Oxford Square, include a group book signing and the ceremony for the 2024 Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing in fiction, poetry and nonfiction.

The conference is supported by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, UM College of Liberal Arts and its departments of Writing and Rhetoric, English and Music, School of Journalism and New Media, Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, Friends of the UM Library, UM Museum and Historic Houses, UM Lecture Series, UM Foundation, Willie Morris Awards for Southern Writing, Square Books, Southside Gallery, "Thacker Mountain Radio Hour," Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library, Lafayette County Literacy Council, Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, Visit Oxford, National Book Foundation, R&B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux Arts, and Mississippi Humanities Council.

For more information or to RSVP to the author's party, welcome lunch or poet lunch, click here.

Top: Author Hanif Abdurraqib is one of the artists to be featured in a 'National Book Foundation Presents'" session of the Oxford Conference for the Book on April 3. Abdurraqib is the author of 'There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension,' a reflection of basketball, life and home. Submitted photo