The Washington County Library System in Greenville, Miss., in partnership with the Greenwood, Miss.-based Turnrow Book Company kicks offl Literary Arts in the Delta Festival (Lit in the Delta Fest) March 10, 2018.
The free all-day Festival will convene during National Reading Month, at E. E. Bass Cultural Arts Center, 323 South Main Street and at 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and at William Percy Library, 341 Main Street in Greenville, Miss. Food vendors, art and books for all ages also will be available.
The Festival seeks to engage communities from 18 counties in the Mississippi Delta Region including: Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, DeSoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Washington and Yazoo in the State of Mississippi; and the counties of Chicot and Desha in the State of Arkansas. A Young Authors Competition will engage 8th and 9th graders from these 20 invited Mississippi Delta Region counties.
The Festival will have more than 30 literary artists, including Internet and social media sensation, Officer Tommy Norman; comedian and film artist, Keith Morris, national best-selling author, ReShonda Tate Billingsley and the legendary songwriter, documentary producer, former owner of Memphis-based Stax Records and former president of Motown Records Group, Al Bell.Bell, a Delta native (Brinkley, Ark.) is a Lifetime Grammy Award recipient and will present a lecture on his literary works in entertainment and the music industry. He has written and promoted artists including Prince, the Staple Singers, Issac Hayes and countless others. Bell’s award-winning documentary, Wattstax, will be discussed.
Dolly Parton Imagination Library, Heifer International and Scholastic will be featured in a panel discussion on how books in the homes and hands of youth and families impact learning for a lifetime.
Dr. Maya Angelou’s film, Still I Rise will also be presented throughout the Festival day as well as art by ArtsPlace Mississippi. Still I Rise is directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack and chronicles the life of poet laureate and literary scholar Dr. Maya Angelou.
Tickets are free, register here by February 15!
