The Mississippi Book Festival, a nonprofit founded by literacy advocates, launched in August 2015 on the State Capitol grounds and continues to draw thousands to its annual “literary lawn party” and book lovers’ celebration. By its third year, the festival’s attendance reached 6,400 with 45 official panel discussions and activities at 10 different venues. Hundreds […]

This presentation begins with a performance of Delta blues songs from legendary Delta bluesmen and is followed by an overview of Delta blues and how it spread from the 1920s to the 1960s, influencing the blues in Chicago and, eventually, rock-n-roll. The presentation also includes a demonstration and discussion of various styles of blues and […]

A deep dive panel discussion on prison education that will examine links between literacy and incarceration, literacy and the inmate experience behind bars and literacy and the re-entry into society. Q&A session will follow. MODERATOR: Judge James E. Graves, U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit SPECIAL GUEST: Piper Kerman, Author of Orange Is The New Black PANELISTS: Carol […]

This talk traces the roots of the modern civil rights movement to World War II, a movement that began long before the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 and lasted long after Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis in 1968, a movement that in many ways never ended. Specifically, Dr. Luckett discusses the major […]

The Oxford Film Festival will host a screening of All The Difference at the Burns Belfry on August27 at 630 p.m. The largely invisible and often crushing struggles of young African-American men come vividly — and heroically — to life in All the Difference, which traces the paths of two teens from the South Side […]

The Lower Mississippi River Foundation will host Water/Ways, a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, from August 31 through October 13. Water/Ways is a traveling exhibit offered by the Museum on Main Street division of the Smithsonian Institution. It consists of five free-standing display units incorporating photographs and text as well as numerous interactives ranging from basic […]

In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth) is an installation comprised of a touring, portable, inflatable ‘Truth Booth’ that embarked on a world tour at the Galway Arts Festival, Ireland in 2011 . The exterior is iconically shaped like a giant cartoon speech bubble with the word ‘TRUTH’ boldly printed on the side. The interior acts […]