From the Delta to the Coast: The Poets, Poetry and Poetics of Mississippi

With household names like Faulkner, Welty and Wright, Mississippi literature is not just nationally but internationally known and respected. Combined with a rich musical heritage, the state’s literature is one of the many facets that afford it a high cultural rating. A survey of genres, however, reveals that many of the writers for whom the state is recognized have tended to work in the more immediately visible genres of fiction (both novels and short stories) and nonfiction, often leaving their sister (and some would say first) art form — poetry — less acknowledged. This presentation aims to right the imbalance, introducing audiences to a solid representative sampling of the state’s better and lesser-known poets. Covering primarily the 20th and 21st centuries, the audience is led on a geographic tour of the state. Featuring poets such as Etheridge Knight, who wrote powerful poems while incarcerated, or adoptee/transplant poets such as Frank Stanford, author of one of the greatest Southern long poems in history, Dr. Morris explores how their Mississippi roots and experiences informed their work. He brings contemporary (including living) poets into the discussion, such as Beth Henley, Beth Ann Fennelly and Natasha Tretheway. The presentation concludes with a brief discussion of where the art may yet go, and points to universities and writing programs that today nurture the majority of the state’s poets.

Speakers Expertise:

A poet, writer, and researcher, Benjamin Morris is the author of Hattiesburg, Mississippi: A History of the Hub City (Arcadia/History Press, 2014), and three collections of poetry, most recently The Singing River (Belle Point Press, 2025). He holds an MSc in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, and among other honors has received a Pushcart nomination, the Academy of American Poets Prize from Duke University, and the Chancellor’s Medal for Poetry from the University of Cambridge, where he earned his Ph.D. The recipient of academic and creative fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Commission and Tulane University, his writing appears regularly in the United States and Europe. Morris is available to read from his own creative work, as well as offer workshops and classes for beginning and more experienced writers alike. He is also occasionally available for independent editorial work, offering critiques of creative and scholarly manuscripts in a variety of genres and disciplines.