Another successful chapter of the Mississippi Book Festival has come to an end, with the state’s largest literary lawn party helping 37,000 book lovers unite throughout this year’s events.
Through multiple “Reading the Room” events leading up to Saturday’s festival to the festival itself – taking place on a cooler September day, rather than the usual scorching August date and featuring 40-plus panels, writing workshops, and plenty of opportunities for readers to purchase books and get them signed – this year’s tally was the largest number of people involved since the Mississippi Book Festival’s inception in 2014.
“What an incredible day! Huge thanks to our sponsors, authors, panelists, volunteers, and attendees for making our 10th festival truly unforgettable,” a social media post from the Mississippi Book Festival reads. “Over the course of all of our events, we are thrilled to have united 37,000 passionate book lovers and created a space for shared stories and vibrant discussions. Here’s to the next decade of even more amazing moments.”
Saturday’s most popular panel seemed to be “In Conversation with Jesmyn Ward,” which saw a standing-room-only crowd fill up the Galloway United Methodist Church sanctuary to hear from the two-time National Book Award winner and moderator LeVar Burton. A close second may have been English travel writer Richard Grant’s panel. Grant, who spent years living in the Magnolia State through and following his Dispatches from Pluto and The Deepest South of All, also discussed his newest called A Race to the Bottom of Crazy: Dispatches from Arizona.
Other featured talent showing off new books across the state capitol grounds included Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Chain Gang All-Stars), Katya Apekina (Mother Doll), Terri Blackstock (Aftermath), Chris Bohjalian (The Princess of Las Vegas), Eli Cranor (Broiler), Jonathan Eig (King: A Life), Helen Ellis (Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge), Tom Franklin (Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter), Juliet Grames (The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia), Jenny Jackson (Pineapple Street), Sebastian Junger (In My Time of Dying), Rachel Khong (Real Americans), Erik Larson (The Demon of Unrest), Julia Phillips (Bear), Ron Rash (The Caretaker), Maurice Carlos Ruffin (The American Daughters), Nicola Yoon (One of Our Kind).
For those who missed this year’s edition of the Mississippi Book Festival or had two panels they wanted to go to take place at the same time, the festival recorded all sessions and will soon archive them on its website for readers to watch for free.
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