Mississippi literature - Wikipedia Mississippi literature From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is part of a series on the Culture of the United States of America Society History Language People Race and ethnicity Religion Arts and literature Architecture Art Dance Fashion Literature Comics Poetry Music Sculpture Theater Other Cuisine Festivals Folklore Media Newspapers Radio Cinema TV Internet Pornography Mythology Sport Symbols Flag Great Seal Monuments Motto Anthem Bird World Heritage Sites United States portal v t e The literature of Mississippi, United States, includes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Mississippi has a literary tradition that arise from a diverse mix of cultures and races.[1] Traditional themes from this genre of literature lean towards the past, conflict and change, and southern history in general; however, in the modern era, work have shifted towards deeply Southern works that do not rely on these traditional themes.[2] Some prominent writers from Mississippi's past include William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams, and Eudora Welty, while modern writers include John Grisham, Natasha Trethewey, Jesmyn Ward, and Michael Farris Smith.[1][2] Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history (1800s–1920s) 1.2 Literary beginnings (1930s–1940s) 1.3 Civil rights era (1950s–1970s) 1.4 Modern era (1980s-present) 2 Journalism 3 Notable authors 4 References 5 External links History[edit] See also: Southern U.S. literature Early history (1800s–1920s)[edit] Beginning from statehood in 1817, Mississippi played a very small role in United States literature. Weber (1898) mentioned that at the time of his writing, Mississippi had "few grounds for boasting. The list of Mississippi books is not long; the average quality is nothing. Of pure literature, of the real literature of power, we have contributed scarcely 50 pages to the world's store."[3] Mississippi's general trend of apathy towards serious literature continued into the 1920s, with Elsie Dersham (1921) reiterating Weber's statements in "An Outline of American State Literature" and discussing lost opportunities to add to Mississippi's literary repertoire. The author writes:[4] Mississippi has contributed much more to politics than to literature. With the single exception of the poems of Irvin Russel, Mississippi has produced nothing which literary men have been willing to give a place in American literature. She has many interesting Indian legends and negro folk tales, and accounts of the doings of Mississippian laws that should be collected and made a part of her literature. Williams Ward is one of Mississippi's best poets and is the author of the well known poem "Katie Did." Literary beginnings (1930s–1940s)[edit] This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2019) William Faulkner and Eudora Welty both published many of their most significant works during the 1930s and 1940s, drawing international attention to Mississippi. Faulkner published The Sound and The Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930_, Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936). In 1949, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Welty published her short story collections A Curtain Green (1941), Music from Spain (1948), and The Golden Apples (1949) in the forties, as well as her first novel Delta Wedding in 1946. Margaret Walker published her first poetry collection For My People in 1942 before moving to Mississippi. Civil rights era (1950s–1970s)[edit] The University Press of Mississippi began operating in 1970. With the support of the state's eight public universities and the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning, the press publishes around 85 books a year on topics concerning the culture of the South, expert books, and writings related to specialized topics, such as African American, Caribbean, and pop culture studies.[5] Modern era (1980s-present)[edit] In the modern era, writers have shifted towards deeply Southern works that do not necessarily rely on traditional themes related to the Lost Cause and racial conflict.[2] The change in race relations over the years contributed to the expansion of topics from race to broader areas such as the working class and underdogs.[2] Beginning in 2005 and relaunching in 2016, The Cirlot Agency, located in Jackson, ran advertisements promoting the state's literary history as part of the Mississippi, Believe It! campaign. The campaign cited William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, and John Grisham as a few examples of Mississippi's literary heritage.[6] In 2018, the Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi Humanities Council announced intentions for the Mississippi Writers Trail, modeled off of the Mississippi Blues Trail and Freedom Trail.[7] The markers, shaped like open books, will be placed in strategic locations related to the author. The first two markers were unveiled at the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival; they are for Eudora Welty and Jesmyn Ward, which represents both past and present contributions of Mississippi authors.[8] Receipt and placement of trail markers will be determined by scholar recommendations.[9] Journalism[edit] See also: List of newspapers in Mississippi This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2019) Notable authors[edit] See also: Writers from Mississippi Some highlighted Mississippi authors include:[1] William Faulkner Richard Wright Eudora Welty Tennessee Williams William Attaway Larry Brown Ellen Douglas Barry Hannah Ida B. Wells Stark Young John Grisham Margaret Walker Natasha Trethewey Jesmyn Ward Richard Ford Ellen Gilchrist References[edit] ^ a b c Barnwell, Marion (1997). "A Place Called Mississippi" (PDF). Cleveland School District. Retrieved 2019-09-20. ^ a b c d Fouriezos, Nick. "Meet the Next Generation of Mississippi Writers". OZY. Retrieved 2019-09-20. ^ Weber, W. L. (1898). Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society. ^ Dershem, Elsie (1921). An Outline of American State Literature. Universal Digital Library. World Company Publishers. ^ "About the Press | University Press of Mississippi". www.upress.state.ms.us. Retrieved 2019-09-19. ^ "'Believe it!' campaign heads to classrooms". The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2019-09-19. ^ "The Mississippi Writers Trail". Mississippi State University Department of English. 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2019-09-20. ^ "Mississippi Writers Trail". Visit Mississippi. 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2019-09-20. ^ "First Chapter of Mississippi Writers Trail Begins - MDA". Mississippi Development Authority. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2019-09-20. External links[edit] Mississippi Literary Landmarks from the American Library Association Recognized Mississippi Authors Up to 1913 v t e  State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) Topics Mississippians Climate Climate change State Parks State Landmarks Music History Geography Tourist attractions Seal of Mississippi Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Government Delegations Governors Lieutenant Governors Legislature Mass media Newspapers Radio TV Politics Regions The Delta Golden Triangle Gulf Coast Mississippi Plain Natchez District North Mississippi Pine Belt Tennessee Valley Metros Gulfport-Biloxi Hattiesburg Jackson Memphis (TN) Pascagoula Larger cities Gulfport Jackson Southaven Smaller cities Bay St. Louis Biloxi Brandon Brookhaven Canton Clarksdale Cleveland Clinton Columbus Corinth Gautier Greenville Greenwood Grenada Hattiesburg Horn Lake Indianola Itta Bena Iuka Laurel Long Beach Louisville Madison Magee McComb Mendenhall Meridian Moss Point Natchez Ocean Springs Olive Branch Oxford Pascagoula Pass Christian Pearl Picayune Ridgeland Starkville Tunica Tupelo Vicksburg Waveland West Hattiesburg (Oak Grove) West Point Yazoo City Counties Adams Alcorn Amite Attala Benton Bolivar Calhoun Carroll Chickasaw Choctaw Claiborne Clarke Clay Coahoma Copiah Covington DeSoto Forrest Franklin George Greene Grenada Hancock Harrison Hinds Holmes Humphreys Issaquena Itawamba Jackson Jasper Jefferson Jefferson Davis Jones Kemper Lafayette Lamar Lauderdale Lawrence Leake Lee Leflore Lincoln Lowndes Madison Marion Marshall Monroe Montgomery Neshoba Newton Noxubee Oktibbeha Panola Pearl River Perry Pike Pontotoc Prentiss Quitman Rankin Scott Sharkey Simpson Smith Stone Sunflower Tallahatchie Tate Tippah Tishomingo Tunica Union Walthall Warren Washington Wayne Webster Wilkinson Winston Yalobusha Yazoo v t e Culture of the United States by locale Culture by city or metropolitan area Baltimore Boston Chicago Cincinnati Columbus Dallas Detroit Houston Jacksonville Los Angeles Miami New Orleans New York City Brooklyn Omaha Philadelphia Pittsburgh San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Virginia Beach Culture by state Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Culture by region Mid-Atlantic Midwest New England South Federal district Washington, D.C. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mississippi_literature&oldid=998116718" Categories: American literature by state Mississippi culture Hidden categories: Articles to be expanded from September 2019 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Add links This page was last edited on 3 January 2021, at 22:17 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. 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