Poetic Haunting, Immersive Prince, BBC Prince, and Upcoming Events
Hey Y’all,
Last week, I facilitated a workshop during the Millsaps McMullan Creative Writing Workshop. My topic was “Answering Poetic Haunting: The Call and Response Metatextual Nature of Poetry,” in which I discussed having spent much of my adult life haunted by six poems: Margaret Walker Alexander’s “For My People,” Amiri Baraka’s “Black Art,” Nikki Giovanni’s “For Saundra,” Emily Dickinson’s “There Is no Frigate Like a Book,” Jerry W. Ward’s “Don’t Be Fourteen (in Mississippi),” and Sappho’s “To an Army Wife, in Sardis.” During the talk, I discussed and read parts of these poems and then read parts of my poems inspired by them. The point is to have the young writers understand that all art is metatextual and that being more cognizant of this will enable us to craft work that deeply resonates with our readers the same way that our favorite works resonate with us. As usual, the young writers were engaged and responsive throughout my talk. A couple of days after my talk, I received a couple of emails from students explaining how much they enjoyed the talk. One email is especially moving because the young writer, Alexia Anthony, shared a poem, inspired by my talk. (See poem attached.) In line eight of her poem, the young poet references Doc Ward’s poem which is especially moving to me because Ward is one of the great literary minds Mississippi has produced and because he is a seminal rock in the foundation of my literary life. To know that a young poet who may have never been exposed to Doc Ward now has a poem that references him is an extremely cool testament and tribute to Doc Ward and the mentors who poured into me that I’m now able to share with a new generation. This is another example that each of us doing our part ensures that the circle remains unbroken. I was later informed by poet and Jackson State University Professor Shanna Smith that in June Ms. Anthony participated in the JSU Catherine Coleman Institute and started a mother/daughter poetry group that JSU Instructor Lawanda Dickens facilitated. Clearly, Ms. Anthony is a young creative writer with a bright future ahead of her, and I’m glad that I was able to aid in the fertilization of her talent. Moreover, it’s also cool that young Mississippi writers have a multitude of opportunities to hone their craft.
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Two years ago, C Liegh McInnis (poet, short story writer, and author of The Lyrics of Prince) and Kerrison “Kerry” Black (founder of Superfly Productions and Prince: The Immersive Experience) were interviewed by the American Writers Museum for their podcast, Nation of Writers, about the lyrics, music, and legacy of Prince. Y’all can listen to that interview here. The interview lasted for about two hours. Since only a portion of the responses could be included in the aired interview, y’all can read McInnis’ complete responses here. We hope that you enjoy both the aired audio interview and McInnis’ complete responses.
After y’all check out this interview, check out the Nation of Writers complete episodes, here, as they have produced some interesting conversations about so many great writers, including Edgar Allen Poe, Margaret Walker Alexander (which features an interview with Angela Stewart—Archivist of the JSU MWA Center), Ray Bradbury, Maya Angelou, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, and more.
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BBC Radio program, The Craig Charles Show, held a 40th Anniversary Celebration of Purple Rain, featuring interviews from Janelle Monáe, Labi Siffre, Zadie Smith, Brittany Howard, Patrice Rushen, Wendy & Lisa, and noted Prince scholar Dr. Matt Thorne, author of Prince: The Man and His Music, which can be heard here. While playing the popular songs of today, Charles plays the whole of Purple Rain through the show interspersed with interviews. After listening to the broadcast, y’all can purchase Thorne’s insightful, engaging, and thorough read here.
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The Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG) will meet tomorrow for a reading session, where members can read a short (no more than five minutes) sample of their work. It can be a poem, fiction, non-fiction, a play, or even a song. For more information, see the calendar of events below.
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The Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to partner with the Mississippi Book Festival to facilitate two “Reading the Room” events. If you love reading, socializing, and any excuse to talk about books, then join them by bringing any book you are currently reading + enjoy some time set aside to read on your own + talk books with your neighbors over drinks and snacks + celebrate Mississippi’s vibrant literary culture with them! For more information, see the calendar of events below.
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Y’all can read the latest poetry, fiction, and essays published in the June issue of Lolwe here.
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Aquarius Press and Willow Books will be offering their Summer Writing Classes that will feature month-long workshops in Poetry, Conjure (Ancestry and Lineage as Inspiration for Creative Writing), Fiction, and Memoir Writing. For more information, contact Heather Buchanan at aquariuspress@gmail.com or visit Willow Books.
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African Voices will host upcoming events, including its monthly Paint N’ Sip led by artist Khuumba Ama in their intimate gallery and its Summer Scriptwriting Session, led by veteran writer/producer Lorisa Bates—a former BET VP, responsible for greenlighting 70+ films! For more details, see the calendar of events below.
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Collaborating with the National Council of Negro Women, the REAL Learning Institute has embarked on an ambitious project by planning the next spiritual pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta, Mississippi Black History Fieldtrip, for Saturday, August 24th. What makes this project ambitious is the idea of taking under-privileged youth on the spiritual pilgrimage without adequate funding. The plan is the take 11 youth and 4 adults on this Mississippi Black History Fieldtrip. To cover the full cost of the trip will require $800.00, with transportation, per diem, and museum cost charge being the heavy end of the cost. REAL Learning Institute is hoping that your organization would make a tax-deducible contribution to this Black History Moment for these youngsters, which is part of its Freedom School Saturdays Project. For more information, contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.
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We have been remiss in introducing y’all to Left of Black—the Webby Awards-nominated web series featuring interviews with Black Studies scholars created and hosted by James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. From 2010-2020, it was produced by the John Hope Franklin Center for International and Global Studies. In 2020, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute took over production, with funding support from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. The latest interview is with the brilliant young scholar Dr. Sarah Derbew as they discuss her book, Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity, which y’all can watch here. After viewing this episode, checkout all of the previous episodes of Left of Black here. And, be sure to purchase a copy of Derbew’s Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity here.
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Poet, editor, and literary activist Bob McNeil’s Compositions on Compassion and Other Emotions: Essays, Illustrations, Poems, and Short Stories has a cool review from QBR: The Black Book Review that y’all can read here. After reading the review, here is a link to McNeil reading is poem, “Frederick Douglass and the Talking Drum.”
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Third World Press, one of the largest black-owned publishers on the planet, has wonderful collections of poetry, fiction, and prose by award-winning and historic writers. To browse their catalog, go here.
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The International African Arts Festival is currently happening in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, see the calendar of events below.
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The Jackson Advocate, one of the oldest African-American newspapers, has more insightful articles that y’all can read here. Also, JA has a weekly podcast that y’all can access here and here, and to receive notifications of future episodes contact janews@thejacksonadvocate.com.
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Checkout the new issue of First of the Month.org, edited by the always on point Benj DeMott, which can be read here. Along with this issue, First of the Month is always publishing some of the most insightful essays, poetry, and fiction.
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Here is the link to the July newsletter of the Civil Rights Movement Archive (CRMA). Also, CRMA has a new collection, What the Civil Rights Movement Taught Us, a collection of writings from various civil rights veterans, which can be viewed here. To learn more about CRMA, go here, and to read their collection of civil rights poetry, which includes six poems by C Liegh McInnis, go here.
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Muntu Dance Theatre hosts dance workshops on various Saturdays throughout the month. For the next workshop, see the calendar of events below.
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Congrats to Biloxi, Mississippi, native Rev. Theresa Thames for being named the new Dean of Religious Life and Chapel at Princeton University. For the last eight years, she has been the associate dean. This is a historic moment because Princeton University is older than the United States and has never had a non-white person in this role. Her predecessor was the first woman. For more about her appointment, go here. And, to learn more about Rev. Thames go here and here.
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New York University is seeking lecturers and professors for its latest branch, NYU Tulsa will be the university’s fourth global network location in the United States, joining its main campus in New York and other academic centers in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. The NYU Tulsa academic center is scheduled to open in Spring 2025 and will be located in Tulsa's downtown Arts District. Reach out with any questions and tag a friend who may want to teach for NYU...in Tulsa!
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Advanced Seminar in Technology, Culture, and Society: Pathways to a Clean Energy Economy"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Black Capitalism and the Quest for Economic Freedom in America"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Across the Divide: Constructive Policymaking at the Subnational Level"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Revitalizing the American City: Challenges and Strategies for Vibrant and Inclusive Development"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Service Learning with Immigrant Youth"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Experiential Learning Seminar"
*Part-Time Lecturer: "Expressive Culture: Topics—Native Arts in Contemporary America"
For more information, go here, here, and here.
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The Mississippi Book Festival has tapped C Liegh McInnis as the moderator for the poetry panel, which will include another stellar group of poets: Leona Sevick (The Bamboo Wife), Hannah V. Warren (Slaughterhouse for Old Wives' Tales), A.H. Jerriod Avant (Muscadine), and Adam Clay: (Circle Back). For the first time in its ten-year history, the MBF will move from August to September 14, 2024. Earlier, we informed y’all that Diane Williams—co-author with Richelle Putnam of A Guide to Mississippi Museums and best-selling and award-winning novelist Angie Thomas have been announced as panelists for this year’s Mississippi Book Festival. As more writers and panels are announced, we’ll continue to provide that information as we get ready for the best literary lawn party on the planet.
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Sunny Hostin—legal journalist, author, and co-host of ABC’s The View—has been announced to deliver the keynote for the Jackson State University Mary E. Peoples Scholarship Luncheon. For more information, see the calendar of events below.
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November 1 – 4, 2023, the Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center curated the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original 1973 festival, which hosted most of the major black women writers of the day. In the same vein, last year’s festival hosted many of the major black women writers of today. As part of the 2023 festival, JSU’s The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal published a special issue (In Our Own Words: The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival 50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue) that y’all can read here. Y’all can also purchase a print copy of the issue here. C Liegh McInnis has a poem, “For Sappho, Margaret, Marie, and Iley (After Catherine Pierce’s Message to POL),” and an essay, “The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival as Performative Manifestation of Margaret Walker Alexander’s Literary Manifesto and Genius,” included in the issue, along with great works by scholars and poets, such as Dr. Tiffany Caesar, Alissa Rae Funderburk, Angela Stewart, Dr. Craig Meyer, Dr. Shanna Smith, Patricia Jones, Ming Joi, Barbara Brewster Lewis, and Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears. Special thanks to Dr. Candis Pizzetta, editor of The Researcher, for compiling this wonderful special issue. This commemorative issue was crafted before the actual festival as a way to promote and highlight the festival as it was occurring.
Additionally, Callaloo, one of the three major African-American literary journals on the planet, will be publishing a special proceedings issue of the 2023 Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival that will include scholarly essays, poetry, fiction, and artwork presented during the festival along with interviews, reflections, and photography from the festival. Combined, The Researcher Commemorative Issue and the forthcoming Callaloo Proceedings Issue will make a great collection to document this historic gathering of scholars and artists. The Callaloo Proceedings Issue will be published in November as a one-year celebration of the festival, and we’ll include info for preorders as soon as they are posted. For more about Callaloo, go here.
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Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff has started posting all of the panels, roundtables, and special presentations from last month’s #EroticCity40 Prince Symposium, which y’all can find here. As I stated before, each presentation is excellent as Prof Duff continues to curate some of the most knowledgeable Prince scholars on the planet with the goal of covering the full range of Prince’s genius, which is critically important since his death with so many folks trying to whitewash his history or cherry-pick what benefits their slanted narrative. Of course, the keynote, given by Mr. Vaughn Terry, remains the highlight for many, as he detailed, in a tremendously engaging manner, how he and his partner, Louis Wells, helped Prince redefine his on-stage persona and bring new creative ideas to life. Y’all can watch Mr. Terry’s keynote here. As a reminder, Terry and his partner, Louis Wells, helped Prince redefine his on-stage persona and bring new creative ideas to life, designing and sewing Prince’s clothes from 1999 (1982) to Parade (1986). Mr. Terry was an effin’ blast being an ole school player who still has the style, flare, intellect, and gift of gab that made Louis and Vaughn fashion forerunners in the 70s and 80s, working with the likes of Earth, Wind, and Fire. He walks it, talks it, and styles it. This means that three black men—Louis and Vaughn and Earl Jones who did Prince’s hair—were responsible for Prince’s style at the height of his popularity. When I realized that Louis and Vaughn were black (I knew that Jones was black), I can’t tell y’all the excitement and pride that came over me. And, then, for him to be an ole school, shit talkin’ black mane like my pops and uncles, well, just know that Prince Podcast Juice host Michael Dean, Jazz Funk Café host and filmmaker Jason Orr, and I acted like we were at a family reunion and had found our long lost uncle. Moreover, the three of us spent the majority of Mr. Terry’s presentation acting like we were the deacons on the front pews amen-ing and àṣẹ-ing Mr. Terry’s sermon on the style of Prince and how he used Detroit fashion sense “to help Prince redefine his on-stage persona and bring new creative ideas to life.” Even after an hour and a half, Mr. Terry could have stayed on the stage for two more hours, and I’d have loved every minute of it. Please enjoy this very essential discussion of the development of Prince’s fashion sense.
Additionally, I had the honor of moderating the Q&A of the Ice Cream Castle panel, which featured musician/scholar Chris Rob and musician/professor Robert Loss here, and being on the Purple Rain Film panel with Zaheer Ali (professor, African-American historian, Malcolm X scholar, and creator of the Prince Syllabus Project), Dan Charnas (professor, award-winning journalist, music and television producer, and author of Dilla Time), Carol Cooper (legendary cultural critic and journalist whose works have appeared in every major periodical and anthology helping to define the canon of music criticism), and Mark Anthony Neal (Duke Professor whose articles and books, such as What the Music Said and Soul Babies, are essential resources for understanding the socio-political matrix that produced black music), which y’all can watch here. Yet, I can’t stress enough how engaging, informative, and inspiring each presentation is. #EroticCity40 Prince Symposium was a three-day event so take y’all time and enjoy these presentations as we discussed everything from the definition and redefining of blackness, family trauma as an inherited trait, how to heal/end toxicity and dysfunction, what defines a black nationalist work, Prince as a geographic place-maker, Prince as a master storyteller, fashion as a sociopolitical statement, Prince’s metatextual phonetic genius, girl power and various roles of women within Prince’s artistry, and so much more.
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Off the critical success of Black Fire This Time, edited by Dr. Kim McMillon, Black Fire This Time, Volume Two, edited by Dr. Derrick Harriell and Professor Kofi Antwi is available for preorder here and here, and the publisher has scheduled dates for a national tour to promote the anthology. To see the upcoming dates, go here and scroll to the bottom of the page. We are proud to inform y’all that C Liegh McInnis will have a poem, “Mississippi Like…” and a short story, “Kroger Cart,” included in this new volume. Like Volume One, Volume Two will have some of the most noted black poets, fiction writers, and essayists in the tradition of the Black Arts Movement.
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As most of y’all know, the Jackson State University Sonic Boom of the South has been selected to march in the 2025 Rose Bowl Parade, and there is a fundraiser to cover some of the costs. Although entities are selected for the Rose Bowl Parade, they must finance their way there. Here is the link to the fundraiser.
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Tougaloo College grad Dr. Howard Rambsy II aka Doc HR is the author of two excellent books, Bad Men: Creative Touchstones of Black Writers and The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry. He has dedicated time over the years to chronicling the work of C Liegh McInnis at his wonderful website Cultural Front, which can be read here. His latest commentary on McInnis’ work, “A Local Conscious Poet Who Knows a Lot about Prince,” can be read here.
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I am both honored and excited to have been interviewed by the brilliant Scott Woods, editor of Rock Critics.com, which features interviews with some of the most noted music journalists of the past sixty years. (This Scott Woods is not to be confused with the other brilliant Scott Woods who is a noted Prince scholar.) The title of the interview is “The Aesthetics of Prince: An Interview with C Liegh McInnis” and can be read here. It’s a very lengthy interview of my work as a Prince scholar and engages a few things that I haven’t discussed regarding my work on Prince. One of the coolest parts of the interview, for me, is that I got to shout out Prince scholar Harold Pride about midway through the interview and that I got to shout out the Polished Solid Prince Symposium and What Did Prince Do This Week? at the end of the interview. RockCritics.com is also on Twitter, which y’all know that I’m not. So, if y’all feel so inclined, locate and checkout his tweet about the interview as well. I hope y’all enjoy the interview and, as always, feel free to hit me back with your thoughts or feedback.
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The Jackson State University Creative Writing website is live and can be accessed here. Also, to give to this new program, go here. Once you are at the page, complete the amount and contact information, type “Department of English, Creative Writing,” in the “or other” box at the bottom of the form, and submit payment. And, here is a link to poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis discussing the newly established JSU Creative Writing Concertation and Minor.
The JSU creative writing offers a concentration and minor for its Bachelor of Arts program. Unlike many creative writing programs across the country, JSU’s creative writing concentration and minor will allow students to specialize in multiple genres if they desire. Additionally, unlike most creative writing programs across the country, JSU’s creative writing concentration and minor will encourage and prepare students to use their writing to engage social justice and socio-political issues by offering a capstone class that will match a student with an organization or institution that is doing the type of social justice work that the young writer desires to engage with one’s writing. This new concentration and minor were developed as a collaborative effort between Dr. Ebony Lumumba—Chair, Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears—Graduate Coordinator, and C Liegh McInnis. For more information, contact Dr. Lumumba at ebony.o.lumumba@jsums.edu or Dr. Smith-Spears at rashell.smith-spears@jsums.edu.
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Thanks to everyone who sent kind and encouraging feedback regarding my interview with 1$t Letter—an emcee, educator, and entrepreneur who is doing a lot with his talents to improve our community. Since the interview is so long, here are links to a few clips:
First, for my Prince folks, I discuss Prince mostly from the midway point of part two and all of part three: here
and here.
Here is a clip where I discuss how Charlie Braxton, Jimmy Kimbrell, and Jeff Gibson all impacted me early as a writer. I’ve discussed Charlie and Jimmy at length before so I’m glad that I got to discuss how Jeff impacted me as a JSU classmate, watching him be a serious writer while we were in college. At the end, I briefly discuss how my embracing the myth of American Individualism kept me from being tutored by Margaret Walker Alexander when I was in college. The entire segment is about five minutes and thirty seconds long. Y’all can stop watching when I begin discussing how James F. Cooper almost caused me to fail eleventh grade English.
Here is a clip where I discuss how my wife and stepchildren taught me the real definition of manhood.
Here is a clip where I discuss having multiple part-time jobs in college and learning how not to be a toxic male.
Here is a clip where I discuss my respect for local poet, emcee, and activist Skipp Coon and people not supporting conscious artists yet being disappointed when the artists they do support don’t meet a major moment with impactful art.
And, y’all can watch the entire interview here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Again, thanks to all of y’all who emailed your feedback and especially to y’all who watched all six parts. That is, indeed, some true love and support. In the words of the great poet Smokey Robinson as vocalized by David Ruffin of The Temptations, “I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame. I’ve got all of the riches one man can claim. What makes me feel this way? My folks, my folks, my folks, talkin’ ‘bout my folks!”
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Props to the Jackson State University Faculty Senate, under the leadership of Dr. Dawn Bishop, for passing the “Resolution of the Jackson State University Faculty Senate Defending Academic Freedom to Teach about Race, Gender Justice and Critical Race Theory Adopted by the Faculty Senate January 27, 2022,” which reads, in part, “THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Jackson State University Faculty Senate resolutely rejects any attempts by bodies external to the faculty to restrict or dictate university curriculum on any matter, including matters related to racial and social justice, and will stand firm against encroachment on faculty authority by the legislature or the Boards of Trustees… BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate affirms the Joint Statement on Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism, authored by the AAUP, PEN America, the American Historical Association, and the Association of American Colleges & Universities, endorsed by over seventy organizations, and issued on June 16, 2021.”
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Every Monday at 6:30 p.m., Afrikan Art Gallery & Bookstore (800 North Farish Street) will hold weekly meetings every to discuss and organize around the newly published Long Term Strategic Plan for Black America. For more information contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.
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The first Tuesday of each month, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., at the Capital Club, Women for Progress of Mississippi, Inc., will host its monthly Lunch and Learn, featuring various women in impactful leadership in the city and around the country. For more information, contact mail@womenforprogress.net.
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Every Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., Dependable Source Corp. Center for Community & Workforce Development, which is a black woman-owned business, hosts The Working Woman Report, which is a live podcast that curates conversations on a variety of topics with professional women. Y’all can join the conversation here, and for more information contact Willie Jones, owner and CEO of Dependable Source Corp at williejones@drivingyourfuturems.com.
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Every Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Refill Jackson—a nonprofit designed to equip young adults ages 18 – 24 with the skills needed to enter the workforce and be self-sufficient—holds its Friday Forums, which are at 136 S. Adams Street Jackson, MS 39203. For more information, contact Nicole McNamee at nmcnamee72@gmail.com or visit their website here.
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The first Friday of each month, at 8:00 p.m. at The Event Center (716 S Gallatin Street), Spoken Soul Open Mic holds its monthly open mic readings and performances. Hosted by Queen Speaks, the cost is $10. All poets and performers welcomed. For more information, contact Erica Garrett at ericamvsu03@gmail.com or (601) 500-3502.
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The first Saturday of each month, the Mississippi Museum of Art will begin its Access for All: Free First Saturdays. For more information, go here.
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The second and fourth Saturday of each month, Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears (rashell.spears@jsums.edu) and Dr. Shanna Smith (shanna.l.smith@jsums.edu) coordinate a creative writing workshop that meets via Zoom. That group has been meeting for almost ten years now, and many of the works developed in that workshop have been published. In fact, I’ve had at least four works that I had workshopped by the group to be published later.
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Two Saturdays a month, Afrikan Art Gallery will host program, Freedom School Saturdays, for middle and high school students that is modeled after the 1964 Freedom Summer/School Project. The mission is to will help with the intellectual empowerment of our children with course in Civics 101, A Meeting with the Elders: What to Expect in Life, Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta, Spiritual Pilgrimage to Africatown, AL, photo-journalism exercises, cultural expressions and performances for Black-centered events through their Speech - Choir and Afrikan Cultural Pride Dance Troupe, financial literacy workshops, and so much more. For more information, contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.
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Every Saturday, noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff is beginning another Prince project, What Did Prince Do This Week?, a very, very, very slow read of Duane Tudahl’s entire Prince Studio Sessions book series through an interactive, online, weekly book club web series. Professor Duff will be live via Streamyard video every Saturday at noon ET on YouTube and Facebook to discuss the parallel week, beginning in 1983. The weekly discussion will be recorded if y’all cannot attend the livestream. The first Saturday of the series, Duff was joined by Tudahl, and y’all can watch the recording of the first session here. To get notifications or to join Duff’s listserv, go to
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Each Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CST, award-winning novelist Ellen Morris Prewitt, author of In the Name of Mississippi, and Alisha Johnson Perry, children’s book author, social justice advocate, and certified fundraising executive, have joined forces to establish Contemplative Writing Group. Each week is led by a member of the group. They catch up on their writing week, then the leader offers a contemplative writing prompt. They write for 30 - 40 minutes and share if anyone want. It’s come-and-go/participate when you can and of indefinite duration—as long as folks are getting something from it, the workshop will be offered. To join the group, folks can email the School of Contemplative Living at livingschool12@gmail.com or go here.
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Mississippi-based funnymen Merc B. Williams and Cocky McFly...real-life brothers…have joined forces to create The Vibe Controllers, which is a podcast that shows the two of them in their natural element discussing various topics, with a little humor and lots of sibling banter! Y’all can checkout the podcast via Soundcloud or YouTube at soundcloud.com/thevibecontrollers and The Vibe Controllers Podcast - YouTube.
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The Center for the Study of Southern Culture has posted its May events in its latest newsletter, which can be read here.
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Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC)—a private nonprofit corporation funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts disciplines to serve nonprofit groups in Mississippi—has posted its upcoming events that y’all can read here.
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Contributors are being solicited for the newly commissioned Cambridge History of Black Women in the United States. The Cambridge History of Black Women in the United States (CHBW) is a five-volume history that will appeal to students, lay readers, and specialists. These volumes will be a landmark opportunity to reflect seriously on the state of scholarship on Black women in the United States, as well as reshape our thinking about their impact on American society. The editors want to showcase the best work of recent years, as well as point the way forward for a new generation of scholars and readers. They see this as a scholarly project that aims to lead the field and to educate and engage a broad audience of non-professionals. For more information of how to submit, go here.
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July 4 – 7, 2024, the International African Arts Festival is currently happening in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, go here.
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July 6, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Ridgeland Library, the Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG) will meet for a reading session, where members can read a short (no more than five minutes) sample of their work. It can be a poem, fiction, non-fiction, a play, or even a song. For more information, contact MWG Director Susan Marquez at susanmarquez39110@gmail.com.
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July 6, 13, 20, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. GMT, Lolwe is offering a masterclass on “Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction,” taught by award-winning writer Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of the critically-acclaimed fantasy novels David Mogo, Godhunter, winner of the 2020 Nommo Ilube Award for Best Novel, and Son of the Storm, first in his epic fantasy trilogy. Worldbuilding is a foundational element in writing fantasy and science fiction. These genres allow for new worlds to be created, worlds where the geography, history, physics, politics and religion differ greatly from that of the real world, and worldbuilding sets the background against which these otherworldly stories happen. Over the years, many writers have drawn influence from Western mythologies, and they tend to create worlds that lack elements in their own culture. One can come across stories set in Africa featuring European attributes such as dragons. This class aims to teach you how to create worlds and characters grounded in your culture and history, which readers will find novel and original. In this class, you will learn how to build imaginary worlds set with rules and boundaries that make them seem real. Also, there will be recommended readings and writing exercises. The class is open to writers at all stages. To register, go here.
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July 6, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., at Kennedy King College, Muntu Dance Theatre will facilitate a Community Class with Idy Ciss. For more information, contact info-muntu.com@shared1.ccsend.com and go here.
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July 10 – 14, 2024, Mississippi native, fiction writer, playwright, and health activist Katrina Byrd will present her paper, “The Authentic Life Drives Change,” as a part of the 2024 Annual Gathering of the Henry David Thoreau Society. For more information, go here.
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July 10, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at Native Coffee, the Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to partner with the Mississippi Book Festival to present our very first “Reading the Room” event. If you love reading, socializing, and any excuse to talk about books, then join them by bringing any book you are currently reading + enjoy some time set aside to read on your own + talk books with your neighbors over drinks and snacks + celebrate Mississippi’s vibrant literary culture with them! For more information, go here or contact kam@mississippihumanitiescouncil.ccsend.com.
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ITVS is seeking to fund short and feature documentaries of exceptional storytelling that reflects its mission: stories that take risks, tackle important issues, address the needs of underserved audiences, and are seldom seen in public media. They know how diligently you’ve worked on your project, and they’ll partner with you to help you finish and distribute it across public media platforms. Open Call provides up to $400,000 of co-production funding to independent producers of nonfiction documentaries, ranging from short films to feature length. The documentary can be on any subject, or any viewpoint or style as long as it is in active production already, as evidenced via a work-in-progress sample. The deadline to apply is July 12, 2024. For more information, go here.
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July 16, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. CST, Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) will host, MindFrame: Exploring Mental Health through Film, a three-part film series based on Noah Saterstrom’s exhibit, What Became of Dr. Smith, which focuses on the depiction of mental health in cinema and Mississippians’ access to mental health resources. In July, MMA will explore the nuanced ways in which filmmakers navigate the complexities of mental health on screen. In August and September, in partnership with Mississippi State University Psychology Department, MMA will explore two stories of youth facing significant mental health challenges in Mississippi. To register, go here.
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July 18, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. CST, Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) in conjunction with the Jackson State University Margaret Walker Center will curate an event, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Freedom Summer. They will reflect on the where we’ve been and where we are now, through artmaking inspired by archival material, live music, a pop-up exhibition with JSU students, and food trucks. To register, go here.
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July 18, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. at Friendly City Books, the Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to partner with the Mississippi Book Festival to present our very first “Reading the Room” event. If you love reading, socializing, and any excuse to talk about books, then join them by bringing any book you are currently reading + enjoy some time set aside to read on your own + talk books with your neighbors over drinks and snacks + celebrate Mississippi’s vibrant literary culture with them! For more information, contact kam@mississippihumanitiescouncil.ccsend.com.
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July 20, 2024, 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., at St. Martin Public Library, the Louisiana/Mississippi Branch of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators will host the Roadtrip to Biloxi, MS. Come join our kidlit community for Shop Talk and Critiques with our Gulf Coast members. We'll also plan a lunch for 11:00 am somewhere in Biloxi close by. Stay tuned! For additional information, email Monique Stevenson at mstevenson1118@icloud.com
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July 20, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST at AV Gallery, African Voices will host a Print N Sip workshop led by Khuumba Ama. For more information, go here.
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The Symposium on the Literary Voices of the Mississippi Delta, co-sponsored by the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), will be held Fall 2024, at MVSU in Itta Bena. The symposium welcomes presentation proposals on literature, music, history, folklore, and any aspects of cultural heritages of the Mississippi Delta. Both scholarly proposals and creative work about the Delta are welcome. Abstracts (100-150 words) for scholarly proposals and creative work (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) with your name, affiliation, email address should be sent as an e-mail attachment to Dr. John Zheng (english_mvsu@yahoo.com) by July 30, 2024. Presentations should run for 20 minutes. No registration fee for this symposium. Use Symposium Proposal for the subject when submitting by email. All presentations will be considered for publication in the spring 2025 issue of Valley Voices and/or the Journal of Ethnic American Literature. They also hope to edit a collection of critical essays about the contemporary literary voices of the Mississippi Delta.
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August 3, 10, 17, 24, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. GMT, Lolwe is offering a masterclass on “Plot, Subplot, and Characterization” taught by Zukiswa Wanner. This class is designed to elevate your storytelling by guiding you through plot, subplot, and characterization, the most important elements integral to any good story. For the duration of the course, you will learn how to create both an interesting plot and memorable, three-dimensional characters. Each writer will get a chance to receive feedback from other participants within the workshop and to have one-to-one consultation sessions with the tutor. The feedback will help shape the stories with the goal of giving the writer a better understanding of these basic elements of storytelling. Wanner is a South African journalist, novelist, and editor born in Zambia and now based in Kenya. Since 2006, when she published her first book, her novels have been shortlisted for awards including the South African Literary Awards (SALA) and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. In 2015, she won the K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award for London Cape Town Joburg (2014). In 2014 Wanner was named on the Africa3 9 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature. She curated the Pan-African virtual literary festival Afrolit Sans Frontières which had over 60 writers. In 2020, she was awarded the Goethe Medal, making Wanner the first African woman to win the award. She has facilitated various workshops including Caine Prize, Afro Young Adult, Writivism Workshop, among others. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced writer, this three-week class is your chance to learn from the award-winning author of the novels The Madams, Behind Every Successful Man, and Men of the South and London Cape Town Joburg. The class will be held online via Zoom. To register for the class, go here.
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August 3, 10, 17, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. GMT, Lolwe is offering a masterclass on “Magic Realism and Surrealism,” taught by writer T. J. Benson, author of the collection of short stories, We Won’t Fade into Darkness and the novels, The Madhouse and People Live Here. Magical realism as a genre has been heavily debated especially when it comes to the classification of work from former colonies. The class will discuss it in the context of the work from the African continent and the genres it often obscures like Animism Realism, African Traditional Realism. They will also explore surrealism with contemporary examples. The aim of the class is to remove the western gaze/framing of these genres from literature emerging from the continent and see how we can play them into our own writing. We will also use contemporary visual art and music from Africa. Inclusion of indigenous story telling styles, transliteration from African languages, spiritualities and traditions and a keen interest in the genres and familiarity with stories within the genres is encouraged. The class is open to writers at all stages. To register, go here.
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August 8 – 11, 2024, at BRIC Arts (Brooklyn, NY), African Voices, REEL Sisters, BRIC will offer Reel Sisters + BRIC Screenwriting Lab—a four session course that includes a weekend intensive designed to give independent screenwriters the opportunity to create scripts for television, film, and streaming platforms like OWN, Netflix, and Amazon. Join a writers’ boot camp devoted to developing risk-taking narratives and creating scripts with richly layered female characters. The Lab will accept in-person and online applicants. Writers will work in small groups and one-on-one with veteran writer/producer Lorisa Bates, the CEO of Batesville Media, LLC and former VP of Content Strategy at BET Networks where she was responsible for greenlighting 70+ movies. To register, go here.
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August 20, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. CST, Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) will host, MindFrame: Exploring Mental Health through Film, a three-part film series based on Noah Saterstrom’s exhibit, What Became of Dr. Smith, which focuses on the depiction of mental health in cinema and Mississippians’ access to mental health resources. In August and September, in partnership with Mississippi State University Psychology Department, MMA will explore two stories of youth facing significant mental health challenges in Mississippi. To register, go here.
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The Canadian Journal of Disability Studies (CJDS) has a new Call for Papers: Disability and Star Trek, Special Issue of CJDS. Throughout its evolution, the Star Trek franchise has worked to tell stories about diversity on several levels, and a key element of several episodes has been disability. For example, from Captain Pike to Lieutenant Detmer, Star Trek offers many opportunities that provide for deeper discussions of disability. At the same time as Star Trek’s legacy has expanded, definitions and models of disability representation have continued to shift in new ways. Additionally, as disability theorist Dan Goodley (2017) suggests, theories have become multi-dimensional, and disabilities are now better understood to coexist alongside other markers of diversity (p. 44). Because both Star Trek and disability studies continue to shape how we think about the present as well as what we can imagine about the future, the Special Issue editors are seeking submissions for the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies (CJDS) that highlights the ways that disability influences, impacts, and operates within the Star Trek universe/franchise. They are seeking submissions of previously unpublished articles on disabilities, with a focus on disability theory within the world(s) and storylines of the Star Trek franchise. The deadline to submit is September 1, 2024. The encourage articles from minoritized populations, including disabled authors. Please submit your abstracts of no more than 300 words to Special Issue Editors Daniel Preston (daniel.preston@gmail.com) and Craig A. Meyer (craigAmeyer@gmail.com) with the subject line, “CJDS Star Trek Special Issue.” In the abstract, please include name, affiliation (if applicable), and contact information.
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September 12, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex, Sunny Hostin—legal journalist, author, and co-host of ABC’s The View—will deliver the keynote for the Jackson State University Mary E. Peoples Scholarship Luncheon. For more information, go here.
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Diane Williams—co-author with Richelle Putnam of A Guide to Mississippi Museums and best-selling and award-winning novelist Angie Thomas have been announced as panelists for this year’s Mississippi Book Festival, which will be September 14, 2024. For more information, go here.
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September 17, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. CST, Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) will host, MindFrame: Exploring Mental Health through Film, a three-part film series based on Noah Saterstrom’s exhibit, What Became of Dr. Smith, which focuses on the depiction of mental health in cinema and Mississippians’ access to mental health resources. In August and September, in partnership with Mississippi State University Psychology Department, MMA will explore two stories of youth facing significant mental health challenges in Mississippi. To register, go here.
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September 18 – 24, 2024, Furious Flower, one of the most important organizations for archiving, nurturing, and promoting black poetry, will hold its annual conference. For more information, go here and here.
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September 27 – 28, 2024, the Symposium on the Literary Voices of the Mississippi Delta, co-sponsored by the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), will be held at MVSU in Itta Bena. The symposium will include presentations on literature, music, history, folklore, and any aspects of cultural heritages of the Mississippi Delta. For more information, contact Dr. John Zheng at english_mvsu@yahoo.com. All presentations will be considered for publication in the spring 2025 issue of Valley Voices and/or the Journal of Ethnic American Literature. They also hope to edit a collection of critical essays about the contemporary literary voices of the Mississippi Delta.
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September 28, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at Ice House, in Jackson, MS, the Mississippi Coalition against Domestic Violence will host Midnight Blues Gala: A Purple-Tie Event, to honor domestic violence survivors, advocates, and allies. Enjoy great food, drinks, and a silent auction while experiencing a live blues performance. Let’s unite and show our solidarity in the fight against domestic violence. Together, we have strength! For more information about the event, contact support@mcadv.org and go here. And, for more information about the MCADV, go here.
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October 17, 2024, at 7:00 p.m., Millsaps College and Lemuria Books will host an evening with New York Times bestselling author and humorist David Sedaris. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here.
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October 17 – 19, 2024, Cushcity.com will host the annual National Black Book Festival (NBBF). As one of the largest online sources for African-American authors and literature, NBBF attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide. For more information, including a detailed list of authors and events, go here.
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October 19 – 20, 2024, Reel Sisters, the first Oscar Qualifying Film Festival for narrative shorts devoted to women filmmakers, will premiere the original works of women filmmakers at the 27th Annual Reel Sisters Film Festival. For more information, go here.
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National Council for Black Studies has a Call for Papers for its Annual Report on the State of Affairs for Africana Communities in 2024 and Beyond. This report will include short APA-style essays (between 2,000 and 2,500 words, or 8–10 double-spaced pages, including references) on new, emerging, and ongoing current issues and innovations of importance to Africana communities in the U.S. and anywhere in the global African world. Their mission is to create a space for their discipline to offer historical context, future projections, solutions, and culturally grounded analyses of current needs, concerns, innovations, and ideas of people of African ancestry anywhere in the world. The theme of this call for papers is refocusing and reaffirming Black studies’ community relevance, particularly in the following areas: 1) Black community approaches to food security, 2) artificial intelligence and its impact on Black families and communities, 3) the visions and works of the founding activist scholars of the discipline of Black studies, 4) Pan-Africanism at the close of the International Decade for People of African Descent, 5) agency and policy analysis in the climate of resurgent reactionism to Black agency, and 6) how to establish disciplinary identity and defining goals in the midst of a diversity of identities and interests within the discipline. For this issue, NCBS is especially seeking essays that engage agentic and culturally grounded methods and approaches to resistance and solutions across the African world. It is important that essays in this report specifically highlight strategies used by African collectives in specific locales of the world to counter oppression, which can be utilized throughout the African world. The deadline to submit is November 1, 2024. For more information, go here.
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International Journal of Africana Studies (IJAS) has a Call for Papers on the theme of “The Transatlantic Slave Trade and National Reckonings: Remembering, Repressing, Repairing.” With 2025 representing the 160th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing legalized slavery throughout the country, the IJAS invites article manuscripts for a special themed issue to capture this commemorative moment. Focusing on multiple Black Atlantic contexts, the IJAS issue will examine governmental and civil society responsiveness or resistance to efforts to reckon with various legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Guest editors R. Drew Smith and Bertis D. English encourage contributors to explore local, state, national, or international debates; institutional or policy directives; and related topics regarding the public importance of such legacies, especially in the Americas, Africa, and Europe, though contributors may explore other geographical areas. The deadline to submit is November 1, 2024. For more information, go here.
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