Mississippi Book Festival, 2018

In Pictures!

I'm proud to have been a part of the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival. This was my third festival, and they just keep getting better. This year, with Ellen Ruffin's magic touch, there was a kick-off event at the fabulous Pass Christian Books. Our panel of kids' writers signed books and spoke a little about our books and then had the most fabulous dinner with Margaret McMullan and her family.

The Bookstore!

 

(Dinner was shrimp and grits. And a yummy dessert called Bayou Bites.)

I had breakfast early Friday morning at the bookstore and it may have been the best breakfast I've ever eaten. The tea! The view! Surrounded by books, I was fortified for the day ahead.
(side note, I spent a lot of time as a little girl on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, including a week in Pass Christian at Camp Kittiwake. The little town is so beautiful now.) 







First stop, with my new buddy, Rose Brock, who edited a book I can't wait to read. She and I headed to the schools in Bay St. Louis.

 (A link to interviews with two of the authors who were on Hope's panel in Jackson.

I spoke to two groups (over 200 kids!) at the Bay Waveland Middle School. (Can you guess this item from my Junk Poker shoebox?)

 



Thank you, Emily, for playing Super Hero Librarian. Really had a fun time.

 (Loved the t-shirts worn by many! The tech and lighting guys saved the day!)

And the winners were...

Next, Stone County, Mississippi. Thanks to Kathryn Lewis and the McMullan Family Foundation, and of course, Ellen Ruffin for making this day happen. The pictures from Perkinston Elementary School speak for themselves. I had a ball talking to these fourth graders.

(I love to recommend books. This time I recommended a few and told a funny story about my friend, Barbara O'Connor, advising me not only on writing but dancing. Here we are demoing a shuffle-ball-change.)

Signing books and reading books!
 

 Now, on to Jackson, to the Book Festival!

 (A different Middle Grade group was moderated by Clara Martin. 

Photographed by Ellen Ruffin.)

:)

I got to moderate this panel of Mississippi-connected Middle Grade Authors. Jo Hackl, Deborah Wiles, Jimmy Cajoleas. 

and Linda Williams Jackson.

Somehow Linda got left off the above photos, 

so here's a wonderful picture of her with James Meredith!

Loved the Picture Book Panel, and especially hearing Irene Latham and Charles Waters speak about CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR. The Book Festival folks gave a lot of copies of this one to Jackson school kids. So many great things about this Festival.

(I've blogged about their book, and you can read it here.)

(Sarah Frances Hardy, Margaret McMullan, and a wiped-out me at the end of a really fabulous day...)

 The book Swag

The Booksellers! Lemuria Books, the best.

Another thing I love about this festival. Being with friends and family. This year I didn't take a single photo of my family. But they were there!
I did take a picture of the supper my best friend forever, Ivy Alley,  provided one night. I told her all we needed was "cheese and crackers." 
(Friday night she'd served me and our friend, the fabulous writer Minrose Gwin, fried chicken-- including a small side of chicken livers as per my request, zucchini fritters, and I forget what else yummy was on the plate. Because, no photo.)

I did take a picture of my "cheese and crackers."  Ivy is a fabulous hostess. There was caramel cake, a gift from my brother and sister. Thanks, Jack and Jane!

On Sunday, I visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. 
This quote seemed appropriate for the weekend.   

Recap by the numbers:  300 kids, 2 schools, 1 bookstore, more-than-I-care-to-count fabulous meals:
A small sample:
Shrimp and Grits
Bayou Bites and brownies
Fried chicken
Caramel Cake
Vegetable plate (field peas and turnip greens!)
Biscuits for breakfast, twice, with bacon
Bread pudding AND pecan pie
Dinner at Saltine with family
"Cheese and crackers" supper

Kaigler Festival

A few observations and photos from my weekend in Hattiesburg.

The Kaigler Book Festival is a place to make new friends
 and see old ones.

 

The ever-lovely and brilliant Ellen Ruffin.
Sarah Frances Hardy, who signed her new picture book next to me!

Clara Martin, there from Lemuria to chat about new books with one of my favorite authors, Deborah Wiles.

See how fabulous their lineup is?

Shannon Hitchcock and I presented a workshop: 

PUTTING THE PERSONAL IN HISTORY, 

about writing novels using family stories, memory, and research.

Gene Yang. 
Amazing presentation about his  journey from comic book kid to artist and writer.

I was taking notes fast and furiously!












I was too mesmerized by Nikki Grimes' talk to take a single picture. But she was there. Among many others.

And the food. Oh the food.

Celebrating the Ezra Jack Keats Award
With Caramel Cake, of course.

If you have an opportunity to attend the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi, 
just say yes.

Thank you, Mississippi librarians

Last week I was honored to receive the Mississippi Author Award in the Children's Literature cagetory for my novel, GLORY BE.

I talked all night to such nice librarians and to my two fellow honorees, Julie Cantrell and Carolyn Brown.





I was especially flattered to be introduced by none other than Ellen Ruffin, curator of the deGrummond Children't Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Here we are, smiling after my speech. Note the fabulous Ellen decked out in some of our table decorations, Mardi Gras style. Librarians do know how to party, don't we...

 

My sister, Jane Carlson, and brother Jack Russel were my honored guests at the dinner. 

Jane and I wandered around the exhibits as only two geeky librarians would do. 

(Did I mention Jane's also a former librarian?)

At the dinner, I spoke about my inspiration for Miss Bloom-- LePoint Smith and Anise Powell.

Click HERE if you'd like to read my post about them. 

 

 

 

Did I mention that my celebration started at the New Orleans airport? 

Any day that begins with beignets is bound to turn out right. And this one certainly did.

THANK YOU, MISSISSIPPI LIBRARIANS!