Aiming to capitalize on its promising debut last year, the Mississippi Book Festival will hold its "literary lawn party" on Saturday, August 20, on the grounds of the Mississippi State Capitol Building in Jackson, with some events in the Capitol, and Galloway United Methodist Church and the Foundery at Galloway. The program includes some 30 panels, book signings, a kids' corner, Capitol tours and a marketplace featuring booksellers and food trucks. Among the more than 150 participating authors are Richard Ford, Kate DiCamillo, Jon Meacham, Jesmyn Ward, Julia Reed, Rick Bass, Jacqueline Woodson, Robert Olen Butler and Ellen Gilchrist.
Last year, the festival featured 103 authors and 22 panel discussions and drew nearly 4,000 attendees and volunteers. The event was organized by a group that included representatives from local bookstore Lemuria Books, the University Press of Mississippi, the Mississippi Library Commission, the Mississippi Development Authority, the Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. Members of the board of directors include John Evans from Lemuria; Richard Howorth, co-owner of Square Books in Oxford; Jamie Kornegay, owner of Turnrow Book Co. in Greenwood; and Scott Naugle, co-owner of Pass Books/Cat Island Coffeehouse in Pass Christian. The nonprofit festival aims to promote literature, libraries and literacy in Mississippi.