Each year writers and poets from across the South descend on Columbus, Mississippi to attend the Eudora Welty Writers’ Symposium. In the past, the event has hosted Pulitzer Prize winners, Poet Laureates, and international bestsellers. The event has established itself as a showcase of new talent in Southern Literature. The Symposium is hosted by Mississippi University for Women and is free and open to the public. Books are available in store at Friendly City Books and at friendlycitybooks.com/shop.

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 am-9 pm

Katy Simpson Smith — The Weeds (Keynote Speaker)

Friday, October 10, 9 am-1 pm

K. Iver — Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco
De’Shawn Charles Winslow — Decent People
Lee Durkee — Stalking Shakespeare
Maurice Carlos Ruffin — The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You

Friday, October 10, 1:30 pm-4 pm

Ann Fisher-Wirth — Paradise is Jagged
Halle Hill — Good Women
Claude Wilkinson — Soon Done with the Crosses

Saturday, October 11, 9:30 am-12:30 pm

Exodus Oktavia Brownlow — I’m Afraid That I Know Too Much About Myself Now …
Christie Collins — The Art of Coming Undone
Ellen Ann Fentress — The Steps We Take