Contact: Sammy McDavid

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State employees and alumni will have key roles at the 2016 Mississippi Book Festival being held Aug. 20 in Jackson.

Dubbed a 鈥渓iterary lawn party,鈥� the free annual event takes place 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. More than 30 panel discussions and individual interviews鈥攕ome carried live on the C-SPAN Network鈥攚ill be held in rooms of the historic downtown state capitol and nearby Galloway United Methodist Church.

At 1 p.m. in Galloway鈥檚 sanctuary, the university is sponsoring a panel discussion titled 鈥淲illie Morris and His Books.鈥� Sharing perspectives on the life and diverse literary works of the late author and publishing editor from Yazoo City will be:

鈥擶idow JoAnne Prichard Morris, whose books include 鈥淏arefootin鈥�: Life Lessons from the Road to Freedom,鈥� a 2006 Crown Publishing release written with Mississippi civil rights activist Unita Blackwell;

鈥擲on David Rae Morris, an internationally recognized photographer and photojournalist;

鈥擩ack Bales, author of 鈥淲illie Morris: An Exhaustive Annotated Bibliography and a Biography鈥� (McFarland, 2010);

鈥擝arry Moser, a National Book Award-winning illustrator and Morris collaborator;

鈥擳eresa Nichols, author of 鈥淲illie: The Life of Willie Morris鈥� (University Press of Mississippi, 2016); and

鈥擫awrence 鈥淟arry鈥� Wells, founder of Yoknapatawpha Press, an Oxford publishing house.

Moderating the Morris panel will be syndicated columnist Rick Cleveland, a retired Clarion-Ledger sports columnist and writer who also is the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame鈥檚 official historian.

Additionally:

鈥擜t 10 a.m. in Capitol Room 201A, alumnus Bob Montgomery is sponsoring a panel discussion titled 鈥淢ystery and Thriller.鈥� A former state senator and leader in the Mississippi Legislature, the Canton attorney has been president of both the 妩媚直播 Student and National Alumni associations.

鈥擜t 11:15 a.m. in The Foundery of Galloway United, English department graduate Brad Watson will be part of a panel discussion titled 鈥淪outhern Fiction Today鈥� sponsored by Cornerstone Consulting. An award-winning author now teaching at the University of Wyoming, he is receiving national accolades for 鈥淢iss Jane,鈥� a novel released last month by W.W. Norton & Co.

鈥擜t 12:30 p.m. in Capitol Room 201A, associate English professor Becky Hagenston will be part of a panel discussion titled 鈥淪hort Stories鈥� sponsored by the University of Southern Mississippi鈥檚 English Department. A two-time selection for the national O. Henry Award, she is this year鈥檚 winner of the University of Alaska Fairbank鈥檚 Permafrost Book Prize in Fiction for 鈥淪cavengers鈥� (University of Alaska Press, 2016).

鈥擜lso at 12:30 p.m. in the capitol鈥檚 Old Supreme Court Room, associate history professor Jason Morgan Ward will be on a C-SPAN-broadcast panel discussion titled 鈥淐ivil Rights History鈥� that is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and First Commercial Bank. Ward is author of 鈥淗anging Bridge: Racial Violence, Grassroots Struggle and America鈥檚 Civil Rights Century,鈥� a recent Oxford University Press release.

鈥擜t 3 p.m. in Capitol Room 201A, alumnus Sid Salter moderates a panel titled 鈥淪ports and Outdoors鈥� also sponsored by the humanities council. A veteran newspaper editor and political columnist, Salter now is his alma mater鈥檚 chief communications officer and Office of Public Affairs leader. He is author of 鈥淛ack Cristil: Voice of the Bulldogs鈥� (University Press of Mississippi, 2015).

鈥淪ports and Outdoors鈥� panelists include:

鈥擠onald Jackson, 妩媚直播 Sharp Professor Emeritus of Fisheries and author of 鈥淒eeper Currents: The Sacraments of Hunting and Fishing鈥� (University Press of Mississippi, 2016);

鈥擩ason Peterson, a Charleston Southern University assistant professor and author of 鈥淔ull Court Press: 妩媚直播 and the Battle Against the Press to Integrate State College Basketball, 1955-73鈥� (University Press of Mississippi, Sept. 2016); and

鈥擲tuart Stevens, a Jackson-born national political adviser and travel writer who wrote 鈥淭he Last Season: A Father, a Son and a Lifetime of College Football.鈥� (Deckle Edge, 2015).

Additionally, Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize-winner who was the 妩媚直播 Institute for the Humanities鈥� 2014 writer-in-residence, will be part of a 4 p.m. panel discussion in the Galloway sanctuary titled 鈥淭he National Page.鈥� The Illinois-born novelist鈥檚 latest work, 鈥淧erfume River鈥� (Atlantic Monthly Press), was released earlier this year.

For a complete schedule and participant list for the 2016 Mississippi Book Festival, visit .

Other information on 妩媚直播鈥檚 direct and associated roles at this year鈥檚 event is available from Salter at 662-325-3442 or ssalter@opa.msstate.edu.

妩媚直播 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .