A quarter-century ago the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conference tackled the issue of Faulkner and Race. In 2013, the 40th annual conference seeks to build on and complicate this earlier work by exploring the relationships between Faulknerâs oeuvre and a hemispheric corpus of black writing, with a particular emphasis on African American literature and intellectual production, from slave narrative to the contemporary era of Toni Morrison, Ishmael Reed, John Edgar Wideman, Maryse Conde, Charles Johnson, Gloria Naylor, David Bradley, Randall Kenan, Edouard Glissant, Erna Brodber, Jesmyn Ward, Edwige Danticat, and so many others. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Communications
The 2013 Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference, “Faulkner and the Black Literatures of the Americas,” will begin on Sunday, July, 21. The five-day conference will consist of lectures and discussions exploring the relationships between Faulkner’s body of work and a hemispheric corpus of black writing. Many writers, teachers, and literary scholars will attend the event.
“Faulkner wrote about race, with agonized, conflicted insight, across nearly all of his important works and over the years, the Faulkner Conference has reflected that,” said Jay Watson, UM Professor of Faulkner Studies.
Guests will have the opportunity to attend panel presentations, a dinner at Rowan Oak, and exhibits showcasing historical photography and displays. Participants may also choose to take tours of North Mississippi, the Mississippi Delta, and Memphis, Tenn.
For more information, visit http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/events/faulkner/.