As you may know, I like books and reading. A lot. I get to deal with these professionally a lot less than you might guess - my form of librarianship mostly deals with electronic resources, some of which are books, but mostly it’s journal articles and rarely do I actually read them. I’m more concerned that they’re accessible for others to read. I knew when I went into librarianship that it wasn’t a job where I’d get to read all day, despite that popular image, but I don’t think I was totally prepared for the ongoing loss of space for books in libraries. I understand and support the need to create more student study spaces for both group and individual study, and I understand the 80/20 circulation statistic, but I am concerned about what the decrease in physical books means. If I all of a sudden had money to do with what I pleased, I’d create a dedicated leisure reading section visible from the front doors in my academic library because I think that it’s one of the most important habits a person can develop. But I digress.
A while ago, I was looking for book tourism opportunities, and I stumbled across the Mississippi Book Festival’s website. I was impressed by the lineup of authors and Jackson is a simple three hour drive away, so I made a tentative reservation at a hotel and vague plans to attend. A few months later, I learned that
of the Stacks Podcast would be there to moderate a panel and my plans firmed up.Friday, my husband and I left work early to hit the road. Our hotel was a very glamorous Holiday Inn near an outlet mall, but it was only ten minutes or so to downtown Jackson. I had wanted to get a room at the Westin near the festival but it was totally booked up - I believe it was where all the authors and panelists were staying, so we mere mortals were not eligible. Hence the outlet mall. We had our first of four meals at the perfectly serviceable hotel restaurant and went to bed early.
Saturday morning, we summoned a Lyft to take us downtown. The festival promised plenty of free parking, which turned out to be true, but the highways around Jackson are confusing (at one point you can be going north, east, and west simultaneously) and we thought we might be coming back separately, so a rideshare seemed like a good idea. We got there a few minutes before the opening session, and M and I quickly split up to go our separate ways for the day.
I went to a panel about the impact of prison book clubs funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council. I had been to a program at a library conference about an organization that sends books to incarcerated people before, also in Mississippi, so I wasn’t going in ignorant, but I was still incredibly moved by what I heard. In one case, a book club participant credits his participation in the club with literally saving his life. I feel really strongly that the more educational opportunities that can be offered in prisons, the more rehabilitation takes place. I haven’t really figured out all of my complex feelings related to our rather carceral society but on a simple level education = good. Reading = especially good.
I went to a fascinating panel about memoir with Joseph Earl Thomas and Priyanka Mattoo. I saw two Pulitzer winners, Jonathan Eig and Robert Samuels, talk about their biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr., and George Floyd, respectively. I saw Traci moderate an amazing literary fiction panel with Rachel Khong, Kaveh Akbar, and Sheila Sundar.
I got books signed and talked with
and Beth Ann Fennelly, two authors whose books really influenced my desire to write. I told Garrett Graff how much my dad liked his book about D-Day, and how it gave us the gift of conversation topics for days. I talked to W. Ralph Eubanks about M’s alma mater, the Pacific University MFA in Writing. And I stood in line for almost two hours to get Kaveh Akbar to sign my copy of Martyr! Coincidentally, I was in line directly in front of two members of the Toronto Stacks Pack, which made the time in line pass faster. The vibes of the line were great, and some wonderful volunteers came by passing out free bottled water. Kaveh was incredibly kind and generous with his time and the time waiting was worth it.I showed great restraint and only purchased one book (I brought some of my own from home for the signings), largely because I had to carry it around all day and my backpack was already close to full. I got a t-shirt for donating to Big House Books, a nonprofit that sends books to Mississippi prisons. I ate a delicious ice cream sandwich for lunch. Unfortunately, I crashed hard while in the signing line for Martyr! and wasn’t able to make it to the Stacks Pack dinner.
I didn’t make it to perhaps the marquee event of the festival, Levar Burton and Jesmyn Ward in conversation, because just a few other people were also interested in that. Also, I needed some downtime in order to go to the signings, eat, and window shop. But I hear it was fabulous and full of standing ovations, a real love fest.
I can’t say enough about how well organized the festival was - signage was clear, volunteers were everywhere, free bottled water (!), and they had the nicest portapotties I’ve ever seen. This is definitely going to be an annual pilgrimage for me from now on. I told M that I’m going to train for next year and I wasn’t joking. Cardio, heat acclimation, shifting my bedtime later - all on the docket.
M and I realized that this was only our third trip away with just us since we got married in (gulp) 2015, and that includes our honeymoon. We need to be better about doing those, especially for things like this that we are both interested in - he had a completely different itinerary for the festival from mine, and his day was also a success. I’m really glad we didn’t talk ourselves out of making this trip.
Another gift of the festival was that it made me realize just how much I care about prison book clubs. When I got home, I wrote a check (I’m old school sometimes, and I wanted to include a thank you note for the program) to the MHC to support their program, and I’m going to look into whether there are any volunteer opportunities for related programs in Alabama.
Perhaps the biggest gift of the festival was that I got to spend a day totally focused on reading with other readers. There were some serious heavy hitters as far as authors there, but the vibe I got was that it wasn’t about their egos, it was about their books and their relationships with the readers. I didn’t get a single iota of ego from any of the accomplished authors I had the chance to meet. I saw authors participating in the festival as well, attending panels and just walking around.
We had a funny moment with our Lyft ride back home. The driver asked us, in a deep Southern drawl, if anyone had actually shown up to “that book festival.” He said he was shocked when we told him that a lot of people had. But then it turned out he’s an avid reader - vampires, werewolves, Star Wars - and when he dropped us off he asked us if the festival was happening again the next day. He seemed disappointed when we said no. Maybe next year he’ll be there too.
A photo dump:
And the final word on the way out of town:
Audiobooks are an exception to this dictate, of course.