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James G. Thomas, Jr. is the associate director for publications at the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture and, since 2015, director of the Oxford Conference for the Book. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy, a master’s degree in Southern Studies, and a master’s of fine arts in … Continued

Pulitzer Prize-winner Natasha Trethewey served two terms as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012–2014), while also serving as the Poet Laureate of the State of Mississippi (2012–2016). She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir; a book of nonfiction, Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the … Continued

Boyce Upholt is a writer and nature critic whose writing has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and he lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Upholt is this year’s winner of the Willie Morris … Continued

Vanessa Angélica Villarreal is the author of Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award, and Beast Meridian, which was a 2019 Whiting Award winner, a Kate Tufts Discovery Award finalist, and the winner of the John A. Robertson Award for … Continued

Elijah Wald is a musician and author of more than a dozen books, including Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, The Dozens: A History of Rap’s Mama, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll: An Alternative History of Popular Music, and the bestselling Dylan Goes Electric! His latest book, Jelly … Continued