From A Studio in the Woods:

The Gulf South Writer in the Woods, a program of A Studio in the Woods and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, supports the creative work, scholarship and community engagement of writers examining the Gulf South region.

Specifically, this year we aim to support BILAPOC Speculative Fiction writers working in prose, poetry and stage/screenwriting. Special consideration will be given to southern voices, under-represented communities, and perspectives not often heard. Eligible writers must live in the Gulf South, be from/have heritage in the Gulf South, and/or write about the Gulf South. The awardee will receive a stipend of $5,000, a 6-week residency at A Studio in the Woods over 18 months, Tulane University library access, and staff support from the presenting partners. Deadline: January 8, 2021.

I’m delighted to join former Congressman Ronnie Shows and my colleague Professor William Sturkey of UNC-Chapel Hill this Thursday on WORV-AM and WJMG-FM in Hattiesburg. WORV is the first Black-owned radio station in Mississippi, and only the seventh in the nation, so it’s an honor to discuss our recent series on the Hattiesburg Confederate monument. The program airs at 12.30pm CST, on 1580AM, 92.1FM and 93.1FM.

Part 3 of 4 of the series is now up at the Pine Belt News. We’re grateful as always to the editors.

Delighted to learn that the manuscript of my poetry collection The Singing River was a semifinalist for the 2020 Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize, from Conduit Books— thrilled to join the other honorees, and delighted for Suphil Lee Park, the winner!

I’m honored that part 2 of 4 of the series on the Confederate monument in Hattiesburg is now up at the Pine Belt News. Here, Professor Sturkey and I look specifically at the context of its creation — the politics of early 1900s Mississippi, the local individuals and organizations involved in its construction, and of course, the rhetoric of the Lost Cause. They say all politics is local, but the historical context of these monuments proves the opposite: this monument was part of a concerted effort across the South to glorify a past that never was.

The full article is available here. Thanks as always to the editors of the Pine Belt News for this partnership, and to all our readers.