My name is Patricia Neely-Dorsey. I am from Tupelo, MS.
I would love to be included as a southern author in the symposium.
My book is Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems.
It is "a celebration of the south and things southern"
There are so many neagative connotations associated with Mississippi and the south in general. In my book I attempt to give a positive glimpse into the southern way of life.

www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com

How about Darryl Wimberly, whose novel, The King of Colored Town won the Willie Morris Prize lasst year?

I'm busy looking for next year's authors! I've had some great suggestions from MUW faculty and past Symposium participants. Ideas are still welcome!

Beth Ann Fennelly's new collection, Unmentionables, is fantastic. As you may know, Beth and her husband, Tom Franklin, teach in the writing program at Ole Miss.

I'm not sure if any of you have read _Change me into Zeus' Daughter_ by Barbara Robinette Moss, but it's an amazing memoir. The first chapter won the Faulkner Creative Writing Competition in 1996. I have yet to read Fierce, the companion memoir (released in '04, I think), but I'm sure that it will be just as wonderful.

Cheers from a recent Dub alum, and good luck with the symposium!

As (new) director of the symposium, I am looking for suggestions of great authors to invite this year. If you are an author who claims a Southern connection or if some of your favorite authors are arguably Southern, feel free to suggest books here.

I am open to all definitions of what Southern literature is. To start the discussion, I'll say a Southern author is any author who was born or has lived a significant part of their lives in the South and whose work speaks to that experience in some way. If that definition isn't broad enough, feel free to add comments or qualify it.