A street journey via Mississippi—one of many world’s finest literary landscapes

Literary tourism has by no means been extra common. Readers cross oceans to stroll Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon, comply with James Joyce via Dublin, sip espresso in Hemingway’s Paris, and wander the dreaming spires of Oxford, England. Increasingly, vacationers are in search of not simply books, however the locations that impressed them. Yet, considered one of North America’s most influential literary landscapes stays largely ignored.

Mississippi has produced a rare focus of writers whose work has formed American literature for generations, from William Faulkner and Eudora Welty to Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams, Jesmyn Ward, Natasha Trethewey, and Kathryn Stockett. And in contrast to many locations the place historical past feels preserved behind museum glass, Mississippi’s literary tradition stays very a lot alive.

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Follow Mississippi’s literary path

Most literary locations revolve round a single determine, however Mississippi affords a complete literary ecosystem. The Mississippi Writers Trail connects properties, museums, bookstores, archives, and communities related to a few of America’s most influential writers.

Following the path reveals a exceptional focus of literary expertise. Richard Wright confronted racism and injustice. Margaret Walker documented Black resilience and cultural reminiscence. Tennessee Williams remodeled Southern expertise into dramatic artwork. Natasha Trethewey explored race, household, and belonging. Jesmyn Ward continues to chronicle up to date Mississippi with unflinching honesty.

Together, they reveal how deeply storytelling is woven into Mississippi’s id. The path additionally demonstrates the variety of voices that emerged from the state. Mississippi isn’t merely the place these writers lived. It is central to what they wrote.

Visit Oxford, Mississippi

When most individuals hear the title Oxford, they consider England. Images of centuries-old faculties, literary giants, and iconic crimson phone cubicles come to thoughts. However, Oxford, Mississippi, affords a Southern various. Here, British-inspired crimson telephone cubicles stand on the courthouse sq. as a nod to town that impressed its title.

I arrived on the town for the launch of Kathryn Stockett’s first novel in additional than 15 years. Inside The Powerhouse group arts heart, lots of gathered to welcome dwelling the writer whose novel The Help launched many worldwide readers to Mississippi for the primary time. Onstage, Stockett sat in dialog with Oxford’s mayor earlier than a packed viewers. Readers lined up with freshly bought hardcovers tucked below their arms. Conversations about books spilled into the foyer lengthy after the occasion ended.

The scene challenged many outsiders’ assumptions about Mississippi. Oxford is dwelling to Ole Miss and considered one of America’s most well-known tailgating cultures, however books maintain a equally distinguished place right here, and its literary coronary heart of city beats inside Square Books. Opened in 1979, the impartial bookstore helped remodel Oxford into considered one of America’s premier literary locations. Today, Square Books, Square Books Jr., and Rare Square Books occupy a number of storefronts overlooking the courthouse sq..

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On the afternoon earlier than Stockett’s occasion, guests browsed for signed first editions, Mississippi classics, and cabinets devoted to Southern literature. Faulkner sat alongside Jesmyn Ward. Barry Hannah shared shelf area with up to date voices.

The bookstore feels much less like a retailer than a gathering place. Authors launch books right here. Readers linger over espresso. Conversations start between strangers and proceed lengthy after purchases are made. What turns into clear shortly is that Oxford’s literary tradition isn’t merely preserved, it’s actively sustained.

Explore Faulkner’s literary universe

A couple of storefronts away, one other piece of literary historical past survives inside Neilson’s Department Store. Founded in 1839 and infrequently described because the oldest division retailer within the South, the enterprise has witnessed practically two centuries of Oxford historical past. It can also be dwelling to one of many city’s favourite William Faulkner tales.

Sitting inside the shop, proprietor Will Lewis, Jr. recalled tales handed down from his father, who knew Faulkner personally. The author’s spouse and daughters often bought clothes and home items on account, permitting the stability to develop steadily over time. Then, Faulkner received the Nobel Prize.

“He then became famous, won the Nobel Prize, got some money and paid the bills,” Lewis informed me with fun. The story has turn into Oxford folklore. Here, Faulkner wasn’t only a literary large; he was a neighbor, a buyer, a well-known face downtown.

Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s former dwelling on the sting of city, is about beneath towering cedar and oak bushes, and this Greek Revival home stays considered one of America’s literary landmarks. The rooms stay a lot as they had been throughout his lifetime, and guests can nonetheless see the define Faulkner famously penciled onto the partitions whereas writing A Fable.

But Rowan Oak affords one thing extra useful than a glimpse right into a author’s private life: It offers entry to a complete fictional universe.

Faulkner remodeled northern Mississippi into Yoknapatawpha County, the setting for novels together withThe Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Absalom, Absalom! Though fictional, the county emerged instantly from the landscapes surrounding Oxford. More than a century later, writers proceed drawing inspiration from the identical panorama.

Visit Jackson’s dwelling literary scene

Jackson affords one other important cease alongside Mississippi’s literary journey. At the Eudora Welty House and Garden, guests step contained in the preserved dwelling of considered one of America’s most beloved writers. Welty spent a long time observing Mississippi life with extraordinary care, remodeling extraordinary conversations and each day encounters into enduring literature. Walking via the rooms the place she wrote, it turns into clear how intently she paid consideration to the world round her.

Nearby, Lemuria Books continues Mississippi’s literary custom. If Square Books serves as Oxford’s literary front room, Lemuria performs the same position in Jackson. The impartial bookstore hosts writer occasions, nurtures native readers, and serves as a gathering place for the state’s literary group.

Why Mississippi retains producing writers

Mississippi’s magnificence exists alongside painful histories, its hospitality coexists with exhausting truths, and its landscapes encourage marvel whereas elevating troublesome questions. Writers have been drawn to these tensions for greater than a century, and readers proceed following them there.

As the viewers filed out of Kathryn Stockett’s occasion that night, conversations lingered lengthy after this system ended. Some mentioned The Help, whereas others debated Faulkner. Many merely talked about books.

Literary vacationers typically journey to locations the place nice books had been written. Mississippi affords one thing rarer—a spot the place literary historical past remains to be producing new chapters.

(A go to to Harper Lee’s hometown, forever modified by ‘To Kill a Mockingbird)