STALKING SHAKESPEARE (2023)

Lee Durkee is the author of the novel THE LAST TAXI DRIVER (named a 2020 Book of the Year by Kirkus Review, The Irish Times, and Le Monde), and is presently at work on its much anticipated sequel. Durkee’s 2023 memoir, STALKING SHAKESPEARE was described as “wickedly entertaining” by the New York Times Book Review, and “gripping, poignant, and enjoyable” by the Washington Post. His first novel RIDES OF THE MIDWAY was published in 2001 by WW Norton. His stories and essays have appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The Sun, The Best of the Oxford American, Zoetrope, Garden & Gun, Tin House, & Mississippi Noir. Durkee calls northern Mississippi home, where you may just find him occasionally haunting the local pool hall.

THE WEEDS (2023); THE EVERLASTING (2020); & FREE MEN (2016)

Katy Simpson Smith is the author of the novels THE WEEDS, THE EVERLASTING, THE STORY OF LAND AND SEA, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and one of Vogue’s Best Books of 2014, and THE EVERLASTING, a New York Times Best Historical Fiction Book of 2020. Her writing has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford American, Granta, and elsewhere. Katy Simpson Smith received a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is also the author of FREE MEN, and WE HAVE RAISED ALL OF YOU: MOTHERHOOD IN THE SOUTH, 1750 - 1835. Katy was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi and currently lives in New Orleans.

HANNAH AND ARIELA (2022)

Johnnie Bernhard is a former English teacher and journalist. Her novel How We Came to Be was short-listed by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for 2019 Fiction of the Year. Her work has been published in anthologies for Louisiana Literature, The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate Twenty Years, and Katrina Memories, and her articles and columns have appeared in The Mississippi Press and other publications.

POOR GAL (2023)

Dan Gutstein is the author of eight books, including non/fiction, and Metacarpalism. His recent book POOR GAL, about the popular American folk song, "Little Liza Jane" is published by the University Press of Mississippi. Gutstein also co-directed a companion documentary film centered on the history and lore of the song (“Little Liza Jane"). His poems and short stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, American Scholar, and more. When he finds time, Dan is also a vocalist and lyricist for the punk rock band Joy on Fire (States of America, 2022).

DIAMOND PARK (2022)

Phillippe Diederich is the award-winning author of the acclaimed young adult novels, PLAYING FOR THE DEVIL’S FIRE and DIAMOND PARK. He is the son of Haitian exiles and grew up in Mexico City. Much of his writing and addresses themes of identity, multiculturalism, immigration, politics, and a search for home.
His fiction has received several awards including a PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature from the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, and four Pushcart nominations. His essays and journalism have been published in The Dallas Morning News, Miami New Times, Cigar Aficionado, Sarasota Magazine, and others. As a public speaker, he addresses issues of identity and multiculturalism, as well as literary topics such as finding voice and purpose in writing, and his personal journey on becoming a writer. He also has a TEDx Talk on the importance of diversity in young people's literature. Diederich is also an accomplished photographer and his images can be found on his website. Phillippe holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of South Florida and has taught creative writing in the MFA program at Goddard College.

EUDORA (2024)

Documentary Film & Companion Book

Anthony Thaxton has won awards as a television director, painter, educator, photographer, writer, musician, & filmmaker (including a Southeast EMMY Award). He is a founding partner in the Institute for Southern Storytelling at Mississippi College (where he was named the 2019 Distinguished Art Alumnus of the Year). He lovingly writes, produces, directs, and edits programming about the south. Anthony owns Thaxton Studios, a 30-year production company whose jobs include numerous corporate, government, educational, inspirational, political, commercial, and short film projects. He and his family live in Raymond, MS.

THE BIG DOOR PRIZE (2020)

M.O. Walsh's work includes award-winning fiction & essays which have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Paris Review, The Southern Review, Oxford American, Best New American Voices, and many others.

He is a graduate of the MFA program at Ole Miss and also has degrees from the University of Tennessee and LSU.

He currently directs The Creative Writing Workshopat the University of New Orleans. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Walsh lives with his family near Lake Pontchartrain, and says his life truly is "A Louisiana Story."

SOUTH OF SOMEWHERE: (2023) Recipes & Stories from My Life in South Africa, South Korea & the American South (A Cookbook)

Dale Gray was born in South Africa on the outskirts of Cape Town where she grew up with a close-knit family. She moved to South Korea after graduating from Stellenbosch University to teach English, and spent six years there. In her last year in South Korea, she met a soldier from Mississippi. They fell in love and soon moved back to the United States. That’s when Dale began to experiment with both Korean and South African flavors, along with the Southern dishes she was introduced to. She began to share her recipes on "TheDaleyPlate .com" and on social media platforms such as Instagram. Now she has hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide. Her work has been featured in Martha Stewart, Food & Wine, and other culinary publications. SOUTH OF SOMEWHERE is a unique culinary tour. Gray's journey began in South Africa where she describes the people as a product of centuries of colonization, enslavement, apartheid, and intermarriage between people from Asia, Africa, and Europe—now comprising a colorful blend of Eastern, Western, and African heritage.
South Africa, to South Korea, to the American South. The result of her travels is a one-of-a-kind cookbook with dishes including Porch Party Shrimp with Mississippi Comeback Sauce, Salmon Ssam Feast, and Garlic Peri-Peri Roast Chicken. This book delves deep into Gray's story and is full of delicious creations. Dale and her husband reside in Mississippi.

CITY OF A MILLION DREAMS (2018); VOWS OF SILENCE (2004); & LAST OF THE RED HOT POPPAS (re-released 2024)

Jason Berry achieved prominence for his reporting on the Catholic Church crisis in Lead Us Not Into Temptation (1992).  He has been widely interviewed in the national media, with many appearances on Nightline, Oprah, ABC and CNN. USA Today called Berry “the rare investigative reporter whose scholarship, compassion and ability to write with the poetic power of Robert Penn Warren are in perfect balance.”

Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, written with Gerald Renner (2004) has Spanish, Polish and Italian editions. The film Jason produced from the book won Best TV Documentary Award at 2008 Docs D.F. — Mexico City International Festival of Documentary Film — with air dates in Spain, Ireland, and Italy.

Jason writes on culture for many publications. Up From the Cradle of Jazz, a history of New Orleans music, reissued in fall 2009 has new sections on the cultural impact of Hurricane Katrina.

In 2011 he published Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church (Crown), which received Investigative Reporters and Editors Best Book Award.

Jason received Guggenheim and NEH fellowships on the long road of research for City of a Million Dreams, the first general history of New Orleans in many years.

He received a 1992 Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship for reporting on Louisiana demagogues. His play, Earl Long in Purgatory, won a 2002 Big Easy award for Best Original Work in Theatre.

He is also the author of Last of the Red Hot Poppas, a comic novel about Louisiana politics. Jason is a longtime contributor to The Daily Beast and National Catholic Reporter, among other outlets.

Jason Berry lives in New Orleans.

I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY (December 2024; New Release)

Beth Kander’s work has been described as riveting, expertly crafted, & habit-forming. Her sharp-eyed storytelling shapes everything she writes, from books to plays to the occasional poem. She’ll make you laugh before & after breaking your heart.

Kander is a writer with tangled roots in the Midwest and Deep South. The granddaughter of immigrants, her work often explores how worlds old and new intertwine—or collide. Described as a “genre-defying author and playwright” (Oxford American), her work has been called “riveting” and “habit-forming.”

Beth earned an MSW from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women, where she now serves as visiting faculty. Her darkly funny debut novel, I MADE IT OUT OF CLAY, hits shelves in December 2024 (MIRA Books / HarperCollins). She currently calls Chicago home, and is lucky to live there with her very favorite characters: her heroic husband, their two hilarious kids, and a giant rescue dog named Oz. Right this moment, she’s probably revising a scene while drinking too much coffee. Representation: Allison Hellegers, Stimola Literary Studio.

SELECTED HONORS & AWARDS: Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellow (2024-2025); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2023-2024); NJPP Finalist (2023); Hey Alma! Film Pitch Winner (2022); T. Jefferson Carey Memorial Playwriting Award (2022); Henry Award for Best New Play or Musical (2019-2020); PitchWars (2019); Indie Bronze (2019); Headwaters New Play Award (2018); Equity Library Theatre Showcase (2017); Ashland New Plays Festival (2015, 2016); Eudora Welty Award (2008, 2010, 2012); Getchell New Play Award (2012); Mississippi Arts Commission Fellow (2010-2011)

UNDER SURGE, UNDER SEIGE (2010) Anderson’s book UNDER SURGE, UNDER SEIGE broke ground when it was published in 2010. The book addresses the odyssey of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Katrina both during and in the years immediately following the devastation that Katrina left behind, and the “opportunities” that opened doors to some who would take advantage of post-hurricane circumstances. Anderson is the founder and former publisher of THE SHOOFLY magazine in the Bay St, Louis / Hancock County area. THE SHOOFLY, serves as an online weekly arts & entertainmnt prublication. Anderson currently serves as publisher for the French Quarter Journal based in New Orleans.

AFTERMATH LOUNGE (2015)

Among the many stellar works that Mississippi-based, award-winning author McMullan has penned, AFTERMATH LOUNGE ranks high. The book was a  finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award, Montaigne Medal, The Lascaux Book Prize in Short Fiction, and the Balcones Fiction Prize.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed 95% of the small coastal town of Pass Christian, Mississippi. With a 28-foot storm surge, the highest recorded in U.S. history, 55-foot waves, and winds reaching 120 mph, the town was wiped off the map—temporarily.

Margaret McMullan saw the destruction firsthand. Her family’s historic Gulf Coast home—her father’s beloved southern jewel—was one of the houses in Pass Christian devastated by Katrina. Despite the chaos immediately following the storm, McMullan’s family was among the first to rebuild and donated to the Red Cross, the Pass Christian fire station, and the Pass Christian library. In 2010, she was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship to complete the project.

Born in part out of her family’s deep connection to the community, Aftermath Lounge: A Novel in Stories (April 2015, Calypso Editions) releases at the 10-year anniversary of Katrina and comprises fictional vignettes about the people of Pass Christian in the storm’s wake. The stories are connected by a setting near to the author’s heart—the McMullans’ home, which was originally constructed in 1845 and restored by her father numerous times over the years.

AFTERMATH LOUNGE is a compelling tribute to the Gulf Coast and resurrects the place and its people alongside their heartaches and triumphs. It is a riveting mosaic that feeds our desire to understand what it means to be alive in this day and age.