HOMEGROWN: A WRITERS’ EXCHANGE

STALKING SHAKESPEARE (2023)

Arguably one of Mississippi’s most cutting edge authors, Lee Durkee is provocative. His highly anticipated sequel to the acclaimed novel THE LAST TAXI DRIVER is due out by early 2025. Durkee’s most recent book SEARCHING FOR SHAKESPEARE, literally tipped the literary world on its edge for extensively delving into areas that challenge the myths vs. realities of The Bard. THE LAST TAXI DRIVER was named Kirkus Reviews’ Best Book of 2020. His stories and essays have appeared in Harper’s, The Sun, Oxford American, Zoetrope: All Story, and Mississippi Noir. Durkee calls northern Mississippi home, where you may just find him haunting the local pool hall.

THE EVERLASTING (2020)

Katy Simpson Smith was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi and currently lives in New Orleans. Her novel The Everlasting was a New York Times best historical fiction book in 2020. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford American, and other publications.

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).

SHE WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING (2021)

The famous quotes authors select to open their novels could be a study in itself. And this book features a great one, one that becomes quite prophetic we find: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
At times new writers seem to burst onto the scene every week. Add Sarah Adlakha to this mix with her memorable debut novel, SHE WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING. This novel makes you think, feel and experience every single emotion and spiritual dilemma along with the protagonist. Adlakha writes what she knows. Before turning to writing fulltime, Adlakha was a practicing psychiatrist, just like her main character, Maria Forssmann.

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.

LAST OF THE RED HOT POPPAS (re-released 2024) & CONVERSATIONS WITH JASON BERRY - University Press of Mississippi (2025)

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.