Mississippi State Book Fair 2018

I had the pleasure of attending the Mississippi Book Festival, which is held each August in the state's largest city, Jackson. I was able to see a wide variety of interesting authors including Jon Meacham, Rick Bragg, and the author of one of my favorite books, Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier.

Jackson is a city that is over 80% Black, so I expected to see a significant number of Black authors. While the number of Black authors showcased were in the minority numerically; there were plenty in attendance. I saw writers like; children’s book author and actress, Quvenzhané Wallis; social justice activist, Janet Dewart Bell; former Editor in Chief of the NAACP’s flagship publication, The Crisis, Jabari Asim; and Jackson native and #1 New York Times Bestseller author, Angie Thomas. I even had dinner with award winning children’s book author and illustrator Don Tate. Indie authors were well represented too, and I captured video of a few including, K. Reshay and Regena Hoye.