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Mississippi Arts Hour
The Mississippi Arts Hour | Catherine Pierce
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Sarah Story speaks with Catherine Pierce, Mississippi’s new Poet Laureate. Pierce has been a professor of creative writing at Mississippi State University since moving to the state in 2007. She received the 2021 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters’ Poetry Award for her book Danger Days. Sarah and Catherine discuss the role of the state’s environment on her work, why poetry is for everyone, and Catherine’s plans to promote poetry throughout the state in her role as poet laureate.
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Mississippi Arts Hour | Craftsman, Fletcher Cox
47:43|Larry visits with Fletcher Cox, a master woodworker and craftsman who lives in the Jackson area. Cox is a past Governor’s Arts Award recipient and current member of MAC’s Artist Roster. They talk about his roots as a self-taught craftsman, how his work has evolved over the years and how he has given “new life” to fallen trees as furniture and other items.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Painter, Josephine Alexander
41:22|David visits with the painter Josephine Alexander from Ashland, Mississippi. A native of Maine, Alexander runs a small vegetable farm and makes oil paintings. She received an Artist Fellowship grant from MAC this summer. They talk about her roots in the Northeast, coming back to painting after some time away, and her recommendations to would-be artists.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Musician, Eric Deaton
48:34|Larry talks with longtime north Mississippi blues performer Eric Deaton. A native of North Carolina, Deaton moved to Mississippi in his late teens and learned the Hill Country blues style by playing with the masters of the music, including Junior Kimbrough and R.L.Burnside. Deaton has played with a “who’s who” of blues performers over the years and most recently recorded and toured with The Black Keys, the Grammy award-winning rock group.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Author, Diane Williams
47:44|Kristen talks with author and visual artist Diane Williams about Fostering Love, her memoir of growing up in a troubled family. Diane talks about the challenges of telling a difficult personal story and the insights she gained through the project. Also joining the conversation is Meredith Coleman Magee, the publisher of Fostering Love.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Jimbo Mathus
52:50|Larry talks with musician, bandleader and producer Jimbo Mathus. They talk about the upcoming reissue of his 1997 album Plays Songs for Rosetta and the origins of that project, as well as his recent work with the Parchman Prison Band on their upcoming recording.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Laura Kittrell, Showrunner, TV Writer & Executive Producer
53:48|This week Leslie talks with television writer, producer, and showrunner, Laura Kittrell. Laura's work includes Insecure, High School, and The Michael J. Fox Show. Her most recent project Elle (from the world of Legally Blonde) premiered on Amazon Prime earlier this summer. Laura discusses the life of a showrunner, the nineties, and growing up in Meridian, Mississippi.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Pianist, Bill Perry
49:30|Larry finishes his recent trip to Oxford by visiting with Bill Perry, a jazz pianist and bandleader in the city. Perry tells about his beginnings as a musician,playing in a family band. He then branched out into jazz, leading a number of different groups. Perry also talks about his work creating self-produced movies in Oxford.
Mississippi Arts Hour | ELSIE
41:20|David travel to Hattiesburg to speak with singer/songwriter Elsie, who is currently competing on America's Got Talent tv show. She tells David about her years growing up in Columbia, Mississippi, the lessons she learned as a church musician, and her travels throughout the world.
Mississippi Arts Hour | Writer, Larry Wells
45:37|Larry talks with Oxford writer Larry Wells about his new book, Backstory: A Literary Life on the Run. Co-authored with his late wife Dean Faulkner Wells, the book highlights the couple’s years working as freelance journalists, traveling throughout the U.S. and writing stories on wing walkers, cave exploring, literary graveyards and more.