Mississippi Arts Hour

Sarah Story interviews Ralph Eubanks about his new book, "A Place like Mississippi: A Journey Through a Real and Imagined Literary Landscape." They talk about Ralph’s experiences of growing up on a farm in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, returning to the state after a long absence, and how he was inspired to write a book about the literary landscape of the state. The two also discuss the upcoming Mississippi Book Festival, which will take place Aug. 21 in downtown Jackson.

Larry Morrisey talks with musician and composer Igor Iwanek. Iwanek combines academic training in western classical music with longtime independent study of Indian classical music to create music that fuses the multiple traditions.

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.