Imagine getting paid to read.
That’s the joke Ellen Daniels makes sometimes about her job as the executive director of the Mississippi Book Festival.
Born and raised in Rolling Fork in the Mississippi Delta, Daniels fondly remember trips her parents took her on to Lemuria Books in Jackson, where she perused the shelves of Oz, the store’s children’s section.
“So, it would only make sense that my first real job was at Lemuria. I worked on and off at Lemuria for 13 years. I am a born bookseller, and my job with the festival is just another way of doing that on a larger scale,” Daniels said recently.
The Mississippi Book Festival, which is held annually on the grounds of the state capitol, takes place this year on Aug 19.
Known nationally as Mississippi’s “literary lawn party,” the festival is a book lover’s celebration of readers, authors, and the transformative act of reading.
“It’s grand yet intimate, which helps create the magic of the Mississippi Book Festival. We always want to be bigger and better every year, but we never want to be so big that our audience doesn’t feel the intimacy of the festival. There is something very special about sitting very close to your favorite author in a panel session, getting to talk to them while you get your book signed, and bumping into them around the festival site,” Daniels said.
It’s grand yet intimate, which helps create the magic of the Mississippi Book Festival. We always want to be bigger and better every year, but we never want to be so big that our audience doesn’t feel the intimacy of the festival.
Last year’s festival, the eighth, saw 6,400 people attend panel sessions inside the state capitol and thousands outside buying books, eating at food trucks, enjoying readings, and participating in craft activities in the children’s tent, Daniels said.
Some of the authors attending this year’s festival include YA authors Jason Reynolds and Lois Lowry; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists Richard Russo and Richard Ford (a Jackson native!); Mississippi writer Kiese Laymon; National Book Award winner James McBride; literary darling Ann Patchett; and nonfiction author Simon Winchester.
When asked to name three of her favorite books by a Mississippi author, Daniels gave us five. “This is by no means a complete list, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind.”
- “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
- “Heavy: An American Memoir” by Kiese Laymon
- “Miss Jane” by Brad Watson
- “Sing Unburied Sing” by Jesmyn Ward
- “The Annunciation” by Ellen Gilchrist
For more information about the festival, which is free,
visit www.msbookfestival.com
