agenda

NATCHEZ LITERARY & CINEMA CELEBRATION
Natchez, Mississippi

FEBRUARY 20-24, 2008

Natchez Convention Center, Natchez, Miss.

Richard Wright, reading to his daughter, Julia Wright, New York, 1944

from the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

“Richard Wright, the South, and the World:
A Centennial Celebration”

9 a.m. Welcome and introductions, Howell C. Garner, President, Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

• Phillip West, Mayor of the City of Natchez

• William F. Winter Scholars

• William and Harriet Vance Fellows

• Phi Theta Kappa Members

• NLCC Advisory Board Members

• Members of the Richard Wright family

• William F. Winter

9:15 a.m. “Richard Wright, Willie Dixon, and Eudora Welty: Music and Literary Genius,” William Ferris, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

11 a.m. Keynote address: “Children of Oppressed Giants: Living with the Legacy of Pain,” Julia Wright, Paris, France, Richard Wright, Daughter of a Native Son (forthcoming).

2 p.m. “Mississippi Goes to the Movies: A Look at How and Why the Works of Richard Wright, William Faulkner, and Tennessee Williams Were Adapted for the Cinema,” Robert Bray, Middle Tennessee State University.

3:30 p.m. “Seeking Salvation in a Naturalistic Universe: Richard Wright’s Use of His Southern Religious Background in Black Boy (American Hunger),” Robert Butler, Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y.

4:30 p.m. “Covering Black Boy: A Visual-Literary History of Richard Wright’s Autobiography,” Howard Rambsy, II, Southern Illinois University.

5:30-7 p.m. Reception and supper featuring some of Richard Wright’s favorite foods at Natchez Community Center, hosted by the Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture ($20).

7:30 p.m. “An Overview of Uncle Tom’s Children,” Robert Butler, and “ ‘Long Black Song’: From Page to Screen,” Jerry W. Ward, Jr., Dillard University, with screening of Long Black Song.

9 a.m. “Richard Wright and Photography,” Maren Stange, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, N.Y.

10:30 a.m. "Richard Wright and the Federal Writers' Project," David A. Taylor, Alexandria, Va., writer/co-producer of “Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project.”

11:45 a.m. Luncheon at the Carriage House Restaurant at Stanton Hall, featuring more of Richard Wright’s favorite foods, followed by “Creole-izing Richard Wright,” Leah Chase, New Orleans, La., The Dooky Chase Cookbook, And I Still Cook, and Down Home Healthy: Family Recipes of Black American Chefs ($20).

2:15 p.m. “Richard Wright and Transnational Culture in Pagan Spain,” John Lowe, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.

3:30 p.m. "Native Son: The Novel and the Plays," Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

5-6:30 p.m. Reception, Angeletty House, headquarters of the regional chapter of the National Coalition of One Hundred Black Women, hosted by The Southern Quarterly, a journal of the arts of the South, published by The University of Southern Mississippi.

8 p.m. Native Son, a play by Richard Wright, Natchez Little Theatre ($15).

9 a.m. “A White Man Listened: Richard Wright and the Blues,” Paul Oliver, Oxon, Oxfordshire, England, Blues Fell This Morning: Meaning of the Blues.

10:30 a.m. “Richard Wright and Margaret Walker,” Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas.

1 p.m. “Richard Wright, Natchez’s Own Native Son”

• Premiere of “Richard Wright: A Force for Right,” a mini-documentary by Mark LaFrancis, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and his students.

• Introduction to “The Richard Wright Ramble,” Charles Wright, Natchez, Miss., Wright family historian.

1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. “The Richard Wright Ramble,” a guided tour of sites around Natchez related to Wright, his family, and his works, arranged by family historian Charles Wright of Natchez ($20, including transportation plus refreshments and an exhibit, "Richard Wright's Mississippi: Natchez and Jackson, 1900-1960,"at historic Jefferson College)

2:30-4 p.m. Chocolate Milk Café, Armstrong Library, featuring writings by young students in Adams County, Miss.

4:30-5:30 p.m. Reception hosted by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, The University of Mississippi, Natchez Convention Center Lobby.

5:30 p.m. An Evening with the Stars, honoring outstanding writers with Southern roots. Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award winners

• Lerone Bennett, Jr., Mississippi native now of Chicago, Ill., longtime editor of Ebony and author of Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America 1619-1966 and Great Moments in Black History.

• Brooks Haxton, Mississippi native now of Syracuse University, Uproar: Antiphonies to Psalms and other books of poetry.

Horton Foote Award for Special Achievement in Screenwriting

• Alfred Uhry, Georgia native, now of New York, N.Y., a playwright, lyricist, and screenwriter of Driving Miss Daisy, The Robber Bridegroom, Mystic Pizza, and Rich in Love.

6:30 p.m. Gala benefit supper honoring award winners and speakers at the historic mansion, The Towers ($125, with $100 tax-deductible).

8:15 p.m. Screening of Driving Miss Daisy, with discussion afterward led by Alfred Uhry and Scott Dixon McDowell, University of Southern Mississippi.