Welty Series to return to Mississippi University for Women this week

In “One Writer’s Beginnings,” Eudora Welty wrote, “Regardless of where (books) come from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them.”

For 35 years, Mississippi University for Women has hosted The Welty Series, including an annual writer’s symposium and gala highlighting authors, sharing the love Welty felt with the city.

This year, the symposium is returning this upcoming Thursday through Saturday and will feature novelist Katy Simpson Smith as the keynote author, symposium director Kendall Dunkelberg said.

In an MUW press release, Dunkelberg said, “Smith presents a compelling starting point for this year’s theme ‘With an Instrument Made of Air: the Transformative Magic of Story,’ which is inspired by Eudora Welty’s story ‘Circe,’ a reimagining of the well-known episode from Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ from the perspective of the divine sorceress.”

Dunkelberg said the symposium originally started in 1989, as a part of the inaugural festivities for former MUW President Clyda Rent. The symposium was put together by a group of humanities faculty at the time.

But over the years, Dunkelberg said, the symposium has grown, bringing talented southern authors to the city and university annually. He said the symposium includes authors working in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

According to the release, this year, the symposium will include three days of author sessions and 12 different writers, including

12 different writers, including Smith, but also Lee Durkee, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, De’Shawn Charles Winslow, K. Iver, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Halle Hill, Claude Wilkinson, Ethel Morgan Smith, Christie Collins, Ellen Ann Fentress and Exodus Brownlow.

“It brings creative writers to the community, and it’s an opportunity for people in the community to come and hear someone read their work, which always makes it come to life much more than reading it on the page,” Dunkleberg said. “But also there are a lot of chances for interaction with authors. You can get your book signed … and there’s also a time for questions and answers after every author’s talk.”

The symposium will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with Smith’s reading and presentation. On Friday, seven author sessions will run from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Then, on Oct. 21, the symposium will wrap up with four more author presentations from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Sessions will be held in Poindexter Hall. The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule, visit https://www.muw.edu/welty/.

Welty Gala

Andrea Stevens, W executive director of development and alumni, said the 2023 Welty Gala will also be returning to the city as part of the Welty Series, bringing with it speaker Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command an American spacecraft.

“The Gala this year is featuring Colonel Eileen Collins who is … retired Air Force and a NASA pioneer,” Stevens said. “She was the first female to pilot a space shuttle– first female mission commander in NASA history. And she’s also written a book about her life, which is a fascinating book.”

According to a Sept. 26 MUW release, Collins worked for NASA’s astronaut program between 1990 and 2005. In February 1995, on the STS-63 Discovery Mission, she became the first woman ever to pilot a Space Shuttle. Collins logged 872 hours in space.

While Collins’ work as a pilot is nationally recognized, she also became an author with the publishing of her memoir “Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars” in 2021. Stevens said being an author is a “key ingredient” for speakers to be invited to the Welty Gala, to continue honoring Welty’s legacy.

The Welty Gala will be held at the Trotter Convention Center at 7 p.m. Friday, as a fundraising event for the MUW Scholarship Fund. The event is black tie optional, and sponsorships are available at different levels. For more information and for online registration, visit https://www.muw.edu/welty/gala/.

Editor’s Note: Katy Simpson Smith, keynote speaker for the Welty Symposium, is also featured in Emily Liner’s Book Talk column on page 5B, discussing her latest book “The Weeds” and her role at the symposium.