Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967 edited by James B. Lloyd Lives
of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967 presents the first comprehensive view
of authors who have published books in the one hundred and fifty years
since Mississippi achieved statehood. The writers included in this
biographical dictionary range from William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams,
Eudora Welty, and Richard Wright to persons who have published only one
book and about whom it may be difficult to obtain information. Here is
found anyone born in the state of Mississippi or who spent a significant
portion of his life there and who wrote and published a work of at least
thirty pages in length. On occasion, in order to complete an author's
canon, the editor has included a work published before 1817. Works
published after 1967 are not listed in the bibliography, but wherever
possible they are mentioned in the accompanying biographical sketch.
Though the cutoff date for the bibliographical information is 1967, the
biographies of the approximately fifteen hundred authors are as current
as possible. An attempt has been made to provide inclusive dates for all
authors, the specifics of their education, and a brief outline of their
careers. The scope of each entry is determined by the author's
productivity and influence, and there are critical essays on
approximately one hundred and twenty authors, each written by a
recognized scholar. Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967 is a basic
reference guide to the writing of the state. It can be used in a variety
of important ways by scholars, teachers, students, and other readers. It
gives recognition, long overdue, to many of the authors included, and it
will lead to renewed reading and further scholarly study of many others.
This first comprehensive compilation of Mississippi authors and their
books will be an invaluable resource for all those seeking to trace and
understand the state's culture and great literary heritage. The editor,
James B. Lloyd, was curator of special collections at the Hunter Library
at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina. He received
his doctorate in English from the University of Mississippi and his
master's in library science from George Peabody College for Teachers.
