Saturday, August 29, 2026 from 9 AM to 5 PM
Columbus Arts Council
501 Main St, Columbus, MS 39701
Free & Open To The Public!
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Free & Open To The Public! 〰️
Keynote Speakers
Clay McLeod Chapman
Clay McLeod Chapman is a Bram Stoker Award-winning author whose bestselling horror novels include Ghost Eaters, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, Whisper Down the Lane, and What Kind of Mother. His work has expanded into film, comics, and podcasts, including collaborations with Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions and Marvel Comics. Chapman also teaches writing at Pace University and is widely recognized as one of today's leading voices in contemporary horror fiction.
New York City
Beth Ann Fennelly
Beth Ann Fennelly is an award-winning poet, author, and former Mississippi Poet Laureate whose work has earned grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, and a Fulbright Scholarship. She is the author of multiple acclaimed poetry collections, memoirs, and the bestselling novel The Tilted World, co-written with her husband, Tom Franklin. Fennelly teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Mississippi, where she has received four teaching awards and continues to inspire the next generation of writers.
University of Mississippi
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a New York Times bestselling author whose celebrated books include World of Wonders, Bite by Bite, and the poetry collection Night Owl. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and numerous other honors, her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Paris Review. A longtime professor of English and Creative Writing, she is renowned for blending poetry, nature, and personal storytelling in ways that captivate readers around the world.
University of Mississippi
Jen Julian
Jen Julian is the author of the novels Red Rabbit Ghost and The Winter Folk, as well as the award-winning short story collection Earthly Delights and Other Apocalypses. Her fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and has been recognized with multiple awards, including notable distinction in The Best American Short Stories 2023. Julian teaches creative writing at Young Harris College in Georgia and serves as fiction editor for storySouth, where she continues to write acclaimed works of horror and speculative fiction.
Young Harris College
Children’s Storytime
Murry L. Burgess, PhD
Murry Burgess always had an interest in nature, growing up in the suburbs in Minnesota, Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi. One of her earliest memories is watching the hawks that would fly into her backyard and perch on the garden stakes. Her passion for animals led her to pursue a career in wildlife biology; Murry earned her PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at North Carolina State University. As both a naturalist and conservationist, Murry believes that kids, whether living in urban or suburban settings, can connect with nature as there is wildlife all around us.
Mississippi State University
Local Author Showcase
CJ Andrews
Melony Beard
Andy Bui
Maggie Bushway
Lindsey Franks
Justin Grifford
Brett Hanley
K.P. Haven
Meet Mississippi authors writing memoirs, novels, poetry, and more!
Beverly Keaton
Cory Lee
John Mylroie
Todd Osborne
J.D. Petty
Weez Phillips
Samantha Potts
Emilee Robbins
Samyak Shertok
Rye Sobo
Leslie Tally
AnJanece Tatum
Taylor Treece
Lollie Wheat
Julie Liddell Whitehead
Kathy Wile
More Info Coming Soon!
The Possumtown Book Fest is presented by the Friendly City Books Community Connection, a special project of the CREATE Foundation.
Donate toward the festival and our year-round public programming at friendlycitybooks.com/support.