Saturday, August 29, 2026 at the Columbus Arts Council

Downtown in the Rosenzweig Arts Center located at 501 Main Street, Columbus, MS 39701

Free & Open To The Public!

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Free & Open To The Public! 〰️

With 50 authors coming from across the South for panel discussions, book signings, storytime, and a writing workshop, the third annual Possumtown Book Fest has something for everyone all day long — plus the biggest book fair in Northeast Mississippi!

Children’s Storytime Keynote Speaker

9:30 to 11:00 AM in the CAC Underground Downstairs Classroom

Murry L. Burgess, PhD

Murry Burgess leads the Burgess Lab of Urban Ecology at Mississippi State University. 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.

Sparrow Loves Birds and Sparrow Loves Reptiles

Kids will receive a free copy of Sparrow Loves Birds while supplies last!

Nonfiction Keynote Speakers

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in the CAC Gallery

Beth Ann Fennelly

Beth Ann Fennelly is an award-winning poet, author, and former Mississippi Poet Laureate. 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.

The Irish Goodbye and Heating and Cooling

Night Owl and World of Wonders

Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a New York Times bestselling author renowned for blending poetry, nature, and personal storytelling in ways that captivate readers around the world. A longtime professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi, her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Paris Review.

Sign up for Beth Ann Fennelly’s writing workshop at the festival! Register here.

Fiction Keynote Speakers

3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in the CAC Gallery

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.

Devil Inside and Shiny Happy People

The Winter Folk and Red Rabbit Ghost

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. 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.