BOOKISH BUZZ — MARCH 3, 2020
Great Writing Lives Here!
Commemorative Painting by Charlie Buckley
2020 Official Painting Revealed

Today we are excited to reveal this year’s official book festival painting: “Mississippi Writers Stack” by Charlie Buckley. “Art takes on many forms,” says Holly Lange, Mississippi Book Festival Executive Director, “and, in this particular case, he merges three mediums — books, art and architecture — to represent the richness of our cultural landscape.”

Artist Charlie Buckley began his large-scale, oil painting series of “Stacked Houses” in response to tornado destruction in his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi. The colorful painting features the homes of notable authors (clockwise from top) William Faulkner, Ida B. Wells, Ann Moody, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Tennessee Willams and Willie Morris. The painting will be featured on commemorative prints and posters and available for sale later this spring and at the festival.
Charlie Buckley
"Much like books, architecture holds stories. We live, work, and die inside these homes, as the generations come and go. Architecture defines a region, its climate, its class structure, and its people. The stacks I create are totems to a culture, and these specific structures praise our incredible literary legacy. With each new great writer, this tower can continue to grow." 
– CHARLIE BUCKLEY
Join the Literary Lawn Party | 8.15.20

FREE and open to the public, the Mississippi Book Festival draws thousands to its annual “literary lawn party” held in and around the State Capitol Building each August. Since its debut in 2015, this non-profit has celebrated writing, reading, and our literary heritage, as well as connected readers with hundreds of contemporary authors.