Arkansas State University at Jonesboro will host Delta Symposium XXIV: Discovering the Region’s Voices, and Roots Music Festival, April 11-14, featuring various officials, including a woman from Southeast Arkansas.
“Participants will explore what it means to encounter voices from people in contemporary communities as well as throughout the region’s history during the 24th annual event,” according to a news release.
The event brings scholars, students, musicians and artists from across the nation to ASU to explore and experience the Delta’s history and culture.
Janis F. Kearney of Writing Our World Publishing at Little Rock will give the keynote address at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the Mockingbird Room.
Formerly of Gould, Kearney is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works. Kearney also is the former diarist of President Bill Clinton. She will discuss the work of the Maya Angelou Project and her work with historical African American presses in Arkansas, according to a news release.
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Also April 12, other events will include a panel discussion beginning at 8 a.m. Sessions will feature researchers and writers from across the nation. Panelists will include historians, literary scholars, folklorists, filmmakers and photographers who will explore topics ranging from the preservation of historic sites in communities to the place of memory in the construction of a sense of place.
An open-microphone song circle will be held that evening and the night will finish with readings by invited writers. Kearney will read from her work and A-State alumnus Terry Minchow-Proffitt will read from his collected poetry.
The symposium is sponsored by A-State’s Department of English, Philosophy, and World Languages in collaboration with KASU FM 91.9 and the university’s Heritage Studies Ph.D. program.
Details: AState.edu/delta-symposium or the ASU Department of English, Philosophy and World Languages, 870-972-3043.