The Mississippi Book Festival is thrilled to announce its first speaker for this year’s event on Saturday, August 20.

Acclaimed author Alice Walker will attend the festival in Jackson. This year commemorates the 40th anniversary release of Walker’s award-winning novel, The Color Purple. The novel was first published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year. Walker was the first African American woman to win the award.

“We are thrilled to have Alice Walker back in the city where she once lived and the place where her daughter was born,” said Executive Director Ellen Daniels. “Her appearance will be a homecoming of sorts for her, and we are honored that book lovers and festival-goers will have the opportunity to share in that moment.” The festival will announce other attending authors in the coming weeks.

After two years of hosting the book festival virtually, the Mississippi Book Festival will return to the State Capitol grounds in Downtown Jackson this August. This will be its first in-person festival since 2019. “After the past two years, we are all looking forward to being back together in person to celebrate literature at this year’s festival,” said Daniels. This year marks the eighth anniversary of Mississippi’s “literary lawn party.”

For more information, visit msbookfestival.com. You can also connect with the Mississippi Book Festival on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.