The legacy of Carroll County native and award-winning novelist Elizabeth Spencer will be celebrated Sunday.
“Readings and Remembrances: Celebrating Elizabeth Spencer” will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Cotesworth Culture and Heritage Center in North Carrollton.
The event is being held by Mississippi State University Libraries’ newest “Mississippi Land and Literature” program.
“Elizabeth Spencer, through her exceptional work and graciousness, truly embodies the best of Mississippi’s cultural heritage,” said Sarah McCullough, MSU Libraries’ coordinator of cultural heritage projects.
Admission is free and open to the public.
There will be a film showing of an exclusive interview with Spencer conducted by the University of North Carolina. In the video, Spencer reflects on her writing career and shares memories of her childhood years in Mississippi.
Following the film screening, attendees will hear remarks from Spencer’s longtime friend Wilton Sanders of Carrollton.
Community members Josephine Neill-Browning, Lori Bell and Jerry James also will read from Spencer’s work during the program.
McCullough said since its inception two years ago, the “Mississippi Land and Literature” series has brought a diverse range of cultural heritage programming to the Cotesworth Culture and Heritage Center.
The upcoming program celebrating Spencer is particularly meaningful as it commemorates a Carroll County native and beloved writer, McCullough added.
Residing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Spencer graduated in 1942 from Belhaven College with an English degree and earned a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University in 1943.
Author of nine novels, eight short story collections, a memoir and a play, Spencer has received numerous awards over her nearly seven-decade career, including the William Faulkner Medal for Literary Excellence, Governor’s Award for Achievement in Literature from the Mississippi Arts Commission, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction, and the Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature.
To visit the Cotesworth Culture and Heritage Center, take U.S. 82 and exit onto Mississippi 17 into Carrollton. From the square, follow the signs to the center, which is located at 6151 Mississippi 17 N. in North Carrollton.
In addition to MSU Libraries and the Cotesworth Culture and Heritage Center, the “Mississippi Land and Literature” series is made possible with support from MSU’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. For more information, visit guides.library.msstate.edu/cotesworth or contact McCullough at 662-325-2506 or smccullough@library.msstate.edu.
