Press Release: FAULKNER ON THE COAST Festival
January 17 & 18, 2014
Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society, in conjunction with the Jackson George County
Regional Library System and the City of Pascagoula, is pleased to announce the 2014 Faulkner On
The Coast Festival. This event will have three facets:
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The Pascagoula library will host a traveling exhibit of rarely seen Faulkner photographs: The
Photographs of Martin Darin. The exhibit will be open January 6-31, 1-4PM daily. A special
docent-guided tour is available 9-11PM Monday-Friday by calling (228) 769-3078. This
narrated tour is particularly recommended for school and special interest groups. The
Friends of the Library invite the public to a reception for this event at the Pascagoula
Library, Thursday, January 9, at 6PM.
Readers Theater Night, Friday January 17, 6:30 PM at Magnolia Ballroom in Pascagoula. In
the run-up to this event a county-wide high school essay contest has been on-going.
Scholarships will be awarded the winners. The main program will be a reader’s theater
presentation—a group of semiprofessional dramatists will present one of Faulkner’s best
known short stories. A reader’s theater is similar to an old-time radio show with multiple
presenters at the microphone. This is guaranteed to be entertaining. For adults dress is
business casual. Students and their families are encouraged to attend. For adults dress is
business casual. Light refreshments will be provided. Admission is $10 adult, $5 student.
Feature Presentation Night, January 18, 6:30 PM at Magnolia Ballroom in Pascagoula. The
headliner is a nationally celebrated Faulkner dramatist, Mr. John Maxwell. His one-man
show is entitled, “Oh, Mr. Faulkner, do you write?” Dress is Black-tie optional or Faulknerera 1920s-30s costume. Refreshments are provided. Admission is $25 per person.
Thanks to generous donations of many local individual and corporate sponsors the admission
cost of the event is able to be kept low. Seating is limited so RSVP is strongly recommended. Email
genealogy department Jackson George Regional Library: pggen1@jgrls.org and indicate RSVP in
subject line.
The inspiration for Faulkner on the Coast is that even though William Faulkner is one of the
most acclaimed Southern writers, few realize his strong relationship to the Mississippi coast. In the
mid-1920s he lived in Pascagoula while he wrote his second novel, Mosquitoes, and gathered
material for still another, Wild Palms. In fact while in Pascagoula he had a romance with a local
belle who is regarded as the inspiration for his character, Charlotte, in that latter novel, and he also
published a book of love poems dedicated to her. Faulkner’s ground-breaking treatment of
Southern themes and often unusual literary approach has made his works some of the most
studied in American literature. The public should know that some of that had its beginnings here on
the coast.
For more information contact:
Chris Wiggins, President JCHGS, (228) 355-2846, email: cewmd1@cableone.net
Joanne Anderson, public affairs JCHGS (228) 355-0711, email: joandy42@cableone.net
Website John Maxwell: www.johnmaxwellactor.com/index.php/faulkner
Attachments: Faulkner Festival Invitation
Faulkner Festival Brochure
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