It’s all coming into place and the 28th Annual Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival will be held this week in Clarksdale.
The annual event is set for Oct. 15-17 and the weekend will be filled with writing workshops, scholarly presentations, student drama competitions, digital porch plays and scenes from Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play Summer and Smoke will be present online.
A full schedule, as well as sign-ups for festival news can be found at deltawilliamsfestival.com.
Events and programming will also stream both through the festival’s Facebook page (MississippiDeltaTennesseeWilliamsFestival) and YouTube.
Participants will have the chance to interact and send questions through each page’s chat features during the three full days of programming.
“I believe we are on target for a strong MS Delta Tennessee Williams Festival this year,” said festival organizer Jen Waller. “It has been quite the adventure putting the festival together for an online viewing, but we have been blessed with a wonderful support team led by artistic director, Dr. Matt Foss of the University of Toledo, who has been a presenter in the festival for several years.”
The festival is also pleased to announce that they have seven high schools from around the State of Mississippi participating in the Student Drama Competition: Clinton High School, Lake Cormorant High School, Northwest Rankin High School, Ocean Springs High School, Power APAC, St. Martin High School and West Point High School.
There will also the opportunity to participate in a special writing workshop with Dr. Ann Fisher-Wirth of the University of Mississippi on The Poetry of Place. This workshop will be held Friday morning.
Additionally, in the spirit of the festival’s mission that includes access for all, there will be a Public Viewing Access Point set up at the Cutrer Mansion, 109 Clark Street, Clarksdale that will take place outside in the courtyard area and will have limited socially distanced seating for those in the area who may want to watch the festival together or who may have internet or technology challenges.
In case of inclement weather, the public viewing will take place inside the Norman Brown Commons Building behind the Cutrer Mansion.
Participants are all MDTWF events must wear masks.
The festival is sponsored by Coahoma Community College with support from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Coahoma County Tourism Commission.
For more information, contact Jen Waller at 662-645-3555 or jwaller@coahomacc.edu.
