DURHAM -- UNC folklorist and professor William Ferris will discuss, present a slide show and sign copies of his new book, "Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Delta," at the Regulator Bookshop, 720 ninth St., October 29 at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, folklorist Ferris toured his home state of Mississippi, documenting the voices of African-Americans as they spoke about and performed the diverse musical traditions that form the authentic roots of the blues. Now, "Give My Poor Heart Ease" puts front and center a selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this documentary record.
Ferris, author of "Blues from the Delta" and coeditor of the "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture," is Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC. Rolling Stone has named him among the top 10 professors in the United States.
John Kessel on 'Bookwatch'
John Kessel will discuss his book "The Baum Financial Plan for Independence and Other Stories" on UNC-TV's "North Carolina Bookwatch" today at 5 p.m.
The book is Kessel's collection of 14 stories that intersect imaginatively with "Pride and Prejudice," "Frankenstein," "The Wizard of Oz," and works of Flannery O'Connor. Kessel incorporates everything from future autobiography, alternate history, phone sex, perpetual motion, and his modern classic sequence of four stories about life on the moon.
Kessel's stories have won the Nebula, Sturgeon, Locus, and Tiptree Awards. His books include "Good News from Outer Space," "Corrupting Dr. Nice," and collections "The Pure Product" and "Meeting in Infinity." Kessel and his family live in Raleigh, where he co-directs the creative writing program at N.C. State University.
