Chris Marshall
Reporter

The campus of Mississippi University for Women is home to many events. But few have the stature and link to the university’s past like the Eudora Welty Writer’s Symposium.

Eudora Welty was a novelist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. She was a student at MUW and a member of The Spectator staff, but she did not receive her degrees from The W. This symposium is in her honor.

The event occurs Oct. 18-20. Each day features a set of authors who speak about their work.

“Welty Symposium is a book and author symposium, so we invite a dozen writers to the campus,” said Dr. Kendall Dunkelberg, Department Chair, Director of MFA Creative Writing, Professor of English.

The keynote speaker is Steve Yarbrough, author of “The Unmade World” — his 11th novel. Another speaker is Thomas Kris Lee, assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at MUW. This will be his first year speaking at the symposium.

Lee said this event offers authors an opportunity to give their own words in their own voices to a willing audience who is there to listen to them.

The Welty Gala is also held every year during Welty Week as a fundraiser for the MUW Scholarship Fund. This year’s guest speaker is Brad Meltzer, a New York Times bestselling author. The Gala will be Friday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Trotter Center. Tickets can be purchased through the MUW Office of Development and Alumni.

Welty Week is a chance for students, faculty and the community to come out and hear renowned authors give a personal account of their works.