Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival

Along with the Margaret Walker Center, Eudora Welty House, and Piney Woods School, The MAX plays host to the 50th Anniversary Prologue of the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival on March 26. Phillis Wheatley was the first African American author of a published book of poetry. Enslaved in Boston, her owners taught her to read and write and encouraged her to write poetry. She was freed in 1774. The theme of the five-day symposium is “Community Dialogues on Historical and Literary Methods in Creative Works.” Free and open to the public. For a downloadable PDF of the complete list of festival events, click here.