Award Winning Author Speaks About His Adventures Of Moving To The Mississippi Delta

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Hundreds of people in one city have spent part of their summer reading a book and taking part in activities as part of an initiative promoting literacy.

As a teenager living in London, Richard Grant’s main ambition was to see the world. A year or so after college, he made it to the United States, eventually settling in New York City. An invitation to a book event in Mississippi led to a life changing invite.

“I got invited to a picnic in a tiny place called Pluto and I decided to buy a house there on a sudden whim. We arrived in the Mississippi Delta, knowing nothing,” Grant said.

Grant’s book “Dispatches From Pluto” is the real life story of getting to know the people, places and customs of the Mississippi Delta. His novel was the choice for this year’s “Tupelo Reads” project.

“This started as a way to show Tupelo as a center of lifelong learning within and without the community and we want to focus on books and having a citywide conversation around a good book,” said Lisa Reed, chairperson of “Tupelo Reads.”

Along with his lecture at the library, Grant also visited Tupelo High School and was guest of honor at a “Pluto Party” Tuesday night.

Julie Gibens is a board member with Tupelo Reads. She says “Dispatches From Pluto” was an easy choice, for its humor and honesty.

“His perspective on the Mississippi Delta, just an outsider’s perspective is, he nailed it, he really nailed it, it’s a way, kind of a mirror to reflect on ourselves and our culture and things we could change, things we do well,” Gibens said.

Although Grant and his wife now live in Jackson, he still has a lot of friends in the Delta and says he’s humbled at the warm reception his novel has received statewide.

“One of the things I love about Mississippi is the strength of its book culture, it has some of the best bookstores in America, some of the best bookstores in the world,” Grant said.

After the lecture, Richard Grant signed copies of his book, “Dispatches From Pluto” Organizers of “Tupelo Reads” will soon start work on next year’s event.

During the event, the Friends of the Lee County Library made a $24,000 donation to the library.

For more information visit: richardgrant.us