Jayne Anne Phillips’s new novel, Night Watch (Knopf), was recently longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award.

The book tells the mesmerizing story of a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War—and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds.

Readers will love twelve-year-old ConaLee, “the adult in her family for as long as she can remember.” The novel opens with ConaLee on a buckboard journey to the state insane asylum with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year.

Jayne Anne Phillips is the author of Black Tickets, Machine Dreams, Fast Lanes, Shelter, MotherKind, Lark and Termite, and Quiet Dell.

Afrissippi is a “world boogie” band with ties to the Oxford area, including guitarists Guelel Kumba and Eric Deaton and drummer Kinny Kimbrough.

Kumba, is a singer-songwriter from the delta of Senegal, West Africa who moved to Oxford in 2002.

In Oxford, he jammed with Deaton, who had played bass with north Mississippi blues legend, Junior Kimbrough. The two discovered the similarities between the hill country blues of North Mississippi and Kumba’s nomadic melodies from the Senegalese savannas.

Afrisippi’s drummer, Kinney Kimbrough, son of the late Junior Kimbrough, brings the group’s other-worldly grooves full circle.

Charlie Mars is a journeyman-songwriting troubadour, who, over two decades of touring and recording, has amassed a loyal, national fanbase.

His latest album is the just-released, Times Have Changed.

“Mars’s country and folk-inflected pop is topped by his warm vocal croon and his knack for crafting poignant, earthy songs.” – Rolling Stone

His previous albums include, Beach Town, The Money, Like a Bird, Like a Plane and Blackberry Light.