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'Dispatches from Pluto' author Grant to speak April 10
Author Richard Grant, who wrote "Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta," will speak at the Holmes Community College Ridgeland Campus on Tuesday, April 10 at 12:30 p.m. in the Pat McGowan Workforce Building. Grant will discuss his New York Times Bestseller as well as his time in the Mississippi Delta.
Grant is truly a citizen of the world: he was born in Malaysia, lived in Kuwait as a child, then moved to London. Upon graduation with a degree in history from University College London, he worked odds and ends jobs before relocating to America in the early 1990s. After time in Tuscon, Arizona, where he wrote for a variety of publications as a freelance journalist, he and his now wife, Mariah, moved to New York City. After living in the Big Apple, they relocated again to an unlikely location: in Pluto, Mississippi.
Grant published three books, all of which were inspired by his travels, before releasing "Dispatches from Pluto" in 2015. His first book, "American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders," led to a BBC documentary called "American Nomads." Grant wrote the script and assisted with the documentary and it aired in 2011. The UK version of the same book, "Ghost Riders, Travels with American Nomads," won the Thomas Cook Travel Literature Award in 2004. In addition to writing books and articles, Grant also co-wrote a screenplay called "Tres Huevos/A Burning Thing" with Ruben Ruiz and Johnny Ferguson.
In his most recent book, "Dispatches from Pluto," he describes his move to Pluto and his impressions of the Mississippi Delta from their first year there. After two and a half years in Pluto, the couple moved to Jackson for her to take a position as the librarian at Millsaps College. Soon after, Mariah gave birth to their daughter, Isobel.
The presentation is part of the "Exploring the Mississippi Delta" series that the Holmes Ridgeland Campus English Department is hosting this spring. The series seeks to celebrate the Delta's rich heritage as English Composition II classes read and discuss "Dispatches from Pluto." The first event was a performance and presentation, "The Mississippi Delta: Birthplace of American Music" by singer/songwriter Tricia Walker on Feb. 26, followed by forum to discuss "Dispatches from Pluto" on March 22. There will also be a Delta-inspired art show this spring to go along with the series.
Grant's presentation on April 10 is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact English instructor Mary Brantley at (601) 605-3319 or mbrantley@holmescc.edu.
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