Wiles shares writings

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection and the Honors College have collaborated for the first time to bring Deborah Wiles, a best-selling author and native of Mississippi, to speak at Bennett Auditorium for University Forum in its final presentation this semester, today at 6:30 p.m.

Wiles will present "From Mississippi to Mississippi: A Love Story in Three Violent, Compassionate Acts that include The Beatles, Vietnam, and Your Personal History."

Wiles' book "Each Little Bird Sings" was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award and the Bank Street Fiction Award.

Another of her works, "Love, Ruby Lavender" is one of the New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing."

"This speaker is precisely the kind of exposure we want to bring to our students," David R. Davies, dean of the Honors College said, "because you just don't get to hear from authors' mouths directly about their experiences in writing and researching, and this is precisely what we want them to do."

Hattiesburg is one of the stops on Wiles' tour to promote her newest work, "The Aurora County All-Stars." Besides her presentation for the Honors Forum, Wiles will be meeting with children from schools in the area at 10 a.m. in the Bennett Auditorium.

The schoolchildren will be broken into groups, with grades three and four reading "Love, Ruby Lavender," grades five and six reading "Each Little Bird Sings" and the final group of grades seven and eight reading "The Aurora County All-Stars."

Wiles will also be contributing some of her original manuscripts to the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, which is home to more than 100,000 children's books and houses the original works of over 1200 authors and illustrators.

"She will be keeping good company with the authors and illustrators we have," said Ellen Ruffin, curator for the de Gummond Children's Literature Collection.

Ruffin said that USM students can benefit from the experiences Wiles will share at her lecture, as well as the opportunities for extensive research provided by the collection. Wiles may even use some materials from the de Grummond Collection for research for a three-part series of historical fiction based on civil rights.

"It is a premier collection and it attracts many scholars in the field," Ruffin said, "so by having a collaborative effort, it allows us to offer a scholarly examination of children's literature. It's no longer considered 'kiddy lit' it is an actual scholarly pursuit."

Davies said that the collaborative efforts between his department and others on campus, like the de Grummond Collection, are an important aspect of the services these departments provide.

"We're really interested with working with folks all across campus," Davies said.

"This is the first time that we have partnered up to bring in a speaker and I'm looking forward to seeing how that pans out," said Peggy Price, head of Special Collections for Cook Library. She added that this collaboration may draw more attention to the de Grummond Collection, as well as the Honors College, and might let students know of the services they provide.

The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection and the Honors College plan to collaborate again in the spring with another accomplished speaker, who they will announce in the near future. The event is scheduled to take place around the same time as the Children's Book Festival.