Contact: Maridith Geuder
Veteran English professor Robert L. Phillips is being named Outstanding Humanist for Mississippi State University.
The award is presented by the university, in cooperation with the Mississippi Humanities Council. As part of the honor, Phillips presents a 3 p.m. public lecture Wednesday [Oct. 22] in 12 Allen Hall.
A specialist in Southern literature, he will discuss the art of North Carolina writer Fred Chappell, author of books of poetry that include "The World Between the Eyes," "Midquest," "Source," and others. Chappell also is the author of six novels.
Phillips' lecture, "Fred Chappell and the Agrarians," poses the questions, "What makes a poet Southern?" and "Is the South a place for verse?"
In addition to teaching, Phillips edits The Mississippi Quarterly literary journal. He joined the Mississippi State faculty in 1970, the same year he became involved with the Mississippi Humanities Council, then known as the Mississippi Committee for the Humanities.
He served as project director, with Joseph E. Stockwell Jr., for the "Mississippi Writers in Context," a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the Mississippi Library Commission. As part of that effort, he planned and co-edited a six-segment television series, "Climate for Genius," hosted by actress Cicely Tyson.
Phillips is the author of "Shelby Foote: Novelist and Historian" and co-author of a book on late 19th century novelist Richard Harding Davis.
He also was managing editor and project director for "The History of Southern Literature," published with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities by the Louisiana State University Press.
Phillips holds a bachelor's degree from Davidson College and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
For additional information on the lecture, telephone Donald J. Mabry at (601) 325-7095.