From the Eye of the Storm: New accounts of Katrina shared at MSU Price Caldwell Lecture
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University’s Department of English will welcome Mississippi author and MSU alumna Julie Liddell Whitehead as the featured guest for the 2026 Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series, where she will share excerpts from her debut short story collection about Hurricane Katrina.
The free, public event takes place April 7 at 5:30 p.m. in Griffis Hall Forum Room 401, and is followed by a Q&A and book signing.
Her collection “Hurricane Baby: Stories,” a 2024 Madville Publishing book, examines the lasting trauma of Hurricane Katrina through characters whose lives intersect with the storm’s devastation. “Hurricane Baby” was nominated for the 2025 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Fiction Award.
“I admire the way Whitehead brings her characters to life so vividly and makes us care about them. This collection is a literary page turner that my students and I have enjoyed reading and discussing,” said Becky Hagenston, MSU English professor and director of the department’s creative writing emphasis. “We are especially excited to hear the stories of our fellow Mississippians and their experiences during Katrina, which now was two decades ago.”
An award-winning freelance journalist, Whitehead has reported on national events from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, and frequently writes on mental health, education and advocacy, drawing on her own experiences with Bipolar I disorder.
In 2006, Whitehead won first place from the Mississippi Press Association for Best Planned Series, recognizing her coverage of Mississippi’s emerging political leaders under 40.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in journalism and a master’s degree in English from MSU and completed her Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction at Mississippi University for Women.
The Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series was established through an endowment from Alice Carol Caldwell and her family in memory of her late husband, a former MSU English professor and university creative writing program founder. Caldwell was devoted to fostering literary talent and was a leader in the Southern Literary Festival organization.
For more information, contact Hagenston at bhagenston@english.msstate.edu. For details about the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English, visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.english.msstate.edu.
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