Bay Saint Louis, MS - The 100 Men Hall invites the community to a free event, a Conversation: Prince with C Liegh McInnis and Kiese Laymon on July 17, 2025 at 6PM. The Hall is pleased to partner with Pass Christian Books for this event, who will have Kiese Laymon’s books available for purchase. If you would like to have your book signed by the author, only books purchased from Pass Books will be signed by the author at the event.
The Hall has invited poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis and award-winning fiction writer, poet, and cultural critic Kiese Laymon for a conversation about how Prince became one of the most seminal artists in American history. The conversation is part of a week-long Masterclass: Prince (July 14-18) in which high school students are given an immersive masterclass on Prince Rodger Nelson.
In the popular music of the early and mid-eighties, Prince’s voice was one of the few grappling with what it means to be a post-Civil Rights African American, living under the illusion of successful integration. As such, popular culture becomes the only medium that would allow an artist such as Prince the freedom to grow and evolve without the rigid constraints of race, gender, and class that are commonly found in the formal areas.”
C. Liegh McInnis is a poet, short story writer, Prince scholar, 2025 Finalist for the Mississippi Poet Laureate, co-founder of the Jackson State Creative Writing Program, former editor/publisher of Black Magnolias, and author of eight books—four collections of poetry, one collection of short fiction (Scripts: Sketches and Tales of Urban Mississippi), one work of literary criticism (The Lyrics of Prince: A Literary Look), one co-authored work, Brother Hollis: The Sankofa of a Movement Man, discussing Mississippi Civil Rights icon, and former First Runner-Up of the Amiri Baraka/Sonia Sanchez Poetry Award. Additionally, he has been published in periodicals and anthologies.
Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Laymon is the author of Long Division, which won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for fiction, and the essay collection, How to Slowly K*ll Yourself and Others in America, named a notable book of 2021 by the New York Times critics. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award, the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and was named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. The audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year. Laymon is the recipient of 2020-2021 Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard. Laymon is at work on the books, Good God, and City Summer, Country Summer, and a number of other film and television projects. He is the founder of The Catherine Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative, a program based out of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, aimed at aiding young people in Jackson get more comfortable reading, writing, revising and sharing on their on their own terms, in their own communities. He is the co-host of Reckon True Stories with Deesha Philyaw. Kiese Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.
Pass Christian Books advances the ideal of reading and books as central to the intellectual life of a community. Co-located with Cat Island Coffeehouse, our two story building and deck overlooking the Gulf of Mexico is an inviting and stimulating spot to browse books, relax, converse, and meet friends. Our second floor is known as The Mississippi Loft for its focus on Mississippi authors and subjects.
We have organized and hosted over one hundred and fifty author and book events and continue to do so either independently or in conjunction with other organizations. Serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 2002, Pass Christian Books is located in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. In the distance, visitors can view Cat Island from our store and deck.
You may also like the following events from 100 Men D.B.A. Hall:
- Next month, 13th July, 11:00 am, 2nd Sunday Summer Blues Brunch - the Josh Garrett Band in Bay Saint Louis
- Next month, 14th July, 01:00 pm, Masterclass: Prince in Bay Saint Louis
- Next month, 18th July, 07:00 pm, UNFAZED: Prince Tribute Concert - Friday, July 18, 2025 at 7PM in Bay Saint Louis
Also check out other
Arts events in Bay Saint Louis,
Literary Art events in Bay Saint Louis,
Sports events in Bay Saint Louis.
