Ellington

On the Web site for the Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series, about its Sept. 30 offering of Southern writers, there's the question: "How much better does it get than this?" You get the rare chance, beginning at 7:30 p.m. that night, to hear three superb Southern writers and humorists speak—Roy Blount Jr., Julia Reed and Jill Conner Browne—and answer questions from the audience.

The soirée kicks off the 37th season of the esteemed series with more smiles, quirks and guffaws than you can shake a stick at. Garrison Keillor had this to say about Blount in the Paris Review: "Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth and soulful all in one sentence." Julia Reed was in Jackson earlier this year to read from her little gem of a book, "Queen of the Turtle Derby and other Southern Phenomena." Take it from me; you'll enjoy every word she speaks in that fabulous voice. And the Sweet Potato Queen herself is no slouch in the fabulous-voice department, Southern as it is, reflecting the region that she has brought to light for readers of her Sweet Potato tomes— across the continent and to the far reaches of the globe. She appears just before the debut of her new book, "The Sweet Potato Queen's Field Guide to Men" (Three Rivers Press/Crown Publishing, October 2004, $13.95) at Lemuria on Oct. 5.

Season tickets are available for the lecture series, which includes other offerings through February 2005. Call Luran Buchanan at 974-1043 or e-mail [e-mail missing]