Beth Ann Fennelly

Fiction, Poetry

Interviewed by: Angela Elam

Catalog Number(s): 20190802, 20110506 ,20100423

Interview Year(s): 2010

Beth Ann Fennelly, appointed Poet Laureate of Mississippi in 2016, has written six books of poetry and prose. Born in New Jersey and raised in Illinois, she talks about her relocation to Mississippi and the effect the move has had on her life and her work. She also discusses her development as a poet, teacher, mother, and wife to novelist Tom Franklin, as she reads from her early books, Tender Hooks, Open House, and Unmentionables. She also discusses her nonfiction book, Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother.

(Photo by Gaetano Catelli CC BY-SA 3.0)