Folklore Society Conference Celebrates Northeast Missouri

The Missouri Folklore Society will host its annual conference in Kirksville Nov. 3-5, and society members, students, faculty and staff will present research or showcase a particular strand of folklore.

Dozens of presentations will highlight the rich cultural traditions of the state, focusing on the northeast region. Features of the conference include the Missouri Folklore Society Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Student Union Building Georgian Rooms, with Sodexo providing specialized catering using the MFS Journal’s Missouri Foodways issue. Loretta Washington’s performance and book launch for “My Corner of the Porch,” a For·Words event, will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Student Union Building Georgian Rooms. Following the performance, the Folklore Society will host an open jam session. The conference will also feature the Schroeder contest, which will provide $125 scholarships for the best papers submitted on Missouri folklore or folk life.

Throughout November, the Kirksville Arts Association will host a folk arts exhibit. The visual arts of Kirksville’s new African and Latino immigrants will be featured and foregrounded along with the works of local Hands of Friendship quilters, regional musicians, artists and basket weavers. The exhibit is free and open to the public for the entire month. It is co-sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council, the Kirksville Arts Association, Truman’s Multicultural Affairs Center and the Missouri Folklore Society.

The conference is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Missouri Folklore Society’s website.