10 – 24, 2023

The USA International Ballet Competition

(IBC) is an international ballet competition held in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, the only city in the western hemisphere. It is a biennial event, where dancers from around the world come to compete for awards, scholarships, and opportunities to dance with professional ballet companies. The competition typically features various categories, including classical ballet, contemporary dance, and pas de deux (dance for two). The USA IBC is considered one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, attracting top talent from across the globe that will convene in the City With Soul June 10 – 24, 2023.

NOVEMBER 1-4, 2023

In 1973, trailblazing poet and writer Margaret Walker invited 30 leading black female authors to Jackson State University for a pioneering conference and bicentennial celebration of Phillis Wheatley’s “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” the first-ever published volume of poetry by an African American author. Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, June Jordan, Audrey Lourde, Sonia Sanchez, and Alice Walker, among others, gathered to create and converse at Walker’s recently established Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People (c. 1968), now the nationally renowned Margaret Walker Center.

A half-century later, JSU is proud to host the 50th Anniversary of the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival, November 1-4, 2023. Alongside ten original participants, a new generation of female writers like Jesmyn Ward and Angie Thomas will guide intergenerational discussions by, about, and for Black women authors, scholars, creatives, and the public, commemorating the legacy of 1973.