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April 24-26, 2026

Word of South

Craig Pittman

Craig Pittman is a native Floridian, a best-selling author, a podcaster and an award-winning environmental journalist. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” In 40 years as a newspaper reporter, […]

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George Clinton

Grammy-winner George Clinton, formerly known for his role in the groups Parliament and Funkadelic, revolutionized R&B during the 70’s. Since his first major hit “(I Wanna) Testify,” George Clinton made his mark in the music world for his psychedelic rock and funk band-format, with eccentric costumes and themes inspired by ’60s acid culture and science […]

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Rickards High Marching Raider Band

The award-winning Rickards High School Marching Raider Band is the premier ensemble of the James S. Rickards Band program. The ensemble serves to establish musicality, discipline, esprit de corps and instill the band’s motto of P.R.I.D.E., and performs at varsity football games, basketball games, pep rallies, parades and other performances. They’ll be kicking off this […]

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James Kimbrell

James Kimbrell’s poems have appeared in anthologies including the Best American Poetry and the Pushcart Prize Anthology. The recipient of a Florida Arts Council fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, his most recent collection is The Law of Truly Large Numbers (Pitt Poetry Series, 2025). He is […]

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Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer grew up in the Fiji Islands and currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida and Portland, Oregon. His critically acclaimed New York Times-bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy has been published in 20 countries, and the Paramount Pictures film of the first book in the trilogy, Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman, was released in 2018. Jeff’s subsequent fiction, […]

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Diane Roberts

If you are a fan of the FSU Seminoles or a resident of Florida, you know – or should know – about the writings of Tallahassee’s own Diane Roberts. Her book, Tribal, a comic, critical analysis of a Southern intellectual’s love of FSU football and distaste for the excesses that go with it, made several […]

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