The Mississippi Writers Guild and the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation will present on Aug. 9 a performance of “Honoring Historic Mississippi Writers.”

The event will be at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center.

“They entertain people with little scenes from books or recite something from the story or a character,” said Teresa Lynn, head of the Vicksburg chapter of the Mississippi Writers Guild.

The performance will feature writers dressed as famous Mississippi authors as they read from those authors’ works. Lynn said the program has been performed for about five years and usually draws a large crowd.

After the program, the guild will host an improvisational reading at the Highway 61 Coffeehouse, 1101 Washington St.

“Anybody who wants to come and do a little reading or anything they want to do (can),” said Lynn.

A weekend later, at Battlefield Inn, the guild will host the second annual Mississippi Writers Guild Writers Conference.

If you go”Honoring Historic Mississippi Writers” will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center auditorium. Admission is free. A week later, Aug. 15-16, the Mississippi Writers Guild Writers Conference will be at Battlefield Inn. Cost is $135 for guild members and $155 for nonmembers. For information, call 601-482-4121 or visit www.mississippiwritersguild.com.”I was so happy to hear they’ll have the writers conference here, and now they’ve said they’re going to have it here every year,” said Lynn, a 10-year Vicksburg resident whose first novel, “To Dismiss With Prejudice,” was published in 2002.

Mississippi’s rich literary history includes William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty and Walker Percy.

At the conference, participants can take part in workshops and formal and informal critiques. Published authors will be present to share their knowledge about navigating the literary world.

Featured speakers at the conference will include Howard Bahr, Thomas B. Sawyer, Gary Heidt, Rebecca Jernigan, Cheryl Sloan Wray and Sue Brannan Walker.

The Mississippi Writers Guild, a nonprofit organization, was established in 2005. It works to provide support and education for aspiring writers, as well as promoting literacy in schools. The guild was a 2008 nominee for the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.