Spencer B. King, Jr., Center for Southern Studies

01/29/2026

MACON, Ga. — Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies will award the 2026 Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature to poet and author Kevin Young. The prize will be…

01/28/2025

https://den.mercer.edu/center-for-southern-studies-to-award-2025-thomas-robinson-prize-to-award-winning-author-jill-mccorkle/

Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies will award the 2025 Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature to award-winning author Jill McCorkle.

04/21/2024

Doug Thompson is doing important work to document Mercer's history and the legacy of slavery.

Around the country, colleges and universities are beginning to work through their historical relationships to the institution of slavery. Sometimes the history is well documented, even if ignored. In other cases, the connection between higher learning and slavery requires some detective work.

02/21/2024

Rita Dove will be presented the Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature this Friday at 6:00 pm in the Presidents Dining Room.

In her new series of poems, Rita Dove focuses on a “witness” -- the Statue of Liberty -- who “is looking out over the world that we live in, wondering how we...

02/12/2024

I am thrilled to present the Robinson Prize to Rita Dove.

MACON — Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies will award the 2024 Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature to former Poet Laureate of the United States Rita Dove.

01/16/2024

MACON — Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies will welcome Dr. Regina Baker for the sixth Laurie Byington Lecture on the Contemporary South on Jan. 18. Dr.

02/15/2023

https://den.mercer.edu/center-for-southern-studies-to-award-2023-thomas-robinson-prize-to-percival-everett/

Mercer University’s Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies will award the 2023 Thomas Robinson Prize for Southern Literature to renowned novelist and storyteller Percival Everett.

09/30/2022

https://den.mercer.edu/dartmouth-professor-dr-melanie-taylor-to-deliver-65th-annual-lamar-lectures/

Dr. Melanie Benson Taylor MACON – Dr. Melanie Benson Taylor, professor of English and Native American studies at Dartmouth College, will deliver three lectures on the theme “The Weird South” for Mercer University’s 65th annual Lamar Lecture Series, the most prominent lecture series on Southe...