MARCH 15- Adam Gussow

THE DEVIL AND THE BLUES

March 15, 2011  4 p.m.

Adam Gussow is an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi.  A member of the faculty since 2002, he teaches courses in American and African American literature, the blues tradition, southern autobiography, and race in American culture.  He has published three books:  Mister Satan’s Apprentice: A Blues Memoir (Pantheon, 1998, reissued by Minnesota, 2009); Seems Like Murder Here: Southern Violence and the Blues Tradition (Chicago, 2002), winner of the Holman Award from the Society for the Study of Southern Literature; and Journeyman’s Road: Modern Blues Lives From Faulkner’s Mississippi to Post-9/11 New York (Tennessee, 2007).

Gussow’s articles and reviews have appeared in American Literature, African American Review, Southern Cultures, boundary 2, and many other publications. He is currently working on a book about the devil and the blues.  In addition to his academic credentials, Gussow is a professional harmonica player and teacher.  As a member of the blues duo Satan and Adam for more than 20 years and more recently as a one-man band, he has played all the major blues, jazz, and folk festivals; recorded half a dozen CDs; and been featured on the cover of Living Blues magazine.