Mississippi’s cultural impact to the nation continues to grow with the addition of a trail commemorating literary authors across the state.
The “Southern Literary Trail,” spans across three Southern states: Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
According to its website, the trail is America’s only tri-state, literary trail connecting mythic places that influenced great novelists and playwrights of the 20th Century.
Mythic places on the trail include the author’s home, museums and events in the author’s hometowns celebrating their lives and works.
Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library serves as the home base for the trail.
Sarah McCullough, the trail director and the coordinator of cultural heritage projects for MSU libraries, said the university’s designation for the trail is something students should take pride in.
“It’s a great honor for State,” McCullough said.
Often many Mississippians overlook the fact that the state has produced many great writers in relation to the state’s relatively small population. 
“I think we take it for granted,” McCullough said. “We grow up with it, and we forget that it’s exceptional.”
McCullough said the idea for the trail originated 10 years ago at the Tennessee Williams Festival in Columbus. Volunteers attending the festival discussed starting a literary trail celebrating the state’s rich literary history. That idea blossomed into the trail that now exists today.
As the trail has grown, so has the need for personnel to regularly assist and administrate it. Two dozen individuals now serve the trail’s board with each state on the trail appointing co-directors and academic advisers. 
The trail’s growth also created the need for a permanent home for the trail.
Last year, MSU Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman offered to make MSU the headquarters for the trail. After Coleman’s suggestions, the trail’s board voted, and unanimously decided to locate the trail’s headquarters to the university.
Currently, Mississippi has nine authors on the trail which include William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Richard Wright, Margaret Walker Alexander, Walker Percy, Shelby Foote, Borden Deal and Stark Young.
So far, Mitchell Memorial Library has unveiled two banners featuring Mississippi writers. The current trend featuring Mississippi writers on the library’s banners will continue and follow along with the academic calendar.
Each banner includes an image of the author as well as an inspiring quote from them.
The first banner unveiled in December featured Tennessee Williams with a quote he made about the state after he won the Pulitzer Prize describing Mississippi’s beauty as “the spot of creation, a dark, wide, spacious land that you can breathe in.”
The current trail banner unveiled earlier this month features Richard Wright.
Stephen Middleton, who was on hand for the unveiling of the banner, spoke about Wright and his literary contributions. He also spoke about the great honor bestowed on Wright by the library in honoring his literary legacy, as well as his designation on the trail.
McCullough said Richard Wright had a troubled background and moved frequently living with various relatives. Despite the troubles he faced, his mother instilled in him a love of reading and learning.
Wright’s quote comes from his memoir, “Black Boy,” about growing up in the segregated south.
“Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me,” Wright said, “I had clutched at books.”
Jennifer Jones, MSU library’s graphic artist, who designs the banners for the library, said it can be challenging finding images for the banners. Nevertheless, she has succeeded.
Photos on the banners have all featured black and white images and will continue to do so. Jones said the decision to use black and white images helps give the banners continuity from author to author.
Jones’s enthusiasm for the trail extends beyond her job. She said she talked with a friend about the possibility of going on a pilgrimage to Georgia, and visiting the various author’s houses and museums.
McCullough said she sees the future of the trail expanding to other states, but for now, the primary focus will be on effectively marketing and managing the current sites.
Other trails in the state such as the Mississippi Blues Trail have attracted tourists from around the globe giving the state an economic boost. 
Another economic boost could follow with the literary trail. McCullough said people have traveled as far away as Australia to visit the literary trail, and next year, a school group from England plans to tour as well.