The 36th annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration focuses on Gilbert du Mortier, a French nobleman who volunteered to join the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. His farewell tour of the United States included a stop in Natchez. Image courtesy of the Historic Natchez Foundation
Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration to honor the Marquis de Lafayette
The University of Mississippi has named graduate students Homa Mojtabai and Sochima Okafor as its 2025 William Winter Scholars.
Mojtabai, a master’s student in creative writing from Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Okafor, a master’s student in African history from Nigeria, will attend the 36th annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration on March 27-29. The event is known as “Mississippi’s most significant annual conference devoted to literature, history, film and culture.”
This year’s conference will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Gilbert du Mortier’s farewell tour of the United States. Mortier, the Marquis de Lafayette, was a French nobleman who volunteered to join the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
“Being a William Winter Scholar is just the beginning of the things I can accomplish,” Okafor said. “If anyone is having self-doubts, your dream doesn’t have to make sense before you pursue it. You are enough.”
The conference is themed “Follow the Frenchman through Natchez.” It will include lectures on Mortier’s life as well as reenactments of his journey up the Mississippi River, with an emphasis on his stop in Natchez.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to attend the NLCC, visit Natchez and study a central figure in American history,” Mojtabai said. “Studying Lafayette is an important examination of American history as well as the life of a man who was able to rise above the limits of his time.”
Okafor, who has a passion for media and public health, produced a documentary, “A Stain of Red,” as a part of his advocacy for menstrual health. The film became his submission for the William Winter Scholars nomination.
“(Okafor) is one of our standout master’s students in the classroom, in the larger UM graduate student community and in the Euroamerican-West African cinema world,” said Noell Wilson, chair of the Ole Miss Department of History.
As a writer, Mojtabai is interested in the stories society tells itself, specifically how reality is distorted to ignore the suffering of others. She is in the research stage for her next project, a novel exploring revolution and rebellion in the U.S.
“Joining this celebration would connect well with Homa’s creative work and research, as she is a fiction writer with a deep sense of place and community,” said Caroline Wigginton, chair of the Department of English.
Winter Scholars are chosen by their educational institutions and honored publicly at the opening and closing sessions of the conference.
The annual award is named for former Gov. William Winter and honors his work for educational reform and racial reconciliation and his love of the humanities. The recognition is given by each Mississippi university to students, faculty and administrators who make substantial humanities contributions across the state.
