About
In partnership with Jackson State University and the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Margaret Walker Center is proud to host the 20th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 10 & 11, 2026. The CASE Festival will feature a keynote address by Dr. Evie Shockley, an award-winning poet and scholar, currently the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University.
Each year, the festival invites high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to submit their essays, spoken word pieces, performing arts presentations, visual art, poems, fiction, and more to present in front of an audience of peers and professors. Seeing the tremendous scholarship and artistry these students produce is a highlight for the Margaret Walker Center each year.
The festival will also highlight the life and legacy of Dr. Dollye M.E. Robinson and will open with a plenary conversation featuring JSU faculty and staff members as well as a musical tribute by JSU student Mylan Gaston.
All events are free and open to the public.
Schedule
View the Schedule of Events and Concurrent Sessions for a more detailed breakdown of individual panels and locations. Physical programs will be available at the festival.
Friday, April 10 – JSU College of Liberal Arts, room 166/266
3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. A Life in Bloom: Dollye M.E. Robinson with Lowell Hollinger, Roderick Little, Phyllis Lewis-Hale, Lisa Beckley-Roberts (moderator) and a musical tribute by Mylan Gaston, Junior Trumpet Performance Major, JSU
4:30 p.m. Opening Reception in the College of Liberal Arts Lobby
Saturday, April 11 – Jackson State University
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration, Q&A, and Continental Breakfast
JSU Student Center 1st Floor Front Desk
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Concurrent Session I
JSU Student Center room 3210 and Johnson Hall Art Gallery
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Concurrent Session II
JSU Student Center Theater and rooms 3210, 3241, 3250
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Luncheon and Thee Black Panther: JStyleU Modeling and Fashion Collective
JSU Student Center Ballroom A
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Concurrent Session III
JSU Student Center rooms 3210 and 3241
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Closing Conversation with Dr. Evie Shockley and Awards Ceremony
JSU Student Center Theater