Adam Gussow
Associate Professor of English
Phone Number: (662)915-7333
Email: agussow@olemiss.edu
http://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/2012/03/02/adam-gussow/

Key Words: African American Literature, Southern Literature, Blues and Jazz Literary and Cultural Studies

Research Description: Adam Gussow is an associate professor of English and Southern Studies. A member of the University of Mississippi faculty since 2002, he teaches courses in American and African American literature, the blues tradition, southern autobiography, and race in southern 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 blues harmonica player and teacher. As a member of the duo Satan and Adam for more than 25 years, he has played all the major blues, jazz, and folk festivals; toured internationally; recorded half a dozen CDs; and been featured on the cover of Living Blues magazine. He is the founder and creative director of Hill Country Harmonica, an annual event that brings several hundred blues harp players to north Mississippi for a long weekend of lectures, workshops, jam sessions, and concerts.

Honors Theses:

Swartzfager, Megan (2020) "We got more yesterday than anybody": Child Ghosts and the National Trauma of Anti-Black Racism in American Literature (full text)

Pollard, Landon Christian (2006) "Playing The Game Our Own Way: A Social Perspective on Jazz and Blues in Southern Literature"

Thompson, Aaron Lee (2004) "The Poetry of a New Generation: An Investigation of the Potential Use of Hip-Hop and Modern Spoken Word in the Classroom"