On September 26, 2024, the LSU Creative Writing Visiting Writer Series brought acclaimed journalist and essayist Boyce Upholt to the LSU Center for River Studies. Upholt read from his debut book The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, a sweeping history of the Mississippi and the centuries of human intervention that have reshaped both the river and the nation it helped build.  

Rivers are Life is proud to help sponsor this event and to promote The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi and shine a light on the delicate balance of human use and natural resource management. Upholt’s writing tells the Mississippi’s story and gives rivers impacted by human history the voice necessary to educate, preserve, and protect the valuable natural resource they are. 

Published by Norton in 2024, The Great River has received wide praise from the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Historian John M. Barry, author of Rising Tide, described it as,

“easily one of the best books ever written about the Mississippi.” 

The evening blended literature, music, and science. A jazz quintet from the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts welcomed guests before and after the reading. Following the reading, Upholt joined Dr. Clint Willson, Dean of the College of the Coast and Environment and Director of the Center for River Studies, for a public conversation. He then answered questions from the audience before attendees toured the Center’s Lower Mississippi River Physical Model, one of the largest of its kind in the world. 

By bringing together writers, musicians, scientists, and community members, the event highlighted the Mississippi not only as a river of ecological importance but also as a source of history, culture, and inspiration. 

About the Author
Boyce Upholt is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, among other outlets. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism and earned his MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Originally from Connecticut, Upholt now lives in New Orleans.