Springfield Regional Arts Council was awarded a grant of $9,617 from the Missouri Humanities Council for the 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War, set for Sept. 23-25 at The Creamery Arts Center and Jordan Valley Park.

The 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War features famed novelist Jeff Shaara, author of "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure," Civil War Historian William C. Davis, author of "The Battle of Bull Run"; historical novelist Janis Cooke Newman, author of "Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln"; Springfield novelist Steve Yates, author of "Morkan's Quarry"; children's authors Kate Klise and Judy Young, and many more.

The Literary Festival also includes art and writing contests for schoolchildren; a short fiction contest; a concert of Civil War Hymns by the Voices of Deliverance Choir; interactive historical displays including cannon and musket firings, a Cavalry Tent display with horses, hands-on crafts, quilting, live music and displays on Civil War medicine, cooking and the life of the common soldier; a performance of "The Rhythm is Keeping Us Alive: A Celebration of African American Poetry" and more. Tickets are $5 for age 11 and up, free for children 10 and under.  

For more information, visit www.missouriliteraryfestival.org. For more information about the grants program of the Missouri Humanities Council, please call (314) 781-9660 or (800) 357-0909, or write to the MHC at 543 Hanley Industrial Court, Suite 205, St. Louis, MO 63144-1905.

The Missouri Humanities Council is the only statewide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.