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March 28, 2024

John Safran explores a Mississippi murder live on stage

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John-Safran

Documentarist, author and broadcaster John Safran will present his live show Murder In Mississippi at the Byron Community Centre Theatre on Festival Saturday, August 2.

Festival director Edwina Johnson says this is a rare opportunity for people to relish Safran’s provocative, probing and unpredictable narration. ‘This is the true story of how John Safran met a white supremacist, befriended his black killer and wrote a book. People will be treated to a memorable theatrical experience.’

If you were John Safran you might one night find yourself cruising American white supremacist websites, only to stumble upon the news of the violent murder of a lifelong southern racist who you not only knew personally but had been sued by. You would then get on a plane, live in Jackson, Mississippi for the best part of six months, plunge into FBI files, earn a killer’s trust and write a true crime novel.

In this show, Safran delves deeply into his time in the South, telling the story with film and photography of his six-month immersion below the Mason Dixon Line. Murder In Mississippi is a tale of race, poverty, incarceration and the cultural fault lines that have defined the South since the Civil War.

Tickets ($25) are on sale now. Fans can also see John Safran in Lennox Head on Festival Friday at the Lennox Head Cultural & Community Centre. Tickets to An Evening with John Safran and Father Bob Maguire are also $25.

The festival runs August 1–3 with workshops commencing on July 28. For more information and feature event tickets, visit www.byronbaywritersfestival.com or call 1300 368 552.

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