DELTALOGY 

Deltalogy? Yes, and as far as we know,  we invented the term, , deltalogy (some wordsmiths want to spell it deltaology but it's our word and we can spell it the way we say it).

We needed a catch-all word to describe the growing category of nonfiction and fiction books about the Mississippi Delta or by Deltans.

PHOTO: BECKY WASSON WATTS

Greenville's own David Cohn wrote in his book, God Shakes Creation (1935), "the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg." This flat, fertile, alluvial  expanse extending fifty miles east from the Mighty Mississippi to the Yazoo River, running from its northern point along the bluffs of  Memphis, one hundred fifty miles south to the hills of Vicksburg is the land of the Delta.  

From ancient mound builders to blues culture, and the rise and fall of the rivers, and from agri-business to casino gaming, the Delta continues to capture the attention and imagination of folks around the world.

The Delta is a place; a melting pot of people; a mythology and a reality. And we need a word for it all: deltalogy.