Mississippi Transplant: Jaime Harker

"Queer Mississippi is my Mississippi. LGBTQ+ Mississippians are brave, resourceful, and hilarious, and I am honored to be counted as part of this community."

What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? In 2003, Jaime Harker moved to Oxford where she quickly connected with likeminded peers and “a network of queer people and their friends across the entire state.” In 2017, she founded Violet Valley Bookstore, a queer feminist bookstore in Water Valley, Mississippi. In her current position as the director of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies at the University of Mississippi, Jaime teaches American literature, LGBTQ literature, and gender studies. “There are always going to be queer kids and trans kids growing up in this state,” Jaime writes. “I want them to know how amazing they are, and how lucky they are to be part of queer Mississippi.”

Featured contributor Jaime Harker stands in the doorway of her bookstore, Violet Valley Bookstore, in Water Valley, Mississippi.

Where are you from?

I grew up in Seattle and San Diego.

When did you …