Don DeLillo

Don DeLillo, one of the country’s most celebrated authors of novels, short stories, plays and essays, will give Davidson College’s annual Conarroe lecture on Monday, Feb. 17.

Also, NC Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti will be at Main Street Books on Sunday. See below. 

DeLillo’s presentation begins at 8pm in Duke Family Performance Hall. It’s free, but tickets are required. They’ll be available beginning Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Alvarez College Union ticket office, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Alvarez College Union ticket office. Tickets will also be available for a $3 convenience fee by calling the ticket office at 704-894-2135, or ordering online at www.davidson.edu/tickets.

Since the publication of his first novel, “Americana,” in 1971, DeLillo has become one of the most important writers of his generation. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. In 1999, he became the first American recipient of the Jerusalem Prize, awarded to writers whose work expresses the theme of the freedom of the individual in society.

His novel “White Noise” won the National Book Award in 1985, while “Mao II” won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1991. DeLillo also won the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction in 2010. He received the 2012 Carl Sandburg Literary Award “in recognition of outstanding contributions to the literary world and honors a significant work or body of work that has enhanced the public’s awareness of the written word.”

Just last year he won the inaugural Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. The award seeks to commend “strong, unique, enduring voices that – throughout long, consistently accomplished careers – have told us something about the American experience.”

Already the subject of several books, DeLillo, 77, has achieved international prominence for his novels, plays, and short stories that powerfully engage the political, historical, and philosophical issues of our time. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language and terrorism.

In a 2005 interview he declared, “Writers must oppose systems. It’s important to write against power, corporations, the state, and the whole system of consumption and of debilitating entertainments. I think writers, by nature, must oppose things, oppose whatever power tries to impose on us.”

He also said of his work, “I don’t offer comforts except those that lurk in comedy and in structure and in language, and the comedy is probably not all that soothing. But before history and politics there’s language. And it’s language, the sheer pleasure of making it and bending it and seeing it form on the page and hearing it whistle in my head—this is the thing that makes my work go. And art can be exhilarating despite the darkness.”

DeLillo lives in the New York City suburb of Bronxville. He is currently working on his 16th novel, whose main character “spends a lot of time watching file footage on a wide screen, images of a disaster.”

He graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts in 1958, and worked for several years as a copywriter in an advertising agency. In 1964. DeLillo published his first short story, and began to work on his first novel in 1966 at age 30. Reflecting on his relatively late start in writing fiction, DeLillo said “I wish I had started earlier, but evidently I wasn’t ready. First, I lacked ambition. Second, I didn’t have a sense of what it takes to be a serious writer. It took me a long time to develop this.”

The Conarroe Lecture Series at Davidson is named in honor of Joel Conarroe, a 1956 Davidson graduate and distinguished member of the professional literary community who served as president of PEN American Center, president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and executive director of the Modern Language Association.

Novelist Joyce Carol Oates inaugurated the Conarroe Lectureship in 2002, and those who followed her include some of the most notable authors of this era—Michael Cunningham, Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, Annie Proulx, Michael Chabon, Russell Banks, Margaret Atwood, W.S. Merwin and Edward Hirsch.

Joseph Bathanti

POET LAUREATE AT MAIN STREET BOOKS

Shireen Campbell

Dr. Campbell is the author of a memoir, “Frogheart.” Her creative nonfiction has appeared in “Double Lives, Reinvention” and “Those We Leave Behind, Transformations,” “Reflections on Service” and “Mom-Writers Literary Magazine”.

Alan Michael Parker

Alan Michael Parker has written two novels, including his newest book “Whale Man,” and five collections of poems. He is also the editor or co-editor of three scholarly texts. He won the Fineline Prize, a Pushcart Prize and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America.

The Feb. 10 reading will be 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room in the Alvarez College Union on the Davidson College campus. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, email Nancy Randazzo at narandazzo@davidson.edu or call 704-894-2284.

RELATED LINKS

The Charlotte Observer’s Pam Kelley interviewed Alan Michael Park about his new novel. See Feb. 6, 2011, “Davidson professor’s new novel is a whale of a tale.”

LITERARY CALENDAR

THURSDAY, FEB. 10

Davidson Reads: college authors, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room – 13th annual “Davidson Reads,” a celebration of writing by faculty members. Professor of English Shireen Campbell, director of the writing center, will read from her forthcoming memoir, Frogheart. Professor of English Alan Michael Parker, director of creative writing, is the author of two novels including the just-published Whale Man, and six collections of poems. Free. For information call 704-894-2254.

MONDAY, FEB. 14

Novelist Cris Mazza, 5 p.m., Davidson College Philanthopic Hall, upstairs – A free reading by novelist Cris Mazza, professor in the program for writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

FRIDAY, FEB. 18

Conversation and Coffee with Velina Hasu Houston: the playwright of “Kokoro (True Heart)”, 4 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union, Sprinkle Room.

Kokoro: Post-Show Talk Back with the Playwright, Director and Cast (time: after performance) – Davidson College Cunningham Theater Center, Barber Theatre. 704-894-2254.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8

Kevin Prufer Poetry Reading, 5 p.m., Davidson College Carolina Inn, Main Street – Free poetry reading with Kevin Prufer, author of “Fallen from a Chariot,” and “The Finger Bone.” He also is co-editor of “New European Poets” and “Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing.” He is Professor of English and Coordinator of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Central Missouri. More information on the college Website.

THURSDAY, MARCH 17

Art and literature: “10 Days”, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Alvarez College Union, 900 Room – Alan Michael Parker, an English professor, and Herb Jackson, an art professor, present an art and literature event titled “10 Days.” Free.

MONDAY, MAY 2
U.S. poet laureate W.S. Merwin, 8 p.m., Davidson College, Duke Family Performance Hall. U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin, a 2-time Pulitzer Prize winner, gives the annual Joel Conarroe Lecture. For more information call 704-894-2254. Free, but tickets required.

KOKORO ON STAGE

FEB. 16-20 – The Davidson College theatre department invites the public to a production of the play “Kokoro,” written by contemporary Asian-American playwright Velina Hasu Houston. “Kokoro” chronicles the story of a young Japanese mother struggling to adapt to the very foreign culture of the United States, and illuminates the degree to which culture and spirituality shape our perception of truth and morality. The play contains adult language and themes and is recommended for ages 14 and up. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16, 17, 18 and 19, and at 2 p.m. on February 20. All performances are in The Barber Theatre of Cunningham Theatre Center. General admission is $8, or $5 for seniors and $4 for students. Call the Union Ticket Office at 704-894-2135 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays or purchase online at www.davidson.edu/tickets. For general information call 704-894-2930.

WRITERS CLUB WELCOMES POET

Pat Riviere-Seel

On Thursday, Feb. 4, Charlotte Writers’ Club North will welcome poet Pat Riviere-Seel as its guest speaker.

Pat is the author of two poetry collections: “The Serial Killer’s Daughter” (2009), a finalist in the Main Street Rag Publishing Co.’s Chapbook Contest, and “No Turning Back Now” (2004), a finalist in Finishing Line Press’s New Women’s Voices Chapbook Contests and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

An associate editor of Asheville Poetry Review, Ms. Riviere-Seel teaches poetry writing classes and workshops at universities and colleges throughout North Carolina. A former political reporter for The Fayetteville Observer, she was editor of Voices, the journal of Rural Southern Voice for Peace based in Celo, N.C., and the founder and president of For the Record, a public and government relations firm in Annapolis, Md.

“The Serial Killer’s Daughter” has been adapted for performance by Louise Rockwell, and will be performed as a benefit on Friday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 pm at the Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius.

Founded in 1922, CWC is a membership organization whose mission is to support Charlotte’s community of writers. Charlotte Writers’ Club North meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at The Sanctuary, 108 S. Main Street, in Davidson.

The public is welcome to attend. For more information, please visit our website at www.charlottewritersclub.org.

N.C. GETS A NEW POET LAUREATE

SOURCES: Office of Gov. Beverly Perdue, Queens University

Gov. Bev Perdue announced Friday the appointment of Cathy Smith Bowers of Tryon as North Carolina’s Poet Laureate. Smith Bowers will be installed at a ceremony scheduled Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 4:30 p.m. at the State Capitol. The ceremony is open to the public.

“Cathy’s powerful poems open new avenues of thought, and are a reflection of the love of words and learning. She believes poetry inspires and instructs North Carolinians of all ages,” Gov. Perdue said.

Ms. Smith Bowers teaches in the UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and in the M.F.A. program at Queens University of Charlotte where she received the 2002 J.B. Fuqua Distinguished Educator Award. She also received the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Award given by the North Carolina Poetry Society in 2006 and 2007. Smith Bowers received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

Ms. Smith Bowers helped Queens launch its MFA program. In a press release, Mike Kobre, co-director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program and Dana Professor of English, said: “Cathy was a founding member of the MFA faculty at Queens in 2001, was a mainstay of undergraduate creative writing program here before that. Without her work nurturing creative writing and mentoring some fabulous students there would not have been a foundation for the MFA program.”

She is the author of four poetry collections: “The Love That Ended Yesterday in Texas,” Texas Tech University Press, 1992; “Traveling in Time of Danger,” Iris Press, 1999; “A Book of Minutes,” Iris Press, 2004; “The Candle I Hold Up To See You,” Iris Press, 2009.

MARGARET ATWOOD READING FEB. 25

Davidson College invites the public to attend a literary talk and reading by author Margaret Atwood on Thursday, Feb. 25. Atwood’s novels include “The Edible Woman,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Robber Bride,” “Alias Grace,” “The Blind Assassin,” and her most recent work, “The Year of the Flood.”

The Booker Prize-winning author’s appearance is presented as the college’s annual Conarroe Lecture, and begins at 8 p.m. in the Duke Family Performance Hall. A book signing will follow.

Tickets are free, but must be picked up in person at the College Union Ticket Office beginning Thursday, Feb. 11 for the general public. (College faculty, students and staff may pick up tickets beginning Feb. 4.) For information call 704-894-2135.

LITERARY CALENDAR

THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 7 p.m., The Sanctuary of Davidson, 108 S. Main St. – Charlotte Writers’ Club North presents Pat Riviere-Seel, poet and associate editor of Asheville Poetry Review. Free. For more information, please visit our website at www.charlottewritersclub.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Weathers Creek Writers Series offers another in its series of writers workshops at a farm between Cleveland and Mooresville. This month: award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Georgann Eubanks on “Many Beginnings.” Also coming up: March 13, a songwriting workshop with singer/songwriter/producer Don Dixon; April 10, novelist and former newspaperman John Jeter  leads a session on “Be The Camera: Showing The Story and Reporting The Fiction.”  Sessions  $75 each and include lunch. For a registration form, directions and other information, go to our website, www.weatherscreek.net/.

THURSDAY, FEB. 25, 8 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall – Annual Conarroe Lecture, by Margaret Atwood, the Booker Prize-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.” The lecture will be free, but tickets will be required, available beginning Feb. 4 for those affiliated with the college, Feb. 11 for the general public. Details on the Davidson College tickets page.

Marla Brown

Playwright and performance artist Marla Brown will be the guest speaker at the Jan. 7 meeting of Charlotte Writers’ Club North. Also, a new year of workshops is beginning at Weathers Creek Writers Series.

BROWN AT WRITERS CLUB

On Thursday, Jan. 7, Charlotte Writers’ Club North will welcome playwright and performance artist Marla Brown as its guest speaker. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. The Sanctuary of Davidson gallery, 108 S. Main St.
Founder of The Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius, Marla Brown received her Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Texas, Austin.  Her satirical solo pieces “Why I’m Stark White” received the Marjorrie Davisson Parker performance award.

She also won Best of Fest placement at Hyde Park Theatre for her original piece “Dietrich.”  Along with playwright Kelly Rowett and director Jules Odendahl, Brown founded Bold Maids Theatre Co. In 2002, she joined Playwrights in Progress, a resident playwrights group of Theatre Charlotte.  Nine of her short plays have been produced through Theatre Charlotte’s “9×9” Series, including “A Dress To Go Out In,” which received a Media’s Choice pick.

Along with her passion for playwriting and new play development, Brown is a staunch advocate for using the arts for self-expression & community building.  She has created writing and movement workshops that allow participants to explore their own experiences and develop stories and performance pieces.

Her most recent collaborative community project was “Mother Journeys,” performed in May 2008.  Through a project grant from the Arts & Science Council, 20 participants took part in guided memory and writing exercises on themes of mothers and motherhood, developing a montage piece for performance.
Founded in 1922, Charlotte Writers Club is a membership organization whose mission is to support Charlotte’s community of writers.  Charlotte Writers’ Club North meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at The Sanctuary of Davidson, 108 S. Main Street.  The public is welcome to attend.  For more information, please visit our website at www.charlottewritersclub.org.

WEATHERS CREEK WRITERS SERIES

The Weathers Creek Writers’ Series continues in January with workshops on songwriting, fiction and making money with your writing. The sessions offer free-lancers, published authors and aspiring writers a one-day get away to a lovely farm located between Cleveland and Mooresville.

The 2010 workshops begin Jan. 9 with C. Hope Clark, founder and editor of www.fundsforwriters.com, a well-known writer’s reference that reaches over 28,000 readers weekly. Her workshop, “Funding Streams: How Serious Writers Plunge In,” will help you take your writing to the editors and websites that pay and that help you reach your target audiences.

Subsequent sessions will be held on the second Saturdays of February, March and April. They include: Feb. 13, award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker Georgann Eubanks on “Many Beginnings”; March 13, a songwriting workshop with singer/songwriter/producer Don Dixon; April 10, novelist and former newspaperman John Jeter  leads a session on “Be The Camera: Showing The Story and Reporting The Fiction.”

The Weathers Creek Writers Series grew out of talks between area writer/editor Ann Wicker, photographer and writer Susan Campbell, and marketing and sales specialist Cindy Campbell. Sessions are $75 each and include lunch. All sessions will start promptly at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

For a registration form, directions and other information, go to our website, www.weatherscreek.net/.

LITERARY EVENTS CALENDAR

THURSDAY, JAN. 7, 7 p.m., The Sanctuary of Davidson, 108 S. Main St – Charlotte Writers’ Club North meeting hosts playwright and performance artist Marla Brown. Free and open to the public. www.charlottewritersclub.org.
THURSDAY, FEB. 25, 8 p.m., Davidson College Duke Family Performance Hall – Annual Conarroe Lecture, by Margaret Atwood, the Booker Prize-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.” The lecture will be free, but tickets will be required. Details to come.