FreeWord Poets from Davidson College.

This month’s meeting of Charlotte Writers’ Club North will feature the Davidson College slam poetry group FreeWord Poets. The meeting is Thursday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at Davidson College Presbyterian Church, room 201.

FreeWord Poets is a 2-year-old group that tells stories, plays with words and offers new perspectives on social justice issues. Last April, FreeWord placed in the top 10 at the national College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) at Emerson College in Boston.

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 pm on the first Thursday of each month at Davidson College Presbyterian Church. The public is welcome to attend. More info about Charlotte Writers Club North at www.charlottewritersclub.org.

‘KOKORO’ SYMPOSIUM

Davidson College has planned a series of lectures and literary events around the upcoming stage production of “Kokoro (True Heart)” by Velina Hasu Houston.

The play chronoicles the story of young Japanese mother struggling to adapt to a new life in the United States. This struggle has dire consequences for herself and those around her, especially her young daughter. The heart-wrenching events of the play prompt the audience to question the ways in which culture and spirituality shape our perceptions of truth and morality.

The production runs Feb. 16 to 20. Symposium events are running now through the end of the play’s run. They include discussions about the play, its background and the playwright and a visit by Ms. Houston herself, on Feb. 18. For a full schedule and details, visit the college website.

The symposium is a collaboration of the college theater department, Dean Rusk International Studies Program, Vann Ethics Center, and the Departments of Anthropology, History, English and Political Science, as well as the Asian Studies program. (More information about the play is at the end of this column.)

LITERARY CALENDAR

TUESDAY, FEB. 1

Reading ‘Kokoro’, 11 a.m., Smith 900 Room, Alvarez College Union, Davidson College – Elena Creef, professor of Asian American Women’s Studies at Wellesley College, will speak about “A Playwright with Heart: Reading Kokoro and the Work of Velina Hasu Houston” as part of a series of events connected to the theatre department’s performance of “Kokoro.” Free. For information call 704-894-2440. (More information about “Kokoro” below.)

THURSDAY, FEB. 3

FreeWord Poets, 7 p.m., Davidson College Presbyterian Church, room 201 – Charlotte Writers’ Club North presents Davidson College’s slam poetry group FreeWord Poets. The 2-year-old group tells stories, plays with words and offers new perspectives on social justice issues. Last April, FreeWord placed in the top 10 at the national College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) at Emerson College in Boston. More info about Charlotte Writers Club North at www.charlottewritersclub.org.

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.

Poetry, essays and photo-essays that reflect the LNWC mission, and that can be electronically transmitted, are being accepted.

LNWC is a grassroots chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation whose mission is to protect and enhance the natural resources and wildlife habitats of the greater Lake Norman area for all to enjoy.

Contest participants should include their name, age and complete contact information, plus permission to publish and/or display their work on the LNWC website, www.lakenormanwildlife.org.

Winners will receive a free year of membership to LNWC, a T-shirt and a book on creating and enjoying wildlife habitats. Deadline for entries is Saturday, April 10. For more information, visit the website, email info@lakenormanwildlife.org or call 704-877-4788.

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.