Cue the Music — The upcoming Center City Literary Festival will celebrate the literary arts, but it will also celebrate many other forms of artistic expression, including music. The festival will run for two days (October 17 and 18), and musical performances will be featured on both days. The musical dimension of this festival sets it apart from most literary festivals in the country.
The adult-focused part of the festival will take place on Friday, Oct. 17, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. UNC Charlotte professor and Music Department chair James A. Grymes will be reading from his new book, Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour. A stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, and of the Israeli violinmaker dedicated to bringing these inspirational instruments back to life. The New York Post calls Violins of Hope a “must-read book” and composer John Williams describes it as “a work of research and scholarship that forms one of the most moving chronicles in the history of Western music.” The presentation will include performances of Yiddish folksongs from the Holocaust by Idunn Lohne, a violin performance major at UNC Charlotte.
In addition to Grymes, other writers who will participate include poet Christopher Davis, mystery novelist Mark de Castrique, essayist Sandra Govan, and poet Grace Ocasio. Several of the participants are contributors to the just-released book, 27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose and Poetry. They will read from their contributions to this collection, and all of the participants will be available for book signing.
The evening will conclude with a presentation about Charlotte’s history as a recording center for country music in the 1930s. After this presentation, the folk music group the Kollard Kings will perform examples of the old-time string band songs from Charlotte’s heyday as a recording center. Performing with the Kollard Kings are banjo picker Tom Estes, past president of Charlotte Folk Society and an authority on Southern music traditions, and fiddlin’ Tom Hanchett, staff historian at Levine Museum of the New South.
The children’s part of the the festival will take place on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 11:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. The festival will feature literature, music, art, and theatre, and will provide children with hands-on activities. Featured artists include Caldecott Medal winning children’s author Gail Haley and her writing partner, Alice Phoebe Naylor; illustrator Matthew Myers and digital artist Heather Freeman. Many of the art-related activities also will tie into the opening of an art exhibit entitled “Icarus: A Study of the Urge to Fly” at UNC Charlotte Center City. In addition, Beth Murray from the UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre will coordinate performances based on picture books.
The children’s part of the festival will conclude with a family-friendly performance by UNC Charlotte’s Chamber Orchestra. Focused on the intersections of literature and music, it will include The Comedians by Dmitry Kabalevsky, originally intended as incidental music for a children’s play by Soviet Jewish writer Mark Daniel titled The Inventor and the Comedians about Johannes Gutenberg and a band of itinerant buffoons. The play has been lost, but the music survives. For the festival, the music will be set to a new narration of a Russian fairy tale, “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship” by distinguished writer and conductor Jonathan Andrew Govias.
Staff Engagement — The English Department is fortunate to have such strong staff members. In addition to performing their official duties so well, all of the staff members are fully engaged in the department’s teaching and service activities. For example, Angie has taken on a major role in helping me organize the Center City Literary Festival. Her enthusiasm and organizational skills have been an immense help to me throughout the process of planning this event. Another person in our department who plans community events is Jeffrey Leak. In his role as the Director for the Center for the Study of the New South, Jeffrey has organized numerous events, including an event about “soul food” last week. I’ve noticed that Jennie has attended almost all of these events. Her willingness to participate in these events, even after having worked all day in the office, is a sign of her ongoing community engagement. As some of you know, Monica has been working closely with Lil Brannon with administering the grants that fund our Writing Project. In addition to performing these administrative functions, Monica has been attending Writing Project events and participating in their workshops. By being so engaged in the life of the English Department, Angie, Jennie and Monica help strengthen our department.
Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Lil Brannon recently learned that UNC Charlotte Writing Project has been awarded $30,000 of National Science Foundation funds as a result of a proposal she wrote and submitted.
Aaron Gwyn’s Wynne’s War received a positive write-up from The Los Angeles Review of Books. Here is the link: http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/afghanistan-stage-without-play#
Daniel Shealy is featured in a promotional video recently produced by Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Here is the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/632439913/orchard-house/posts/996173
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here are some dates to keep in mind:
October 6-7 — Fall break—no classes.
October 10 — The deadline to post mid-term unsatisfactory grades is noon on Friday, October 10th, and you must complete the process even if you have no unsatisfactory grades to report. Grades due by noon.
Quirky Quiz Question — Yiddish folksongs will be performed in conjunction with James Grymes’s reading from his Violins of Hope during the upcoming Center City Literary Festival. In the early decades of the 20th century, Yiddish language and culture played a major role in New York City. Does anybody know the name of the famous Yiddish newspaper that began publication in New York City in 1897?
Last week’s answer – Bob Dylan