Celebrating the Centennial of Carson McCullers’s Birth — Copper Resta
urant, known for its Indian food, is located just a few blocks from our home. Whenever I walk our dog along East Boulevard, we pass by it as we get our exercise. Our dog doesn’t seem to care that the famous novelist Carson McCullers lived in the building where Copper Restaurant is now located, but it matters to me.
McCullers and her husband rented an apartment in the building in 1937. While living there, she began writing The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, her first novel. She lived in Charlotte for just a year, but for those of us who are interested in Charlotte’s literary history, that’s long enough for us to claim her as a Charlotte writer and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth on February 19, 1917.
As part of this celebration, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, the Charlotte Film Society, and an organization called Charlotte Lit are presenting a film series showcasing three films based on McCullers’s novels. The series kicks off on February 5, 2017, 
with a screening of the 1968 film version of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, starring Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, and Cicely Tyson. The film will be shown at 1:30 p.m. at ImaginOn’s Wells Fargo Playhouse. After the screening there will be a panel discussion, and our own Paula Eckard is one of the panelists. Paula is a charter member of the Carson McCullers Society, and she often includes McCullers’s novels in her courses on Southern literature.
For more information about the film series and the other events related to the centennial of McCullers’s birth, please click on the following link: http://www.charlottelit.org/carsonmccullers/
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:
Boyd Davis recently published a co-authored chapter titled “Challenges and Experiences in Training Multilingual, International Direct Care Workers in Dementia Care in the United States” in the edited volume Multilingual Interaction in Dementia.
Lara Vetter recently published an afterword to a collection titled Modernist Women Writers and Spirituality: A Piercing Darkness, co-edited by Elizabeth Anderson, Andrew Redford, and Heather Walton.
Debora Rae Wenger, a graduate of our M.A. program, was recently named one of the nation’s ten best journalism educators. She is currently a professor at the University of Mississippi. Please click on the following link for more information: http://hottytoddy.com/2017/01/20/wenger-professor-honored-nations-best/
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is information about upcoming events and deadlines.
January 27 — The English Department meeting will take place on January 27, 2017, from 11:00-12:30 in the English Department Conference Room.
February 3 — The 17th Annual English Graduate Student Association Conference will take place on February 3, 2017, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in the Cone Center Lucas Room.
Quirky Quiz Question — In addition to writing The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers wrote three other novels. Can you complete the titles of her three other novels listed below?
Reflections in a _______ Eye
The Member of the _________
_________ without Hands
Last week’s answer: Atlanta
In addition being a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis has long served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. His district encompasses most of what major city in the South?