The Center City Literary Festival as a Cultural Catalyst — In what has become an annual event, the Center City Literary Festival will take place on Saturday, March 30, 2019, at UNC Charlotte Center City, 320 E. 9th Street. Co-sponsored by the English Department and UNC Charlotte Center City, this festival is divided into two parts. The day-time part is intended for children and their families and will run from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The evening part is intended for adults and will run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Both parts of the festival are free and open to the public. For detailed information about the festival, please click on the following link: https://centercitylitfest.uncc.edu/
The part for children will feature appearances by children’s authors, creative activities, a live puppet show, a demonstration of giant puppets from the World of Creations, and a dance performance by Dances of India. Among the children’s authors who will participate are Zaidoon Al-Zubaidy, Tia Capers, Heather Freeman, Lisa Kline, Janaka Lewis, Jessica McEachern, Linda Phillips, Stephanie Prysiazniuk, Brandon Reese, Candice Smith, Greg Wiggan, and Kim Wilson.
The part for adults will feature appearances by four writers, an opening reception with live music by the Mark Larson Combo, poetry and fiction readings, and a book signing. The writers who will participate are Allison Hutchcraft, Patrice Gopo, Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams, and Tony Earley.
The organization of the Center City Literary Festival is a collaborative effort, but three people have played especially important roles in planning for this event: Bryn Chancellor, Janaka Lewis, and Angie Williams. Without the hard work of these three members of the English Department, there would be no Center CityLiterary Festival.
As I see it, the Center City Literary Festival functions as a sort of cultural catalyst. In the realm of chemistry, a catalyst, according to my dictionary, “is a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed.” Put another way, a catalyst facilitates the bringing together of chemicals to form new compounds. Our Center City Literary Festival serves a similar function in relation to Charlotte’s cultural realm. The festival is bringing together authors, musicians, and dancers. It’s bringing together adults and children. It’s bringing together members of the university community and members of the broader Charlotte community. In the process of organizing the Center City Literary Festival, the English Department is contributing to Charlotte’s evolving cultural scene.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of the English Department. Here is the latest news:
Meghan Barnes recently posted a new blog post on the work that she is doing at the Moore Place homeless shelter. Here is the link: https://www.urbanministrycenter.org/hugs-faith-cookies/
Allison Hutchcraft published a poem titled “Alice in Millefleurs” in Third Coast. Her poems are also forthcoming in Boulevard, Five Points, Image, The Missouri Review, and The Southern Review.
Jen Munroe recently had an essay on the role that gardens play in women’s writings from the the early modern period. The essay is for an online series titled “Thirty Years, Thirty Ideas.” Here is the link: https://wwp.northeastern.edu/context/#munroe.30gardens.xml
Maya Socolovsky recently presented a paper titled “Documentation and Disappearance in Latinx Children’s Literature” at MELUS.
Aaron Toscano recently presented a paper titled “Facts, Fears, and Futurism: Isaac Asimov’s Lessons for the 21st Century” at the North Eastern MLA conference in Washington, DC.
Upcoming Events and Meetings — Here is a list of upcoming events and deadlines:
March 26 — The Personally Speaking presentation featuring Bryn Chancellor will take place on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at UNC Charlotte Center City. Bryn’s presentation on her book Sycamore will begin at 6:30 p.m. A book signing and reception will follow her presentation. For more information and to RSVP, please click on the following link: https://clas.uncc.edu/community/personally-speaking/sycamore-novel
March 29 — The Children’s Literature Graduate Organization (CLGO) is sponsoring a Harry Potter Trivia Night on Friday, March 29th, at 7pm in the Halton Reading Room in Atkins Library. CLGO is using it as a fundraiser for Read Charlotte, and all the teams will donate $10 as an entry fee.
March 30 — The Center City Literary Festival will take place on Saturday, March 30, at UNC Charlotte Center City. The children’s part of the festival will run from 10:00am to 1:00pm, and the adult part will run from 6:00pm-9:00pm. For more information, please click on the following link: https://centercitylitfest.uncc.edu/
Quirky Quiz Question — The impetus to create the Center City Literary Festival was in response to the demise of a community-wide literary festival that was sponsored and organized by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library for many years. What is the name of this former literary festival?
Last week’s answer: Shakespeare
During her career at UNC Charlotte, Ann Carver taught many different courses, but she most frequently taught courses on a particular topic related to her academic area of expertise. What was this topic?