Storied Charlotte

Martin Settle’s Creations

November 22, 2021 by Mark West

The other day, I was looking at the home page for Charlotte Readers Podcast, and I saw an announcement about an episode featuring Martin Settle and his new memoir titled Teaching During the Jurassic: Wit and Wisdom from an Old Hippie Teacher. I listened to the podcast, and I enjoyed hearing Marty talk about his experiences as a teacher. What I liked the most, however, was just hearing Marty’s voice again. To hear this podcast, please click on the following link: https://charlottereaderspodcast.com/martin-settles-teaching-during-the-jurassic-is-wit-wisdom-and-humor-in-the-classroom/

I first met Marty when he and his wife, Deborah Bosley, moved to Charlotte in the early 1990s. Marty enrolled in UNC Charlotte’s English MA program during the time period that I was directing the program, so I got to know him first as a graduate student. After he earned his MA, he became a lecturer in the English Department and continued to teach in the department until 2010 when he retired. Marty and I often talked during his years at UNC Charlotte, and I miss those impromptu conversations.

In the years since his retirement, Marty has hardly slowed down. He has published four books of poetry: The Theology of Dunes (Main Street Rag, 2015); Coming to Attention: Developing the Habit of Haiku (Main Street Rag, 2016); The Backbone Alphabet (Xlibris, 2017); and Maple Samaras (Wild Leek Press, 2018). He has also made a name for himself as an assemblage artist. He creates sculptures out of found objects and items acquired at garage sales. His most recent creative project is his memoir, which came out in August of this year. For more information about Marty’s various creations, please click on the following link: https://www.martinsettleartist.com/

I contacted Marty after listening to his Charlotte Readers Podcast, and I asked him how his experiences in Charlotte influenced his writing career. Here is what he sent to me:

Coming to Charlotte and working at the university provided me with the fertile ground for my writing to blossom. There were three people in Charlotte crucial to my development as a writer: Robin Hemley, Irene Blair Honeycutt, and Scott Douglas.

When I first began to teach at UNC Charlotte, Robin Hemley was the head of our creative writing program at UNC Charlotte. Not only was Robin an excellent novelist, but he took his role seriously in providing workshops and readings for the Charlotte community. These workshops and readings primed the pump of my desire to write myself. Further, because of Robin Hemley, I was introduced to a poet, who greatly influenced me – Charles Simic. Simic, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, was the poet that I modeled myself after in the beginning years of my writing

Irene Blair Honeycutt has become an institution at Central Piedmont Community College as the founder of one of the most prestigious art events of the year Sensoria. When I first came to Charlotte, Irene had just begun her Spring Literary Festival (eventually these developed into Sensoria), which included respected writers, readings, and workshops. Attending these events, I was able to get inspiration and writing advice from the likes of Miroslav Holub and Mark Doty. Ms. Honeycutt’s own poetry and instruction were valuable as well.

Finally, I am one of the many writers that Scott Douglas has taken under the wing with his press Main Street Rag. For years, Scott provided a monthly reading series at Vin Masters, a wine shop. During this time, I was able to gather the courage to read my works during the open mic sessions. Eventually, Scott offered to publish my first book of poetry, The Teleology of Dunes, and my second book, Coming to Attention: Developing the Habit of Haiku. There is nothing so encouraging as to see your book in print for the first time.

Without the aid of the above Charlotteans, I know my writing efforts would have withered on the vine. Each has contributed key pieces to my serendipitous journey to become a writer.

In the years since Marty retired from his teaching career, he has blossomed as a poet and artist. His creative work takes various forms, but it’s unified by his deep interest in philosophical questions. Whether he is writing poems, creating sculptures, or reflecting on his teaching career, he is always playing with ideas. His philosophical approach is reflected in the titles of some of his works. The title of his first book refers to the philosophical concept of teleology. The title of his best-known sculpture is Descartes’ Dream, which is a reference to the French philosopher René Descartes. In my opinion, Marty’s varied talents and wide-ranging philosophical interests qualify him as Storied Charlotte’s very own Renaissance man.

Of Earth and Sky and Charlotte Poets

November 15, 2021 by Mark West

During the month of October, lines of poetry suddenly popped up in many locations in uptown Charlotte. These poetic snippets were part of a larger multi-media project called Of Earth and Sky. The brainchild of British installation artist Luke Jerram, this project originated in the city of Gloucester in the UK in 2020, and it is now touring the world. Jerram envisioned Earth and Sky as a large-scale poetry installation in which he used lines from poems to form a temporary sculpture trail. For more information about Jerram’s vision for this project, please click on the following link: https://www.ofearthandsky.co.uk/

Of Earth and Sky made its American debut in Charlotte thanks to Blumenthal Performing Arts. In preparing for the Charlotte version of this project, the project leaders and poetry curators associated with Blumenthal solicited original poems by Charlotte writers and then used lines from these poems for the installation in uptown. Although the installation came down on October 31, 2021, the project lives on in the form of a newly published book titled Of Earth and Sky: Poetry Anthology 2021. This anthology includes one poem from each of the 200 Charlotte writers who submitted their poetry to the Of Earth and Sky installation project. For more information about the anthology, please click on the following link: https://ofearthandskyclt.com/poetry-book/

The anthology begins with commentary by two of the project leaders. Bree Stallings, the Director of Artistic Experiences at Blumenthal Performing Arts, describes that project as “a small moment of escape, a way of looking at our city, and ourselves, differently, and to remember we were all put on this world to draw metaphor where there is fact, and to make special the mundane.” Boris “Buzz” Rogers, the Director of Creative Engagement at Blumenthal Performing Arts, explains that the leaders of this project “reached out to the entire city of Charlotte and asked its residents … to share their stories—stories of hope, happiness, sadness, love, loss and all the in-between.”

The poems in this anthology are rooted in Charlotte. The poets touch on the experience of living in Charlotte during this current stressful time in our city’s history. Some of the poems are deeply personal. Some capture a special moment in time. Some are spiritual in tone. And some are specifically about Charlotte or places in Charlotte. For example, Jamaal Cowan’s poem, “Heart of the City” is about the experience of sitting “at the corner of Trade and Tryon.”

I think that all of the poets in this anthology rose to the challenge of sharing their stories. The anthology comes in the form of one 145-page book, but in a sense, it provides 200 glimpses of contemporary life in Storied Charlotte.

Tags: anthology Charlotte poets poetry

Southern Children’s Literature in the Classroom

November 08, 2021 by Mark West

Since last April, I have had the privilege of leading a seminar for Charlotte teachers on using Southern children’s literature in the classroom. The seminar is offered through the Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI), a collaborative program involving the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), UNC Charlotte, and Johnson C. Smith University. Our last seminar meeting will take place this week. For more information about CTI, please click on the following link: https://charlotteteachers.org/

Over the course of our CTI seminar, we read and discussed several books for children and young adults in which the American South plays an integral role in the stories. We started with Dori Sanders’s Clover, a novel that is set just south of Charlotte. In this novel, Clover, a ten-year-old African American girl, struggles to form a relationship with her new stepmother, who is white. Southern food figures prominently in their efforts to communicate with each other. We then read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor’s Newbery-winning novel that takes place in rural Mississippi during the 1930s. During our discussion of this novel, we explored the impact of sharecropping on the lives of African Americans in the Jim Crow era. The next novel we read was Bette Greene’s Summer of My German Soldier, a novel that takes place in a small Arkansas town during World War Two. Patty, the central character, is a young Jewish girl growing up in a town there are very few Jews. In our seminar, we talked about the role that religion plays in the story. We then read Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out & Back Again, a verse novel in which a Vietnamese family moves to Alabama at the end of the Vietnam War. The last book on our reading list was Tangerine, Edward Bloor’s young adult novel that takes place in contemporary Florida. We also talked about Southern folklore and picture books set in the South. After discussing these works, the teachers then developed their own curricular plans involving the use of Southern children’s and young adult literature in their own classroom situations.

What I enjoyed the most about our seminar discussions was how these teachers related the readings to students in their classes. I was pleased that these teachers wanted to provide their students with books about characters with whom their students could relate in a personal way. I liked how these teachers drew connections between the characters’ complex family situations and their students’ families. Many of these teachers have students in their classes who just recently moved to Charlotte from other countries, and they related their students’ experiences to some of the characters’ experiences as recent immigrants. Our discussions were wide-ranging. Of course, we talked about literature, but we also talked about history, folklore, foodways, art, family dynamics, and race relations. As I see it, literature can serve as a gateway to many topics, and that is one of the reasons why literature belongs in the classroom.

I will miss meeting with these teachers on a weekly basis, but I feel reassured that CMS has such caring and talented teachers. In my book, teachers are among the heroes in Storied Charlotte’s grand saga.

Tags: Southern Children's Literature teachers

Celebrating Gail E. Haley, Charlotte’s Winner of the Caldecott Medal

November 01, 2021 by Mark West

Fifty years ago, Gail E. Haley, Charlotte’s most famous picture book author, received the Caldecott Medal for her picture book A Story A Story. The Caldecott Medal is the most prestigious picture book award given in the United States, and Haley was catapulted to the top of the picture book world when she received this award. In celebration of this anniversary, the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte is sponsoring two upcoming events and an exhibit related to Haley’s “life and artistry.” Adreonna Bennett, the Community Engagement Archivist at Akins Library, working collaboratively with a team of librarians and other staff members associated with Atkins Library, organized this celebration. I contacted Adreonna and asked her for more information. Here is what she sent to me:

Gail Haley is a native Charlottean born in 1939 and raised in the township of Shuffletown, which is a stone’s throw away from the city’s northern edge. From a young age, Haley showed an interest in the arts and literature. Her father, who was an art director for The Charlotte Observer, would bring her with him and through this she learned more about the newspaper. She went on to study art and illustration at the Richmond Professional Institute and the University of Virginia.

Haley self-published her first book, My Kingdom for a Dragon, in 1962. The theme of her initial storybook was an allegory for having dreams that no one else believes in, reflecting her feelings at the time. This book, like many of her works, utilizes wood blocks and ink to create beautiful landscapes and distinct characters. Haley would go on to publish over 40 children’s books to date. In 1971, Haley won the Caldecott Medal, awarded by the American Library Association, for her children’s book A Story A Story. The book retells the West African folktale of Ananse the spiderman and trickster who stole stories from the Sky God to give them to humans. Haley first heard the stories of Ananse during her time living in St. Thomas, and this experience inspired her to create A Story A Story. Still beloved by children and valued by educators 50 years later, A Story A Story continues to touch the lives of young children and adults alike.

In 1976, Haley was awarded Britain’s Kate Greenaway Medal for her book The Post Office Cat, making her the only illustrator to have the distinction of winning both of these prestigious awards. She was also awarded Japan’s Kodai Tosho and the Kerlan Award given by the University of Minnesota Libraries. In addition to her many awards, she also served as Writer in Residence for Appalachian State University. Haley continues to be renowned for not only her mastery of illustration using traditional wood block and linoleum cuts as well as paint and ink but also for her storytelling and her use of lyrical sentences and higher vocabulary in her books.

The J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives is home to the Gail E. Haley Collection, which includes original manuscripts from Haley’s books, woodcut blocks used to create illustrations, and a plethora of other materials. Gail Haley’s oral history interviews can also be found in our online repository https://goldmine.charlotte.edu/

To honor Gail Haley’s achievements in the field of children’s literature and illustration, J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte will be hosting a slate of events:

An exhibit on the ground floor of Atkins Library will display materials from the library’s Gail Haley collection, featuring artwork from of A Story A Story: October 15th-November 29th, 2021
A linoleum-cutting workshop in the Makerspace of the library’s Area 49: November 3, 1-3 pm. Participation is limited, so please register.
A virtual discussion with Gail Haley and Professor of English Mark West: November 8, 4-5:30 pm. Register.

In the fifty years since Haley received the Caldecott Medal for A Story A Story, the children’s literature scene in Charlotte has changed a lot. Charlotte is now the home of many picture-book authors and illustrators, including Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Gordon C. James, Matt Myers, Brandon Reese, and Alicia D. Williams. Still, there is still only one person from Storied Charlotte who has won the Caldecott Medal, and that person is Gail E. Haley.

Tags: picture book authors picture books wood blocks

Remembering the Main Library: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s “One for the Books” Celebration

October 25, 2021 by Mark West

For Charlotte’s lovers of books and stories, the land on the corner of 300 North Tryon Street and Sixth Street is hallowed grounds. Since 1903, a public library has stood on this site. The first, known as the Carnegie Library, opened on July 2, 1903. This stately building was replaced in 1956 with a larger library that reflected the sleek, modernist style associated with the 1950s. The 1956 building underwent a complete renovation and major expansion in the mid-1980s, resulting in the current Main Library, which opened the public in 1989. For more information about the first two libraries located on this site, I recommend David W. Erdman’s 100 Lost Architectural Treasures of Old Charlotte.

Soon the Main Library will be demolished to make room for a new $100 million, five-storied library, but first, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is holding a nine-day celebration called One for the Books to remember and honor the history of the Main Library. Scheduled for November 6 – 14, 2021, One for the Books is billed as “a one-time, free opportunity for our community to honor the history of an uptown anchor, say goodbye to the current building, and welcome the future together.” For more information about the One for the Books celebration, please click on the following link: https://foundation.cmlibrary.org/one-for-the-books/

I have many fond memories of the Main Library, so of course, I will be participating in One for the Books. When I first moved to Charlotte in 1984, the 1956 building was still in use, and I quickly became a regular patron. I remember feeling frustrated when it closed for renovation in 1987, but I enjoyed participating in the events associated with the Main Library’s grand opening in 1989.

Two years later, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library started its Novello Festival of Reading, the predecessor to the current Verse and Vino event. Many of the presentations and activities associated with Novello took place in the Main Library, and I often attended. Before long I became a community volunteer, and for many years I helped organize the children’s side of Novello. When the recession of 2009 forced the library to discontinue the Novello Festival of Reading, I co-organized a community version of this event that we called A Tribute to Novello. I remember spending many hours in the Main Library coordinating this event, and I loved every minute of it. All of the authors and community members who helped did so on a volunteer basis. We were all motivated by our love of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Before ImaginOn opened in 2005, the Main Library included a large children’s area, and I often took our son there. When he was about six, he developed a strong interest in castles. I took him to the Main Library where a helpful librarian helped him find an arm-load of books about castles. We brought the books home, and he consulted them while drawing his own versions of castles. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but he is now a professional architect here in Charlotte although he generally designs apartment complexes rather than castles.

My most recent memories of the Main Library relate to the films that Sam Shapiro showed in the Main Library. Prior to his recent retirement, Sam ran the film side of the library for years, and he often organized film festivals around various themes. He always gave a little talk about the film that he was about to show, and I learned a lot about film history from his talks and from seeing the films. He usually showed the films in the Francis Auditorium at the Main Library, and I usually sat in the audience. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and I miss it.

As part of the One for the Books celebration, members of the public are invited to upload short videos of themselves reading from favorite books. I selected a passage from Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy for my contribution. In this passage, Bud goes to his public library to find help with a problem that he is having. I think it is a fitting passage to read since so many of us have gone to the Main Library to find help locating a desired book or to find help with a research question or find help formulating our weekend plans.

I served as one of the members of the community who provided input to the architects of the new library, so I have seen the plans and renderings for this new library. From what I have seen, I am sure it will be a true community treasure when it opens in a few years, and I can’t wait to visit it. Still, I know that many of us miss the Main Library, for it has long played a starring role in the history of Storied Charlotte.

Lisa Zerkle and the Charlotte Lit 4X4CLT Poetry/Art Poster Series

October 18, 2021 by Mark West

Charlotte poet Lisa Zerkle published a poetry chapbook a few years ago titled Heart of the Light. It seems fitting to me that the word “light” is in the title, for Lisa has a knack for shining a spotlight on poets. In 2005 she co-founded KAKALAK: An Anthology of Carolina Poets, an annual collection that she went on to co-edit for a number of years. As the co-editor of KAKALAK, she enjoyed pairing the featured poems with artwork, and this experience caused her to come up with another way to spotlight the works of poets. In 2016, she brought the idea to Charlotte’s newly-created literary arts organization. With Lisa as curator, Charlotte Lit launched 4X4CLT, a poetry/art poster series involving the production and display of posters featuring poems and original artwork. She called it 4X4CLT because she pairs four poems with four works by local artists.

I’ve seen these cool 4X4CLT posters around town over the past few years, but I only recently realized that Lisa is the person behind this project. My curiosity got the best of me, so I contacted Lisa and asked her for more information about the 4X4CLT project. Here is what she sent to me:

When I fell for poetry, I fell hard. But I was acutely aware that this love of mine was not shared by the public at large. When they thought of poetry (if they thought of it at all) it was something rhymed, something written by a dead person, or something they had to learn for a test. That didn’t square with the fresh, timely, heartbreaking, compelling work I came across every time I read a book of contemporary poetry or literary journal. If they could read what I was reading, I figured, they’d love it, too.

4X4CLT sprang out of this desire to share poetry in the community, to get it out of books and into the public arena. It’s a quarterly event that revolves around the release of a poetry + art poster series. Each set of four posters pairs the work of nationally known poets with art by local artists. The weekend of the poster release includes a poetry reading and master class by the featured poet. After the release, the posters are displayed in 100+ places around Charlotte—coffee shops, book stores, libraries, breweries, and the like.

This structure allows for a casual encounter with poetry, perhaps while waiting in line for coffee; or a deeper involvement of attending a reading or class. My idea was to create the kind of programming I myself wanted to experience. But over the past five years, I’ve been grateful for the extent 4X4CLT has been embraced by the public. Charlotte Lit generously gave the idea a home. The Knight Foundation and the ASC provided major funding. Many local businesses agreed to display the posters, and many volunteers have pitched in to help deliver them.

The release events are celebrations of poetry and art, hosted in venues as diverse as Resident Culture Brewing, C3 Lab, CPCC, and Queens University. Often, the local artists attend the release events and talk about their process. We’ve heard about weaving, sculpting, painting, and photography. Over the years we’ve been honored to feature poets Linda Pastan, Sandra Beasley, Lola Haskins, Sarah Lindsay, Jessica Jacobs, Nickole Brown, Tyree Daye, A. Van Jordan, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Matthew Olzmann, Maurice Manning, Beth Ann Fennelly, Jennifer Chang, Cecily Parks, Richard Garcia, Morrie Creech, Terrance Hayes; and two poets laureate, Tracy K. Smith and Joy Harjo. Just last month, the host of the poetry podcast The Slowdown, Ada Limón, was our guest.

4X4CLT has been a labor of love, but the results have exceeded my expectations. As my own appreciation of poetry deepened, it’s led me to embark upon an MFA at Warren Wilson College. There’s one final edition of 4X4CLT this December. Our guest poet will be the newly minted MacArthur “Genius,” Reginald Dwayne Betts. He’ll give a reading at the Midwood International and Cultural Center in Plaza Midwood on Friday, December 3, and teach a master class on Saturday, December 4. Full details are here: https://www.charlottelit.org/4×4/

I wish Lisa all the best as she starts her MFA program at Warren Wilson College, and I am sure that she will go on to write new and inspiring works of poetry. However, as she turns a new page in her career, she should take pride in the success of her 4X4CLT project and her many other contributions to Storied Charlotte.

Tags: local artists poetry poetry and art

Verse & Vino: A Literary Feast for Readers and Supporters of Our Public Library

October 11, 2021 by Mark West

For many Americans, the month of November concludes with a Thanksgiving feast. However, for book lovers in the Charlotte area, the month also begins with a literary feast known as Verse & Vino. Sponsored by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, the year’s Verse & Vino celebration will kick off on November 4, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. As was the case last year, this year’s celebration will be a virtual event, but it will include opportunities for attendees to gather in person.

Teleia White, the library Foundation’s Director of Individual Giving, leads the planning for this year’s Verse & Vino. In commenting on this year’s event, she said, “We’re building on the success of last year’s virtual event and adding more opportunities for live interaction and group celebrations. Verse & Vino is a critical fundraiser and this year is special because it kicks off two weeks of opportunities to celebrate and support Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, as we close Main Library and welcome the future together.”

All of the authors featured at this year’s Verse & Vino event are best-selling authors, and all have new books that they will discuss during their presentations. Janet Evanovich, a writer who is best known for her contemporary mystery novels featuring a determined sleuth named Stephanie Plum, will talk about Game On, the latest volume in her Stephanie Plum Series. Alka Joshi, a writer with deep connections to India, will talk about The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, which is set in India in 1969. Alex Michaelides, a native of Cyprus who studied at Cambridge University, will discuss his novel The Maidens, a psychological thriller involving a classics professor at Cambridge University. Heather Morris, the author of the bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz, will focus her presentation on Three Sisters, a new novel that is inspired by a true story of three sisters who escape Auschwitz and eventually make it to Israel where they struggle to build a future for themselves. Bryant Terry, a James Beard Award-winning chef and chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, will talk about Black Food, which is both a cookbook and a celebration of Black culinary traditions. Finally, Wanda M. Morris, a prominent attorney who currently lives in Atlanta, will discuss her debut novel, All Her Little Secrets, a murder mystery set in Atlanta.

Verse & Vino is both an important fundraiser for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and a celebration of libraries, literacy, books. For more information about participating in this year’s Verse & Vino event, please click on the following link: https://foundation.cmlibrary.org/verse-vino/

As a long-time supporter of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, I believe that participating in Verse & Vino is a wonderful way to engage in our Storied Charlotte community and support our storied public library.

Dr. Kimmery Martin—Charlotte’s Bestselling Writer of Medical Novels

October 04, 2021 by Mark West

Aspiring writers are often advised to “write what you know.” I am not sure if anyone gave this advice to Dr. Kimmery Martin when she decided to try her hand at writing fiction, but she certainly wrote about what she knew in her debut novel, The Queen of Hearts, which came out in 2018.

As a former emergency room physician in Charlotte, Kimmery is very familiar with Charlotte’s medical community, and this background is reflected in The Queen of Hearts. At its core, this novel is about the evolving friendship between Zadie Anson (a pediatric cardiologist) and Emma Colley (a trauma surgeon). These women first became friends in medical school, and both go on to pursue successful medical careers in Charlotte. Their friendship, however, is threatened when secrets from their medical school days start to surface.

Kimmery’s medical background is also reflected in her second novel, The Antidote for Everything, which was published in 2020. In this novel, physician Georgia Brown works as a urologist in a hospital in Charleston. Her best friend and fellow physician Jonah Tsukada is also employed at the same hospital. Their medical careers are tested when Jonah is ordered by the hospital administrators to stop caring for transgender patients. Within the context of this novel, Martin shows how members of the LGBTQ community sometimes face discrimination when seeking medical treatment.

Kimmery’s third medical novel, Doctors and Friends, will be released by Berkley on November 9, 2021. Like her first two novels, Doctors and Friends deals with the friendships among physicians. In this case, the story focuses on three women physicians who have been friends since medical school. They have established their careers in different cities, but they gather together for a reunion each year. When this story opens, their annual get-together is disrupted by the outbreak of a global pandemic. Even though Kimmery wrote the initial draft of this novel before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, her novel uncannily anticipates the impact of the current pandemic on the lives of physicians and others in the medical community.

I recently contacted Kimmery and asked her for more information about how she came to write Doctors and Friends. Here is what she sent to me:

For most of my adult life, my day job has involved battling disease. In an average shift at work, I’d fight carcinogens, genetic mutations, blood flow obstructions, and, not least of all, microbial invaders. It’s a bit of a misnomer to call my career a day job, actually; like every ER doctor, I worked days, but also nights, weekends, and holidays, all of it blurring together into a ceaseless stream of injured, sick, and suffering human beings.

Being an emergency medicine physician in Charlotte may sound like the job from hell but in many ways it’s the best job in the world. The ability to ease suffering, even a little, balances the years of grueling training and the hardships of practicing this particular specialty. What could be more gratifying than snatching life from the jaws of death? Every ER doctor knows the fierce joy—and sheer relief—that grips you when you revive a pulseless child or restore consciousness to someone blue and lifeless.

We fight pathogens all the time in my job. I thought I understood them.

In 2018, I had the idea to write a book centered around an infectious disease doctor and an ER doctor. My first novel, The Queen of Hearts—which is set in Charlotte—had just been published and I’d just finished writing my second novel, The Antidote for Everything, both of which are medical fiction. By 2019, I was well into the process of creating my own personal fictional pandemic. I spent the majority of the year researching, outlining, and writing the first draft. I interviewed more than forty experts in various fields of science and medicine, a process which extended into 2020.

Obviously, the world has changed mightily since I first began the process of writing Doctors and Friends. As one of my protagonists says, we’ve all morphed into armchair virologists after our collective experience during a real-life pandemic. Maybe we’ve been sick, or we’ve developed long-term symptoms, or we know someone who’s been hospitalized. We know about spike proteins and mRNA, variants, and origin theories. Millions of us have endured the indescribable grief of losing a loved one to a disease that literally steals their breath.

I’m still a bit stunned by the politicization of our real-life disease. Our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 —and response to it—was evolving on a daily basis just as I was honing the final portrayal of my nasty little fictional virus. It’s hard enough during normal times to whittle an infinite universe of words into a coherent and interesting story. It’s nearly impossible while getting hammered with hundreds of news stories, scientific articles, and social media outrage on the subject. The novel is not always representative of reality. Some of the unrealities in the book stem from what we writers like to call creative license (it’s fiction, y’all!) but some, I must admit, are related to the incompetence of the author. Even so, I might have to get NOT ABOUT COVID tattooed on my forehead in an attempt to ward off the inevitable fallout from people who have strong opinions about what is or is not real when it comes to the nonfictional coronavirus pandemic we’ve endured. Which, of course, is everyone.

I loved writing this book, even after getting slapped by the irony of it all. So far, all my novels have featured friendship as a fundamental theme and I revel in this concept: your friends are the people you choose to love. There’s no familial obligation or romantic entanglement. It’s a purer form of attraction: you care for these people not because you have to but because of who they are. Friendships, especially those that endure over time, are a blessing beyond measure.

In my own case, the friendships forged during medical school and my ER career are among the most intense and cherished of my life—and I hope some of that is reflected in the novel.

For Kimmery, the medical world plays an integral role in all of her novels. Her central characters are shaped by their experiences as physicians, and her plots are structured around medical crises or concerns. Kimmery’s deep knowledge of the dynamics of medical school and the inner workings of hospitals is reflected in the lives of her characters and in the unfolding of her plots. For more information about Kimmery and her medical novels, please click on the following link: https://www.kimmerymartin.com/

Anyone who has lived in Charlotte for very long knows that our city serves as a medical hub for our region. Charlotte is home to famous hospitals and medical clinics, and soon it will have its own medical school. In addition to its excellent medical facilities, Charlotte is also home to many remarkable medical professionals, including one of the country’s top writers of medical fiction—Dr. Kimmery Martin. Storied Charlotte is all the richer because this doctor/author is in our collective house.

Tags: fiction medical novels pandemic

The Filming of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret

September 24, 2021 by Mark West

I regularly teach a children’s literature course at UNC Charlotte, and a few weeks ago one of the students waited to speak to me after class. “Are you going to talk about Judy Blume’s books?” she asked. I told her that I would talk about Judy Blume during an upcoming class session, and she responded by telling me how much she loves Blume’s books. She then told me that she recently worked as an extra in the film version of Blume’s 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, which was filmed in Charlotte during the spring and summer. We talked about her experiences working as an extra, and she agreed to share her experiences with the rest of the class. This past week she told the whole class about how much fun she had acting in one of the scenes in the movie, and I could tell that the entire class enjoyed hearing about her adventures as a budding movie star.

The production company Lionsgate began filming of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret in Charlotte, and several of the surrounding communities in April 2021 and continued filming until the beginning of July. The filming brought some famous movie stars to Charlotte, including Kathy Bates, who plays the role of Margaret’s grandmother, and Abby Ryder Fortson, who plays the role of Margaret. Since the film takes place in the early 1970s, the filming also involved shooting street scenes filled with cars from the 1960s and early ‘70s. As a result, several area car collectors had the pleasure of having their cars included in the film. Although the filming wrapped up this past summer, Lionsgate does not plan to release the film until 2022.

The fact that Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was filmed in the Charlotte area has a special meaning for me, for it causes me to reflect on the day I met Judy Blume to interview her about the efforts to censor her books. We met on June 10, 1985, in her home on the top floor of an attractive high-rise in New York City. I can pinpoint the date because I jotted it down on the cassette tape that I used to record the interview. When I listen to the tape now, I am almost embarrassed by how nervous I sounded at the start of our conversation, but I had never interviewed a famous author before, nor even been inside a building that had a doorman. Blume quickly put me at ease by telling me a bit about her family and offering me a beverage. Then, for the next several hours, we talked about censorship. At that time, I was in the middle of writing my first book, Children, Culture, and Controversy, and I was conducting research for a chapter about the various attempts to ban children’s books written by Blume and other controversial authors.

When I asked her questions about the campaigns against her books, she answered in ways that went beyond herself. She often drew connections between her own experiences with book censors and the experiences of other children’s authors whose books had also been banned. She talked about her commitment to children’s intellectual freedom and their right to read a variety of books. She told me about the National Coalition Against Censorship and suggested I interview its then-director, the late Leanne Katz. She also suggested I talk with other authors of censored children’s books. I followed up on her suggestions, and this eventually led to my collection of interviews titled Trust Your Children: Voices Against Censorship in Children’s Literature. I would have never written this book if it were not for Blume’s suggestion and encouragement.

I will always treasure my memories of my trip to New York to interview Judy Blume, and I continue to value my connection to Blume and her children’s books. I have long wished that I could reciprocate her gracious hospitality. In fact, I tried to bring her to Charlotte to speak, but we could not work out the details. However, now that her classic novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has been filmed in Charlotte, I am pleased that Storied Charlotte has its own special connection to Judy Blume.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with Mimi Milan

September 20, 2021 by Mark West

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15, so now is an especially fitting time to celebrate the work of Mimi Milan, one of Charlotte’s leading Latina authors. Mimi grew up in Charlotte after having moved to the city as a child. She graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2016 with a degree in English. During her undergraduate days, she took courses in creative writing, literature, and film. She then went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from Queens University. Since I was the chair of UNC Charlotte’s English Department at the time that Mimi was pursuing her BA degree, I am particularly proud that she has gone on to make such a success of herself after her graduation.

Mimi has published a wide variety of works, including poetry, romance novels, westerns, fantasies, and paranormal fiction. However, in almost all of her work, she draws on her Latino background and her familiarity with Mexico and other places in Latin America. In fact, several of her books are available in Spanish. For more information about Mimi and her publications, place click on the following link: https://www.mimimilan.com/

I recently contacted Mimi and asked her about her experiences as a Charlotte writer. Here is what she sent to me:

I moved to the Charlotte area back in the days when it was still a little uncomfortable for some folks to see people like me. That is, a Latina with mixed family roots. It was way back in the eighties, but I still remember the first interaction I had with “the local yokels.” A little blonde-headed girl rode her bike up to our yard and asked, “Are you allowed to play with white people?”

Mimi’s parents

It was an odd question for someone claiming stomping grounds from Caldwell, New Jersey, to the Bronx, born with a parent on each end of the color spectrum. It was also a little confusing for a child who was raised to eat arroz con gandules and pollo guisado, while watching shows like Good Times and dancing to songs by Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. So in typical ten-year-old fashion, I relied on my parents for the right answer. I still laugh when I think of the response I was to deliver.

“Tell her we said, ‘Yeah… as long as they’re not dead.'”

It’s an odd answer, tinged with sarcasm and a tiny bit of morbidity. However, it’s also sharp dialogue. That’s what I aim for with all of my writing. I’ve written everything from historical romance (The Dancing Lady) to westerns (Dueling the Desperado and Where the Snowy Owl Sleeps), suspense stories, a paranormal that made the USA Today bestseller list last year, and even poetry published in various literary journals (such as Sanskrit and the Blue Mountain Review). Regardless of what I write, I always strive to create stories and characters that resonate with the people of my past–words that will keep both them and our culture alive forever. That’s how I would describe my latest project that is currently being shopped around.

A satirical romp about the end of the world, the rapture is set off when some important pop culture is stolen and Jesus (very much resembling the stereotypical Gen-Xer) is tasked with deciding who is to be saved when all he really wants is a long overdue vacation. However, the novel is more than a stab at pearl clutching political policies. It is also a roman à clef, as much of my own life and the people I have known are disguised within it.

In Mimi’s forthcoming fantasy novel titled Born of Fire & Magic, the central character, Idalia Sanchez, has to undo a magical curse that is threatening the world. In order to deal with this crisis, she must learn about her unique family heritage. By embracing her roots, she is able to gain the power she needs to make a difference. In a sense, Mimi’s story is similar to Idalia’s story. Mimi’s power as a writer comes in part from the fact that she has drawn on her Latino heritage. By embracing her roots, Mimi has succeeded in making many unique and compelling contributions to the diverse library that is Storied Charlotte.

Tags: fantasy novel historical romance Latina authors paranormal suspense stories western stories

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