Storied Charlotte

Paul Reali on the Importance of Creativity

May 17, 2021 by Mark West

Given that May and June are the months when most graduation ceremonies take place, it seems to me that now is a good time to offer a bit of advice to young people who are about to leave school and launch their careers. Such advice is often included in commencement addresses. I’ve heard many such addresses over the years, but I have never heard a commencement speaker focus on the importance of creativity. Since I think that young people should be encouraged to exercise their creativity, I decided to ask an expert on creativity to provide young people with some words of advice on this topic.

The person I asked is Paul Reali, Charlotte’s resident expert on creativity. In addition to being the co-founder of Charlotte Lit, Paul is the co-author of Creativity Rising: Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving in the 21st Century and the editor of many creativity-related books and journals. Paul has an M.S. in Creativity from the International Center for Studies in Creativity at SUNY Buffalo State. Paul has been a trainer and facilitator for more than 25 years in the areas of creativity and innovation. Here is what Paul sent to me:

My friend Mark West asked me to say a few words to this year’s graduates about another of my friends, creativity.

We Boomers and Generation Xers can say what we want about Gens Y and Z (ahem: our kids), but we should thank them for this: they have embraced the idea of creativity as few before them. The word creatives is now in common use. A decade ago, the most common response to hearing that I have an M.S. (yes, a Master’s of Science) in Creativity was this: “you can get a degree in creativity?”

Not only that, but it’s studied in colleges worldwide. My book, Creativity Rising: Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving in the 21st Century (ICSC Press), written with three colleagues, is used as an introductory textbook at colleges in four countries. The book is a why-to and how-to guide to deliberate creativity, and it introduces concepts that most of today’s graduates take for granted. Of course I’m creative, they’ll say – which was not something I expected to hear from most working adults even a decade ago.

Yet there’s a disconnect, still, between how young people think about creativity and how they intend to use it. In the main, they consider creativity to be part of their lives, but not necessarily something they can bring into their workplaces. They have a point: many employers do not know how to nurture and support the highly creative people in their workforces. Yet here’s what I’d like employers and new college grads heading into the workplace to understand: creative ability is why people are hired in the first place.

It’s obvious, actually: if a company can get a computer to do the work, it does. Humans are hired to do what computers can’t: primarily, to think and solve problems creatively.

To be specific: Creativity is action taken to produce a novel (unique, original) and valuable (useful, appropriate) outcome. Many of us do this naturally; creativity is part of the prize pack you receive for being born human, says Cathy Pickens, author of CREATE! Developing Your Creative Process. Yet what our lives and our workplaces require is the deliberate application of creativity; that is, identifying problems and opportunities, big and small, and approaching them in new ways.

What Creativity Rising tries to make clear is that this is not optional. Creativity can no longer be seen as a nice-to-have or when-we-have-time endeavor. Creativity is an essential life skill and the cornerstone of today’s workplace. The world moves too quickly. Change is not just inevitable, it’s constant. Companies that do not build nimble, innovative, creatively-supportive workplaces will find it difficult to retain talent from Gens Y and Z – and increasingly from Gen X and the Boomers. And that failure will make it impossible to thrive, not to mention survive.

If I were to sum up my message for new graduates, it’s comes down to this: don’t settle for workplaces that stifle you and your creativeness. You’ll soon learn that your side gigs and side hustles are not enough outlet for your creative self. It doesn’t deserve to be placed in a box from eight to six. Seek out and help build jobs and workplaces that embrace and enhance your creativity. It’s time for creativity – and you – to take your place on the stage.

I think that Paul’s advice on the value of deliberate creativity relates not just to recent graduates but to all of us as we respond to our fast-changing and stress-inducing society. Like Paul, I think that we all should make an effort to exercise and cultivate our creativity, and one way to do this is by engaging in the world of storytelling. Participating in organizations like Charlotte Lit (https://www.charlottelit.org) and the Charlotte Writers Club (https://charlottewritersclub.org/home) can help us accomplish this goal. As I see it, creativity and Storied Charlotte go hand in hand.

New Fantasy Releases from Falstaff Books

May 10, 2021 by Mark West

Falstaff Books opened for business in 2016. In the five years since then, it has become one of Charlotte’s most prolific publishers, releasing about forty new titles per year. Falstaff publishes a wide variety of genre fiction, but it is especially well known as a publisher of fantasy stories. For more information about Falstaff Books, please click on the following link: http://falstaffbooks.com/about-us/

In the past month, Falstaff has released three new fantasy books by Charlotte-area writers: Blaze of Glory by John G. Hartness; One with the Wolf by Jason Gilbert; and Steel Rose by Nancy Northcott. I contacted all three of these authors and asked them for more information about their new books and to provide some background about the type of fantasy they use in their books.

Here is what John Hartness sent to me:

Blaze of Glory is the fourth “episode” of Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 5. These books are released as individual novellas that weave together a year (or two)-long story arc that is then collected into a “season” compilation, kinda like a season of a TV show. Season 5 has been building to a big crossover event between the Bubba the Monster Hunter series and my Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series, which is something fans have been clamoring for the past couple of years. Since my mortgage is paid by keeping my fans happy, I decided to give them what they asked for. Bubba is the Southeastern Regional Monster Hunter for the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Or he was, until he got fired for going AWOL in Faerie for a year and a half (Season 4). Now, in Season 5, Bubba has to deal with making a living while hunting down cryptids and helping unravel a massive conspiracy that threatens all supernatural life on the planet. It’s a tough year for a giant redneck, and we’ll see who makes it out alive at the end of Blaze of Glory.

Bubba the Monster Hunter is light urban fantasy, grounded more in the horror comedy style, kind of like Ash v. The Evil Dead or the film Tucker & Dale Versus Evil. People who enjoyed Cabin in the Woods typically dig Bubba. He’s a giant redneck who bumbles and stumbles his way through life, supported by his best friend and tech guru Skeeter, and a host of cohorts that shore up his weaknesses, like a total aversion to planning anything. Ever. I started writing Bubba as a series of short stories in 2012, so this series has been running for nearly ten years now, with no signs of stopping. It’s an open-ended series, so as long as I continue to enjoy writing the characters, and readers keep buying the books, I’ll keep telling their stories.

Urban fantasy as a whole is a blend of fantasy and other genres, typically either romance or horror. The Bubba series definitely hearkens back to the horror side of things, and more specifically the “monster of the week” shows like the first season of Supernatural. It’s a very pulpy, light, fun series of books, but there are darker episodes over the course of the decade I’ve been working on these books. Blaze of Glory definitely has some of the darkest moments of the entire series, including a major death in the supporting cast. Killing characters is not something I do lightly, even if I do it frequently (I write a lot of books, so it’s only natural that there’s a high death toll), and I think the finale of Blaze is the best-written stuff I’ve done in the entire series. I hope that people who take a look at Bubba will look past the off-color jokes (of which there are plenty) and creative profanity (of which there is even more) and see the characters, because that’s where the story comes alive for me – in the characters.

To find Blaze of Glory, click here: readerlinks.com/l/1797805

Here is what Jason Gilbert sent to me:

One with the Wolf is the collected edition of four novellas about James Coldstone, the son of the infamous Wolf-Man. These stories are similar in feel to the TV show Psych, except if Shawn were a werewolf.

James Coldstone is a bit of a recluse, even though he’s one of the most eligible bachelors in Rock Hill, SC—after all, he’s wealthy, intelligent, attractive, and a little mysterious. He doesn’t usually meddle in the affairs of other people, choosing instead to live a quiet life in his apartment (even though he owns a legit castle: Coldstone Keep).

As he is on a wolfen romp through the woods one night, James sees a young girl kidnapped, and this sends James and his best friend Phillip on a search that will take them all up and down the eastern seaboard in their search for the missing girl. Along the way, they team up with some unlikely allies and discover that James really likes pancakes.

The stories are fast-paced and comedic even though they deal with some serious issues (like human trafficking). Yes, Phillip will whack James with a rolled-up newspaper when he’s been a “bad dog.”

One with the Wolf does fall in the somewhat broad category of urban fantasy as it is set in the regular world, but it has fantasy elements, such as werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. It has elements of “buddy-cop” as well. Much like the aforementioned Psych, these stories do feature a member of law enforcement and his sometimes frustrating, but usually humorous, best friend solving crimes together. James and Phillip are a bit like a lighter and funnier Sherlock Holmes and Watson duo.

To find One with the Wolf, click here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092TZGNLW/

Here is what Nancy Northcott sent to me:

The Steel Rose is the second book in my Boar King’s Honor historical fantasy trilogy. It combines three of my passions, history, fantasy, and Richard III. The idea for the trilogy came from playing What If. As in, What If…a wizard could prove King Richard III, who used a white boar as his emblem, was innocent of murdering his nephews (also known as the Princes in the Tower)? What If…the wizard threw himself on the king’s mercy and was ordered not to speak until the political situation settled, and then the king died in battle? The Tudors who took power after King Richard died at Bosworth Field blamed him for the murders of the boys and anything else they could. Speaking up would’ve been fatal. What If…that wizard, fearing his descendants wouldn’t care about a dead king’s honor, then cursed the heirs of his line to not rest in life or death until the king’s name was cleared?

Every book in the Boar King’s Honor trilogy sets the Mainwarings’ quest to lift the family curse against a bigger, cataclysmic problem. In the first book, The Herald of Day, a power-hungry wizard has changed England’s history to create a dictatorship of the mageborn, a grim new reality for ordinary folk.

In The Steel Rose, Amelia Mainwaring, a magically Gifted seer, is desperate to rescue the souls of her dead father and brother, who are trapped in a shadowy, wraith-filled land between life and death as the latest victims of their family curse. In London to seek help from a wizard scholar, Julian Winfield, she has disturbing visions that warn of Napoleon Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and renewed war in Europe. A magical artifact fuels growing French support for Bonaparte. Can Amelia and Julian recover the artifact and stop Bonaparte? Or will all their hopes, along with Amanda’s father and brother, be doomed as a battle-weary Europe is once again engulfed in the flames of war?

The trilogy concludes in 2022 with The King’s Champion, which is set mostly in London during the first dark days of World War II when Britain stood alone against the Nazi threat.

To find The Steel Rose, click here: readerlinks.com/l/1794929

All three of these writers have their own websites: If you want to know more about John and his books, please click on this link: https://johnhartness.com/ If you want know more about Jason and his book, please click on this link: https://jasonhgilbert.com/ If you want to know more about Nancy and her books, please click on this link: https://nancynorthcott.com/

In thinking about these three writers, I am reminded of a trend among football fans to assemble their own “fantasy leagues.” Well, in my mind, I see these three writers as belonging to a league of their own. They are all players in Storied Charlotte’s own fantasy league.

Tags: fantasy stories genre fiction

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Kathleen Burkinshaw

May 03, 2021 by Mark West

Since May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, now is an especially good time to celebrate Charlotte writer Kathleen Burkinshaw and her debut novel, The Last Cherry Blossom. I met Kathleen in October 2016 when she was one of the featured authors at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation’s EpicFest, a children’s literature festival that I helped organize. At the time, The Last Cherry Blossom had just come out. I had a chance to talk with her about her novel when she was taking a little break from signing her book and interacting with the many children who came to see her at this festival.

Kathleen bases this historical novel in part on the childhood experiences of her mother, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Her mother was just twelve years old when the bomb exploded, and she lost all of the important people in her life. Like Kathleen’s mother, Yuriko (the central character in The Last Cherry Blossom) is horrified at the devastation and loss that she witnesses, but she refuses to give up on life. Yuriko’s resilient determination to build a new future for herself provides readers with a sense of hope as they close the final page on this moving novel.

Fans of The Last Cherry Blossom will be pleased to know that Kathleen is currently working on a sequel, which takes place four years after the close of The Last Cherry Blossom. In the sequel, Yuriko is living in Tokyo with new family members while also dealing with PTSD symptoms (not named PTSD then), survivor guilt, US Occupation forces, and atomic bomb censorship.

The recent increase in crimes and prejudicial behavior directed at Asian Americans caused me to think about my conversation with Kathleen at EpicFest. As she made clear during our conversation, it is easy to demonize people from other backgrounds or countries if we don’t make the effort to recognize our commonalities with these people. It seems to me that this message also relates to our current situation. I recently contacted Kathleen and asked her about her experiences as an Asian American author living in Charlotte. Here is what she sent to me:

In 1959, my parents married at the US embassy in Tokyo Japan. He was a white American in the Air Force and my mom was from Hiroshima, Japan. I was born ten years later and grew up in Rhode Island. My husband, daughter, and I moved to Charlotte 14 years ago due to my health issues. In 2001 I became very ill and diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a neurological, progressive, chronic pain disease affecting the sympathetic nervous and immune systems. Doctors have attributed it partly to the deficiency in my immune system from my mother’s exposure to the atomic bombing. My career negotiating hospital and health insurance contracts ended with this diagnosis. The cold New England winters exacerbated my pain and had kept me in a wheelchair that last year in RI. Charlotte seemed to be a good fit with milder weather and not too far from family.

Within 6 months of moving here I went to my very first Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Carolinas’ conference in Durham (the conference has been in Charlotte for many years now). I have met and continue to meet supportive and encouraging writers through SCBWI.

I began speaking about my mother’s experience in Hiroshima when my daughter was in 7^th grade (about 10 years ago). She was upset when she overheard kids talking about ‘that cool mushroom cloud’ picture in their textbook. She asked if I would talk to them about the people under that mushroom cloud-like her grandmother. After speaking at her school that year and other local schools the following year, teachers asked for a book they could use in their curriculum. It validated my goal of writing about a 12-year-old girl in Hiroshima during WWII.

A few years later, I won an SCBWI Carolinas writing contest and found my literary agent. My middle-grade (MG) historical fiction The Last Cherry Blossom(TLCB), was published in 2016, and it became a finalist for SCBWI Crystal Kite Award (Southeast region) that same year. In 2019, TLCB became a United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs Education Resource for Teachers and Students. I’ve had the privilege of speaking to thousands of students all over the world about my mother, TLCB, and the need for empathy.

This past year of anti-AAPI hate attacks/vandalism (including recent ones in Charlotte), had me cycling through emotions of stunned, shocked, grief, heartache, anger, and helplessness. I realized that as much as I speak about how much my mother’s story/voice mattered back then (directly after atomic bombing) and matters now; it’s not as easy for me to feel that my story also matters. I have a harder time discussing my Asian American experience as a mixed Asian. However, after these events, I’m determined to use my voice even when it feels scary being so vulnerable.

As a mother and a MG/YA author, I can’t help but think of the children that are too young to understand why or to know the long history of anti-AAPI racism (probably because it wasn’t taught in school), yet they are old enough to sense the fear, sadness, or anger of their parents or other loved ones. And tragically, some are dealing with the loss of their loved ones to senseless violence solely for the fact that they were born Asian. My heart breaks for them. I want them to have a safe space to discuss their emotions that are cycling through them. I want them to know that their emotions, their(our) voices, and stories matter.

I hope to tell my readers/students that even if we think others are not listening or haven’t listened to us in the past-we still have the right to tell our story, and for others to understand our hurt is valid. Fear and ignorance can be deafening, so we have to work even harder to have our stories, our messages heard. I’m holding on to my hope that through prayer and in solidarity we can cut through that noise.

I’m so grateful to the wonderful teachers, librarians, students, and readers in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System as well as throughout all of North Carolina who have been so compassionate toward my mother’s story and welcoming me into their classrooms.

It is my belief that books can open readers hearts as well as their minds. So, if we keep telling the stories of our AAPI heritage and teaching the history of Asian Americans, people will no longer see a ‘foreigner’, but the eyes of a mother, a child, or a grandmother, or father; they will see the common bond that we all have as human beings living in America.

For readers who want to know more about Kathleen and her writings, I recommend that they visit her website: www.kathleenburkinshaw.com As one of Storied Charlotte’s leading Asian American authors, Kathleen enriches our understanding of history through her historical fiction, but she also serves as a powerful spokesperson against racial prejudice and xenophobia.

Tags: Asian-Americans Hiroshima historical novels

The Charlotte Film Society and The INDEPENDENT Picture House

April 26, 2021 by Mark West

The recent 93^rd Academy Awards Ceremony underscored for me the importance of movies as a medium to tell stories, but it also caused me to reflect on the precarious position of the film industry at the present time. Like so many other residents of Charlotte, I have not seen a film in a theater for over a year because of the current pandemic. As a result, I had not seen any of the films nominated for “Best Picture.” Because of plummeting ticket sales, the entire film industry is having one of the worst years in its history. For those of us in Charlotte who like foreign, classic, and independent films, the closing of the Manor Theatre in Myers Park has made a bad situation even worse. As Charlotte’s last remaining art house cinema, the Manor Theatre had long served as the community gathering place for local film buffs, but the 73-year-old theatre closed its door for good last May.

For Brad Ritter, the President of the Charlotte Film Society, the closing of the Manor Theatre hit very close to home. He started working at the Manor in 1993 as the projectionist, and he served as the general manager of the Manor Theatre from 1999 until it closed in 2020. Brad, however, is not the sort of person who is easily defeated. Right after the Manor closed, he started working with the membership of the Charlotte Film Society to establish their own movie theatre, and their vision is now well on its way to becoming a reality. They have identified a location for their new theatre on Raleigh Street in NoDa, and they have launched a campaign to raise the funds necessary to open the theatre, which they have named The INDEPENDENT Picture House.

I recently contacted Brad and asked him for more information about his mission to open a new venue to show independent and foreign films. Here is what he sent to me:

The idea of The INDEPENDENT Picture House started in May 2020 about 30 seconds after my manager told me that the Manor Theatre would not be reopening even after Covid-19 subsided. No, actually it was March 16, 2020 when I punched out the last ticket at the Manor’s box office. It wasn’t a ticket that a customer bought, but rather a comp ticket that I purposely rang through to give to my long-time assistant manager, Brandy. We knew we were “temporarily” closing due to the pandemic, but I had a feeling. When I handed the ticket to Brandy, I told her that she should keep it and that could very well be the last ticket ever ejected out of the ticket printer at the 73-year-old movie theatre.

No, wait, that’s not totally true either. The seeds for The INDEPENDENT Picture House were sowed many years ago when I and the Charlotte Film Society’s programmer and Manor projectionist would sit around the Manor lobby and dream about how much better the theatre could be programmed.

What if the Film Society had their own venue? A non-profit cinema that wanted to expand film programming to better engage the entire community. Provide the same great “Manor movies” while also bringing in the “artier,” more diverse films that the CFS is known for. Provide a space where filmmakers had an affordable and proper venue to show off their craft. A locally operated cinema that works with educational institutions to help expand film knowledge and its impact on lives.

That’s how the Charlotte Film Society envisions The INDEPENDENT Picture House. A cinematic hub that will bring a diverse audience together to celebrate art through the film medium. We look forward to being able to invite you to experience this fresh concept in the fall of 2021.

I applaud Brad and the members of the Charlotte Film Society for having the vision and determination to create The INDEPENDENT Picture House, and I am looking forward to seeing films there when it opens for business. In the meantime, I urge everyone to visit their website: https://www.charlottefilmsociety.com/ The Manor Theatre will always have an honored place in the history of Storied Charlotte, but I expect that all of us who loved to go to the Manor will soon find a new favorite gathering place at The INDEPENDENT Picture House.

Tags: Independent films Manor Theatre The Independent Picture House

Dina Massachi, L. Frank Baum, and The American Experience

April 16, 2021 by Mark West

I first met Dina Massachi in 2014 when she took a graduate course that I was teaching on children’s literature. In my conversations with her, she mentioned her interest in conducting a research project related to L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, and I agreed to help her with this project. Since then, Dina has established herself as a recognized authority on Baum and the Oz stories that he created.

Dina’s scholarship on Baum recently came to the attention of the producers of a PBS documentary about Baum. They contacted her, and they were so impressed with her insights into Baum’s life and work that they arranged for her to fly from Charlotte to Boston so that they could record an interview with her for the documentary. That documentary, which is titled American Oz: The True Wizard Behind the Curtain, debuts on April 19, 2021, on PBS’s American Experience series. For more information about this documentary, please click on the following link: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/american-oz/

I recently contacted Dina and asked her for more information about her interest in Baum and her experience being interviewed for this PBS documentary. Here is what she sent to me:

While I’ve loved Oz since childhood, I didn’t begin my journey as an Oz scholar until I began working on my master’s degree at UNC Charlotte. With the help and guidance of Dr. West, and so many others within the UNC Charlotte English Department, I was able publish an article in The Journal of American Culture about how Oz connects to the first-wave feminist movement. Somewhere in the research process, Dr. West suggested joining The International Wizard of Oz Club; the connections I’ve made there have been beyond helpful. The Oz Club’s journal, The Baum Bugle, has all sorts of information that can’t be found anywhere else. Further, like Dorothy, I’ve been able to meet interesting friends as I’ve traveled further and further into the wider world of Oz. Last year, during the early Covid lockdowns, those friends helped me put together a reading of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3OVMLWgINCSSQBBUgdOeOTZcDybheAy3

I’ve learned along the way that one success often leads to another, and I’ve published quite a bit about Oz since earning my master’s degree. One of those publications, a chapter titled “L. Frank Baum: Brains, Heart, Courage” in the book Shapers of American Childhood, caught the eye of one of the producers of The Film Posse and they contacted me about a documentary they were working on for American Experience. Two producers from The Film Posse and I shared several phone conversations before they flew me to Boston to film. I had never been on television before, but I imagined a lot of glitz and glamor. Instead, it was a lot of odd rules (one can’t wear certain jewelry without messing up sound, as an example), but it was still quite exciting. The strangest part of the experience is that I can’t speak to the final product. I haven’t seen anything that isn’t public, so I’m not sure what the documentary looks like. The whole experience was sort of like turning in a group project where I only know my own piece— and even then I have no idea which soundbites of mine have been used.

While I wait to see what the “American Oz” episode of American Experience looks like, I’ve been distracting myself with various projects. I teach at UNC Charlotte— I regularly teach an Oz class with the American Studies Program, and I will be offering a brand-new Oz class for the English Department this fall. My connections with The International Wizard of Oz Club have allowed me to create opportunities for my students to play with Oz scholarship in meaningful ways. I’m excited to see where this road takes me, and I hope to follow in the footsteps of Dr. West by assisting others on their journey down their scholarship path.

One of the great pleasures that comes with being a professor is seeing one’s former students successfully launch their careers and go on to accomplish great things on their own. Dina is such a former student. I am proud of her, and I am looking forward to seeing her on the American Experience documentary about L. Frank Baum. Dina has made a name for herself in the world of Oz scholarship and in the land of Storied Charlotte.

Tags: American Experience Frank L. Baum Oz PBS documentary

Tanure Ojaide’s Narrow Escapes

April 10, 2021 by Mark West

Tanure Ojaide is a well-known Nigerian poet, but he is also the Frank Porter Graham Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies at UNC Charlotte. I met Tanure shortly after he came to UNC Charlotte in 1990, but it was not until last year that our mutual interest in poetry intersected. Shortly after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the editor of Exchange (a publication of UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) decided to run an article about the response of UNC Charlotte’s poets to COVID-19. Tanure and I were among the poets the editor interviewed, and each of us had a poem included in the article: https://exchange.uncc.edu/poets-reflect-on-impact-of-challenges-on-human-spirit/ In both cases, our poems were about taking walks during the quarantine, but our paths soon diverged. Whereas I wrote just one poem related to the pandemic, Tanure went on to write an entire collection on this topic. Titled Narrow Escapes: A Poetic Diary of the Coronavirus Pandemic, this collection came out this month from Spears Books. For more information about this book, please click on the following link: https://spearsmedia.com/shop/narrow-escapes/

Tanure asked me if I would write a blurb for the book, and I happily agreed. As I state in my blurb, Narrow Escapes is presented as a series of poetic diary entries, spanning from March 19, 2020, to October 31, 2020. Each of the poems is a response to the coronavirus pandemic, but they vary in focus from the global impact of the pandemic to the very personal impact on one’s family members. All of these poems pack an emotional wallop, but the personal ones are especially gut wrenching. For example, the poem “When the Coronavirus Comes to the House” captures perfectly the anxiety and anguish that parents feel when their children are stricken by a deadly virus. In many ways, this poetic diary has the feel of a verse novel, for there is a continuing narrative that ties these poems together. The poems in Narrow Escapes narrate the unrelenting progression of a global pandemic. It is a narrative that we all are experiencing, and that is what gives this book its universal appeal.

I recently contacted Tanure, and I requested that he send me a statement about what prompted him to write this book. Here is what he sent to me:

The poet is a restless human being whose reflexes are like antennae that respond to what is happening around. I have always known that no part of the world is separated from another and this connectedness has been strengthened by globalization. Thus, when there was the outbreak of the strange virus that turned out to be Coronavirus or COVID-19 in distant Wuhan, China, I had no doubt it would get to wherever there were human beings. It did not take long for it to get to Europe and watching the fatalities in Italy, Spain, France, and Britain, my anticipation became more real because of the connections between Milan, Madrid, Paris, and London and American cities. Within a week California and New York got the virus and the rest is familiar history.

Much as I used to refrain from jumping to write on issues or events as they unfolded, COVID-19 was a force that compelled my imagination to do something immediately. What else should a poet do than follow closely the spread, disruptions, fatalities, fear, near misses, and triumphs of this mysterious virus that doctors did not then know much about? It was current but its lasting currency intrigued me. As a global person, I follow happenings across the world. The heavy toll in northern Italy that I know through Milan and Bellagio told me that this was serious business. At a point, especially in late March through June, 2020, the trepidation was palpable. Doctors did not seem to know what to offer as treatment and many people who went to hospital died. Most of those who contracted it did not only die lonely but were gurneyed into cold trucks for mass burial as at a time in New York. For me, that was a threat that one should not take lightly. My family hunkered in religiously during the period of the lockdown.

What else could be more menacing as to move a poet to write than the entire world attacked by a tiny mysterious virus that behaved like a trickster? The pandemic offered me an opportunity to reflect on the vagaries of life and things. Why not write day by day as the charts of hospitalized folks rose to higher and higher peaks? The television stations and social media presented graphic images again and again that made nights riddled with nightmares. I often woke at night to jot down my reflections on the past day and my anticipation of what would come later that day. There was gloom but after some time there was a sense of defiance. What could be more poetic a subject than a dance of defiance against death in many narrow escapes? Some days, I had one entry or two or even three depending on Aridon, my muse. Each diary entry was like a dot in a circle and daily I added more dots to fill up the circle to make meaning about life. I was baring my heart as I tried to write entries that should communicate poetically. Unlike my earlier poems, there was barely a long poem in this collection. I was mobbed by images and thoughts of a global world which had taken for granted its confident development that it thought nothing could change its trajectory of progress. The poet loves this delusion of humans. COVID-19 levelled the world in a sense as developed and developing countries were equalized. The powerful and the weak faced the same threats and ironically a superpower nation led by an erratic president fumbled in handling the pandemic. For some act of fate up till now, Africa has not suffered close to what Europe and North America went through in fatalities.

The COVID-19 pandemic started from very far away. I knew it would come to the United States but did not foresee its coming to my home. It came really close to me. My lastborn son and daughter contracted it as they developed coughing and tested positive. Whether that was a fluke or not, I can’t tell because within three months my daughter caught it again and COVID-19 showed to us its ugliness as I never saw it from a distance with other people. She was in a ventilator for a day and those hours were the most traumatic I have experienced. She came out of the critical state and got moved to a step-down ward before being discharged for rehabilitation. It took her several months to get to relative normalcy even though she feels the side effects of COVID-19 will remain with her for a long time. Imagine your family narrowly escaping a fatality and your suppressed jubilation and somber solidarity with others still mourning their loved ones!

Given that April is National Poetry Month, I thought it would be fitting to include one of the poems from Narrow Escapes in this week’s Storied Charlotte blog post. I ran this idea by Tanure, and he kindly gave me permission to include the following poem:

We Are All Casualties

We knew people ambulanced to hospital

but did not return,

we know who returned on their own feet

but stunned to silence by their vulnerability;

we know those whose relatives or friends

either lost or won their personal battles.

All the while we have stayed at home.

It is not that distant despite social distancing—

those who grieve for the dead,

those who participate in muted celebrations,

and those who suffer enervating trepidations

from the fatalities trucked to mass graves

and the losses no words can convey.

Dead, positive, or negative

we are all casualties of COVID-19.

I think that Tanure is right when he says that we are all casualties of COVID-19. This pandemic has had an impact on all of us, and as a result, we all can relate to the poems in Tanure’s Narrow Escapes. Tanure’s newest poetry collectiondeals with a global pandemic, but at the same time, it relates directly to Storied Charlotte.

Tags: Coronavirus COVID19 pandemic poetry

Bookmark the Town

April 05, 2021 by Mark West

National Library Week runs from April 4 through April 10, 2021, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has timed the launching of its Bookmark the Town campaign to coincide with this special week for all lovers of libraries. Like political campaigns, the Bookmark the Town campaign involves the planting of yard signs, but these specially designed signs provide space for everyone to recommend a favorite book. These signs can be obtained by making a $15 gift to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. This campaign, however, is about more than raising much needed funds for the public library. It is also about building a sense of community and starting conversations about books.

In order to find out more about the Bookmark the Town campaign, I contacted Melanie Baron, the Marketing and Communications Specialist with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation. I asked her for a statement about the campaign, and here is what she sent to me:

This week is National Library Week, an annual celebration of the critical role of public libraries in our society. This year’s theme, “Welcome to Your Library” promotes the idea that Libraries are for everyone – and extend far beyond the walls of a building.

This was demonstrated over the past year, when your Charlotte Mecklenburg Library adapted to a quickly changing worlds by expanding digital resources, providing access to Wi-Fi and technology for those who need it, and partnering with parents, teachers and students navigating virtual schooling. Throughout, your Library never wavered from its mission to improve lives and build a stronger community.

Building a stronger community is what Bookmark the Town is all about. Books and stories inspire us, teach us, entertain us, and bring us together. Bookmark the Town yard signs support your Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, celebrate National Library Week, and share your favorite books – all at once! Plant a (physical or virtual) sign with a gift of $15 or more and help our community grow.

Opening a book can open a conversation…together, let’s build a stronger community and #bookmarkthetown! What’s on your sign?

Well, my wife and I agreed right away to support the Bookmark the Town campaign, but deciding what book to recommend on our yard sign took a bit more time. We briefly considered recommending books that we have written or books that our friends have written, but we rejected this approach in favor of recommending a classic book, a book that has touched both of our lives. After some discussion, we agreed to recommend To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It’s a book that we have both read on multiple occasions. It’s a book that speaks to social problems and injustices that are as relevant today as they were when the book first appeared in 1960. It’s a book that reflects and honors the intelligence of children. It’s a book that extolls the importance of treating all people with respect and dignity and of standing up for one’s core principles and values. In the words, of Oprah Winfrey, “To Kill a Mockingbird is our national novel.”

The conversation that my wife and I had about what book to list on our yard sign is an example of how the Bookmark the Town campaign can open conversations about books. For those of us who are served by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, this campaign is but one of many ways that our public library encourages all of us to participate in the cultural exchanges that are such an important part of life in Storied Charlotte.

Celebrating the 200th Episode of the Charlotte Readers Podcast with Landis Wade and John Hart

March 29, 2021 by Mark West

During my childhood, I thought that everybody followed the same system for measuring time, but I now know that people keep track of time in various ways. I was reminded of this point a few months ago when I sent an email to Landis Wade, the driving force behind the Charlotte Readers Podcast. At the time, I thought I would write something about the anniversary of the founding of his podcast, and I asked him about the specific date when he launched the podcast. He responded by saying that he did not pay much attention to this anniversary date. He wrote, “My anniversary of accomplishment will be the 200^th episode on April 13^th.” Well, the 13^th of April is just around the corner, so I contacted Landis again and asked him for some more information about the Charlotte Readers Podcast and his plans for the 200^th episode. Here is what he sent to me:

Charlotte Readers Podcast is a 30-minute podcast where local, regional, national and international authors give voice to their written words in an interview format with a short reading in the middle. Each episode is accompanied by a listener supported Patreon interview with a deeper dive into the craft or business of writing.

The 200^th episode celebrates with special guest and six-time New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, John Hart, whose latest book, The Unwilling, is the subject of the episode. In his very first historical novel, John Hart returns to the South. The book is set in Charlotte during the height of the Vietnam War. It’s a novel inspired by the courage and sacrifice shown by soldiers who fought in that conflict.

Booklist calls the book “another scorcher.” Mystery and Suspense Magazine describes the book as “a very enjoyable, twisty ride.” AARP uses the words “unforgettable and propulsive.” Several New York Times bestselling authors say the book “is crime fiction at its absolute best,” “richly complex,” and “somehow, raw, tender, brutal and exquisite–all at the same time. Exceptional.”

I am especially proud of both the 100^th episode and the upcoming 200^th episode. The 100^th episode featured bestselling Longmire author Craig Johnson who writes engaging novels and tells great stories on the side. The upcoming 200^th features John Hart, and he was a good sport when he agreed to be the guest for this special episode. We joked about how he was “finally” able to get on Charlotte Readers Podcast.

As part of the celebration of the 200^th episode, Charlotte Readers Podcast is sponsoring special giveaways. Anyone who signs up for and is on the email newsletter, a/k/a The Book Report, by April 12, 2013 is eligible to win. Sign up HERE. Prizes include a Kindle, Beats Lex Wireless Earphones, beer mugs, pint glasses, bags, wine coolers and more.

Eligibility and other terms for 200th episode giveaways: Must be on the Charlotte Readers Podcast newsletter email list as of April 12, 2021 to be eligible to win. Winners will be announced in the April 13, 2021 newsletter a/k/a The Book Report. Announced winners forfeit their prize unless they send a return email with their mailing address in response to the April 13, 2021, newsletter by 5:00 pm EST on April 20, 2021, to claim their prize.

I think it is fitting that Landis is celebrating this special episode with John Hart. The two of them have several points in common. They both grew up in North Carolina, they both graduated from Davidson College, and they are both former lawyers who have taken an interest in literary matters. The fact that Hart’s The Unwilling is set in Charlotte makes it especially appropriate to feature this novel on the 200^th episode of the Charlotte Readers Podcast. Landis often features authors on his podcast whose books do not have Charlotte connections, but I am glad that this special episode showcases a novel that has such direct connections to Storied Charlotte.

Telling the Story of Bonnie Cone and Her Role in Founding UNC Charlotte

March 21, 2021 by Mark West

On the campus of UNC Charlotte, Bonnie E. Cone is a legendary figure because of her role as the founder of the university. Her legendary status is reflected in the fact that several professorships are named after her, including the Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement. I currently hold this position, and I consider it a great honor to have my name associated with hers.

The story of how Bonnie Cone came to establish the university is the focus of a newly published book titled Jewel in the Crown: Bonnie Cone and the Founding of UNC Charlotte. Written by William (Bill) Thomas Jeffers, this book is a collaboration between the Atkins Library’s Special Collections and University Archives and Digital Publishing units along with the University of North Carolina Press. For more information about this book, please click on the following link: https://omp.uncc.edu/library/catalog/book/11

I recently contacted Bill and asked him for more information about his thoughts on Bonnie Cone and her place in the history of Charlotte. Here is what he sent to me:

To be honest, I never met Bonnie, formally – although we were in the same room at my fraternity formal in 1996. I had a rule back then: never meet the bigwigs, it’ll be too easy for them to identify you after you screw up. Low profile was my preferred operating style as an undergraduate and, more or less, it served me well. However, I deeply regret not walking up and saying hello at the time – especially considering the role UNC Charlotte has played in my life. I cannot thank her enough for her persistence in seeing this dream of hers through to reality.

One thing I learned was that Bonnie never wanted to be an administrator; her true passion was reaching young minds through teaching. I was surprised to discover, when first offered the job as director of the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina, she initially tried to turn it down – citing no experience! How fortunate we are that her boss, Elmer Garinger, thought otherwise, and told her she had to take the job because no one else could. Garinger, as principal of Central High School, was the person who brought her to teach in Charlotte in 1940. In fact, he actually snagged her away from another teaching position already promised to her in Kannapolis. Cone admitted years later that she didn’t think she could say no to Garinger in his request to run the center because he was the boss and you didn’t say no to the boss. In the six weeks between her August appointment and the start of school in September, she quickly proved he made the right choice, fully staffing and setting a new record for enrollment, all while operating out of an office the size of a closet. If that isn’t what a determination to succeed looks like, I need a new pair of glasses because I really don’t know what is.

While the idea of publicly supported higher education in Charlotte was not new, the means about which to galvanize public support around the idea was hit or miss prior to 1946. The Charlotte Center became the catalyst that changed that. I wonder, however, if the center would have been that catalyst if not for Bonnie Cone. Whenever you saw the center mentioned in the Charlotte Observer, Cone’s name always accompanied it. Whether it be an announcement about a new class offering, a student dance or fundraiser, or even the start date of the upcoming quarter – she was there; letting readers know about this valuable resource, and that it was a temporary one too. Those nonstop reminders paid off, catching the attention of Charlotte executive W.A. Kennedy. If Bonnie Cone was the public face of the movement to bring a public university to Charlotte, Kennedy was the back office. Their working relationship produced a tandem that drove the discussion about higher education in this city – and pushed the envelope when complacency threatened their momentum. Charlotte College’s creation in 1949 serves as a good example. The two-year junior college set records for enrollment, but struggled financially during its early years because it had to compete with Charlotte’s growing public school system for funding. Cone knew this arrangement had saved the school, but it was not a viable long-term funding option for growth. Consulting with Kennedy they decided to push for a four-year, state supported college, even though that didn’t appear to be anywhere on the horizon. Cone took it a step further – she saw a full-fledged university here, and looked to that day as fulfillment of her dream for the city. Then she went and did it.

Lastly, she could talk people into anything, so I am very glad she used her superpower for good.

Since March is Women’s History Month, the recent publication of Jewel in the Crown: Bonnie Cone and the Founding of UNC Charlotte is perfectly timed. Bonnie Cone played a pivotal role in the history of UNC Charlotte, but she also played an important role in the larger history of Storied Charlotte.

Tags: Bonnie Cone Women's History Month

Delilah: The Story of Charlotte’s OWN Television Series

March 15, 2021 by Mark West

In my Storied Charlotte blog, I celebrate stories that have Charlotte connections. I generally write about stories that are published in books, but this week’s blog post is about Delilah, the new television series that premiered last week on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network. Filmed in Charlotte during the fall of 2020, Delilah makes extensive use of Charlotte locations. Delilah is not the first television series to be filmed in Charlotte. Several seasons of both Homeland and Banshee were filmed in the Charlotte area, but in these previous series Charlotte was used as a stand-in for other locations. In Homeland, for example, Charlotte stood in for Washington, D.C. Delilah, however, is a scripted television series that actually takes place in present-day Charlotte. For more information about Delilah, please click on the following link: https://www.oprah.com/app/delilah.html

Several major law firms are based in Charlotte, and Delilah deals extensively with this aspect of Charlotte. Delilah Connolly, played by Maahra Hill, is the central character in the series. She is an African American lawyer who stepped away from her successful career as a corporate lawyer in order to start her own solo practice and to spend more time with her children. She is best friends with Tamara Grayson, played by Jill Marie Jones, who is an attorney with a powerful Charlotte law firm. The friendship between Delilah and Tamara is tested when they find themselves on opposing sides of a thorny and controversial case.

Viewers who live in Charlotte will recognize many of the locations used in the series. The opening shot features Charlotte’s skyline. The Fourth Ward, one of Charlotte’s urban neighborhoods, figures prominently in the series since Delilah lives in a townhouse in this neighborhood. A pivotal scene was shot at the Northwest School of the Arts. Other scenes were shot in west Charlotte as well as in the Ballantyne neighborhood.

Several people from Charlotte participated in the production of the series. Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston worked as a member of the production crew. Kelly Jacobs, a Charlotte native and talented violinist, plays the role of Delilah’s teenage daughter. Martin Damien Wilkins, also a Charlotte native and graduate of Charlotte Latin School, assisted director and executive producer Charles Randolph-Wright throughout the production. Recent UNC Charlotte theatre alumna Kyra Hubert (’20) serves as a production assistant for the show. Theatre Department Adjunct Professor Jill Bloede was a featured actor (Caseworker) and Professor Bruce Auerbach was an extra in the series premiere.

For Charles Randolph-Wright, the opportunity to produce and direct Delilah was a homecoming of sorts. He was born in York, South Carolina, but he often visited Charlotte throughout his growing-up years. He now lives in New York, but he still identifies with Charlotte. In speaking about his connections to Charlotte, he recently told a reporter from The Charlotte Observer, “I am so proud of from whence I came. There’s a beauty and joy here that I really needed right now…. I spoke to City Council and was amazed to see how many people of color were in that room. When I grew up, I don’t know, there may have been one or two. People talk about diversity. But to be in this city and see it—what a great thing.” He sees Delilah as a “celebration” of being Black in Charlotte.

As the first scripted television series that is both filmed and set in Charlotte, Delilah has already earned a place of honor in the history of Storied Charlotte.

Contact Me

Links

Archives