Arts & Letters Festival features three unique authors

Georgia College & State University students, staff and faculty will have the chance to meet three distinguished authors.

The fifth annual Arts & Letters Festival will be on the GC&SU campus March 20 through March 22.

The festival will feature three authors Li-Young Lee, Rosa Shand and Natasha Tretheway.

All readings are free and open to the public.

“These writers are among the most talented in the world,” said Martin Lammon, the Creative Writing Program coordinator and editor of Arts & Letters. “Li-Young Lee, a distinguished poet, won an American Book Award for his memoir The Winged seed: A Remembrance. Rosa Shand’s novel, The Gravity of Sunlight, was a New York Times notable book for 2000. While Natasha Tretheway’s first book of poems, (Domestic Work), was chosen by U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove for the inaugural Cave Canem award.”

Each year, the creative writing program sponsors readings by about 12 of the best writers in the country. Participants of the festival come from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Michigan.

“These authors’ works represent a wonderful diversity of voice and
experience,” said Lammon. “In addition to readings and other literary events, some festival attendees will visit Flannery O’Connor’s former home Andalusia on the trolley tour. I think this year’s featured guests represent our most exciting and diverse group of writers at the annual festival.”

Along with The Winged Seed: A remembrance, Lee is the author of several collections of poems, including Book of My Nights. He will speak Thursday March 20, in the Arts & Sciences Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Shand will be speaking Friday, March 21 at 1:30 p.m. in A&S auditorium about her book The Gravity of Sunlight, and other literary works such as “The Southern Review,” “Shenandoah,” “Virginia Quarterly Review” and “Chelsea.”

On Saturday, March 22, at 1:30 p.m. Natasha Tretheway will be speaking in the A&S auditorium. Besides “Domestic Work,” Tretheway poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review and in Best American Poetry 2000.

“I think GC&SU students will enjoy the public readings. Great care was taken by our faculty to choose these writers because of their talent and because they are egregious and accessible to readers and listeners,” said Kelly Lundy, MFA student and assistant editor for Arts & Letters. “Students should take advantage of the opportunities GC&SU offers in the fine arts around campus. Our university is fortunate to have so many choices in the way of art, and our students are lucky to have access to such talented writers.”

GC&SU students as well as the general public will have an opportunity to meet the writers after each of the readings and during the books signings. Creative Writing students who signed up for the festival will have intimate lunches and receptions to welcome and talk with the writers at several different occasions throughout the festival.

“GC&SU’s mission is to provide not only excellent experiences but distinguished extracurricular experiences,” said Lammon. “Our students have many wonderful opportunities to attend plays, art exhibitions, lectures, concerts and many other artistically and intellectually invigorating events. I hope our student will take advantage of these opportunities.”

The festival will also feature Chuck Spoler’s one-act play “Blood Memory,” on both Friday and Saturday, at 8 p.m. at Allen’s Market. General Admission for the play is $3, while admission for GC&SU students with a valid student I.D. is just $1.

Arts & Letters of Contemporary Culture sponsors a national competition each year in poetry, fiction and drama. MFA faculty member and Arts & Letters drama editor David Muschell directed the drama competition.

“The drama winner this year was selected by distinguished playwright John Guare (author of “Six Degrees of Separation”). On March 20, Spoler will receive his prize ($1,000). His winning play “Blood Memory” appears in the new issue of Arts & Letters, which also features an interview with Guare by MFA student and Arts & Letters assistant drama editor Wayne Thomas,” said Lammon.

Students can pick up books by the authors at the Pawprints bookstore before the readings; books will also be available during the readings. For more information, call 445-1289, or look online at al.gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 14 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry