Lunch with Charles Todd

Caroline and Charles Todd

A quick update here on Charles Todd’s visit to North Carolina on Wednesday, February 25. The mother and son team, Caroline and Charles, will be part of an “author luncheon” at McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village (instead of a reading, as I’d mentioned earlier this week). The event — beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the Old Granary Restaurant — offers a chance for more extensive time with the bestselling authors, who will discuss their new book, A Matter of Justice. (See my interview with Caroline and Charles Todd here.) 

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 per person, but that price does include a signed hardcover copy of the new book. To sign-up, contact McIntyre’s at (919) 542-3030 or at books@fearrington.com. 

The Todds will also appear later that evening at Quail Ridge Books at 7:30 p.m. for a more conventional reading and signing. 

Additional events on the calendar for the coming week include:

• Leonard Todd, author of Carolina Clay: The Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave, on Friday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.
• The monthly North Carolina Poetry Society Reading with Bill Griffin and Maureen Sherbondy, on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. at McIntyre’s. 
• And Jayne Anne Phillips, author of Lark & Termite, on Friday, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. at Quail Ridge Books.

In & Around D.C.

A couple of interesting events on the schedule for the coming week in the D.C. area.

First up, on Sunday afternoon, the Writer’s Center in Bethesda is hosting a talk with literary agent Paige Wheeler, founder of Folio Literary Management. The free event begins at 2 p.m. (and comes in the midst of a very, very busy weekend for the Writer’s Center; check out a full schedule of events here.)

On Thursday, February 26, at 8 p.m., the Cheryl’s Gone Reading Series kicks off its first reading of the new year, featuring fiction by Sara Hov, poetry by Ryan Walker and Zein El-Amine, and music by Spoonboy (of the Max Levine Ensemble). It all takes place at Big Bear Cafe in D.C.

And don’t forget, NEXT Saturday, February 28, brings a Fiction Seminar at George Mason University, co-presented by Mason’s MFA program and American Independent Writers.

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Philip Lopate At The Writer’s Center

Philip Lopate headlined the Writer’s Center‘s 32nd birthday celebration last night — complete with cake, champagne and a crowd of well-wishers not only looking back over the first 32 years but looking ahead to the next 32 (and more). 

Praised by introducer Richard McCann for writings of great “candor and wit and intimacy,” Lopate sampled selections from his lifetime of work, beginning with the essay “The Bullet-Stopper” (first published in the New York Times in 1992 as “Die for Me, Baby”), in which he considers a “convention of older melodramatic films that seems to have disappeared: the woman who stops bullet for her man.” Lopate continued:

“She was usually, in classic-triangle terms, the redundant woman — say the native mistress of a man stationed in the Orient, a rival of the newly met, supposedly more suitable, white lady. The mistress is beautiful. She is faithful and good, she loves her man, and she has a deeper understanding of life than the while lady. So, the audience wonders restlessly, How can the hero reject her?

“Just try to imagine a love so powerful that it would cause a woman to hurl herself in front of gunshots, when most of us would hit the ground. Such love no longer exists, you say; we live in a more calculating age, or to put the matter progressively, an age in which women are more independent, less masochistic. Am I sorry to see the convention disappear? To be frank, I don’t know whether to pray for such a love or be terrified by it.

“I try to imagine a man pointing a gun at me. As he starts to pull the trigger, my Chinese girlfriend blankets me with her body. She takes the bullet. As grateful as I am, I cannot help feeling there is a certain presuption in someone’s stealing the death that was meant for me. I am so stunned by her act that I forget to knock the gun from the killer’s hands. Now he is pointing it at me again, and she has already given her life for me. Would it be cowardly to prop her in front of me, or would that be a way to honor her original intention?”

Continuing on the theme of love, Lopate read an essay on Valentine’s Day — which took listeners from St. Valentine’s martyrdom to the St. Valentine’s massacre to the schoolroom practice of exchanging valentines. (Perhaps some connections between those three?) Other readings included “Camera Shop,” a memory of his parents that morphed into a lesson in poverty; a great selection from his early memoir Being With Children, in which he offered up the results of his students’ responses to a five-minute free-write and then to an exercise in madness and sadness; a section on Captain Kidd from his latest book, Waterfront; and a short essay called “Real Risks.”

(The length of the program seemed its only real drawback — precluding, it seemed, the opportunity for an expected q&a with the audience. By the middle of Lopate’s quest for Captain Kidd’s New York address, Tara nudged me to tell me me that she was playing a game in her head — one she often resorts to when she gets bored: Beginning with “A,” she challenges herself to find a song title (or sometimes a movie title) for each letter of the alphabet: “Angel Eyes,” “Badlands,” “California Dreaming,” etc. etc. Last night, she doubled the challenge — two titles for each letter — and by the time she told me what she was doing, she’d already reached the letter “S.” And I’ll admit it, even I was glancing at my watch and thinking about the cake and champagne by that point.)

Still, despite that length, the evening offered a rare opportunity to hear one of the great masters of creative nonfiction — charming, funny and insigntful — and to celebrate the continuing success of one of the D.C. area’s, and the nation’s, finest resources for writers and readers alike. 

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Long Week, No Posts… Until Now, Of Course…. On Book World, George Mason University, The N.C. Writers Network, Public/Private & More

What a week.

In the midst of many doom-and-gloom predictions, the Washington Post made an announcement this week about dropping Book World as an independent section and redistributing book coverage throughout the paper. (Book World‘s own blog, “Short Stack,” has already featured two pieces related to the reorganization: one by Rachel Hartigan Shea and another by Alan Cooperman. And as usual, one of the best commentaries on the news comes from Sarah Weinman.)

At George Mason University, the first full week of classes (and first week of grading) brought some small turmoil my way: A snow day that didn’t quite reach my own classes; mistakes on my syllabus (student: “Um, Professor Taylor, none of the readings are in our book” — a revised edition) and then revisions to try to tidy those mistakes; several students who can’t stop texting in class; and then both one dry-erase marker and a back-up marker that both ran out of ink mid-lesson.

And on a more personal note: Honeymoon planning took some twists and turns, but seems to be working out. Ireland, here we come!

Now, back to business.

N.C. LITERARY EVENTS

The North Carolina Writers’ Network has recently announced a couple of new projects/programs. This past week, the organization launched “Writing the New South,” a program “offering its members a platform to record and share their experiences and interpretations of living in North Carolina as North Carolina changes dramatically.” Also on the horizon: On Sunday evening, February 15, the Network is hosting “Talking at the Table: Food Writing in the New South,” a panel discussion featuring John Shelton Reed, Dale Volberg Reed, Bill Smith, Debbie Moose, and other food writers talking about their work. Refreshments will, of course, be served — how could they not?! — and proceeds from the ticket sales ($50 per person) go toward the Network.

With regard to the Writers’ Network: This coming Monday’s interview on this site is with NCWN executive director Ed Southern. Don’t miss it!

Also on the schedule in the immediate week: 

• Carl Hiaasen visits Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books on Monday, February 2, at 7:30 p.m. with his new kids book, Scat. There will be a ticketed signing line, and a book purchase is required to get a ticket. (Get there early.)
• The Royal Bean Coffee House on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (across from Meredith College) hosts an Open Mic Night on Thursday, February 5, beginning at 7 p.m. To sign-up, contact Maureen Sherbondy at msherbondy@nc.rr.com (if you plan on reading). The event is cosponsored by Main Street Rag Publishing Company.

In And Around D.C.

I’m teaching a creative nonfiction course this semester at George Mason, and a couple of events I’m encouraging in this area are tangentially related to that.

First up, The Writer’s Center welcomes Philip Lopate — essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet, even film critic — to its 32nd birthday celebration on Saturday night, January 31, at 7:30 p.m. I’m teaching one of Lopate’s essays in my class next week, and I’m pleased to be seeing him in person on Saturday. Tickets are still available — $25 a person — if anyone still wants to join in. I’ll hope to report on it here afterwards.

Satomi Shirai, "cleaning," c-print, 2008. Borrowed from the Arlington Arts Center website without permission but with a nice link.

Next: Tara and I went last night to a preview of the Arlington Arts Center‘s new show, “Public/Private” — and I would highly recommend it. I actually found myself thinking of creative nonfiction as we examined some of the artwork: photographer Satomi Shirai’s seemingly intimate but intricately staged glimpses into her private life; Anissa Mack’s “My Sister’s Diary,” which posts excerpts from that diary on a kiosk of the Arts Center’s front lawn; Mandy Burrow’s altar pieces constructed from ordinary people’s personal belongings; and a couple of Philadelphia artists who’ve created a news network, “Everyone That We Know News,” that broadcasts everyday events in a TV newscast format: what someone had for dessert, who has a new girlfriend, etc. etc. These pieces and others offer some interesting and provocative insights into that wall between the public and the private and the way that today’s world (and particularly today’s technologies, perhaps) are increasingly breaking that wall down. (Coincidentally enough, our reception last night was “private” and the opening tonight (Friday, January 30) is “public.” Stop by if you get the chance. The show runs through April 4.)

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Allan Gurganus Reads “A Fool For Christmas” — Plus Other Upcoming Events

As part of my various jobs, I serve two large communities.

In my home state of North Carolina, for example, I write regularly on books and literary events as a contributing editor for Metro Magazine; I’ve long been involved with the North Carolina Writers’ Network; and I’ve build some great relationships with several authors and booksellers throughout the region.

In my current home in Virginia — and specifically at George Mason University, where I teach — I work closely with the annual Fall for the Book Festival; I have friends and contacts at several other organizations, most particularly The Writer’s Center in Bethesda; and I’ve become a regular reviewer for The Washington Post (hardly a local paper, I know, but still an integral part of the regional community in addition to serving a national audience). 

As part of my connections to these two communities — and specifically as part of a new coordinated effort with Metro — I’d like to offer a weekly post that’s more local in scope, highlighting upcoming events that seem of particular interest to me and, I hope, to readers of this blog who call either of those two regions home. Here then are some suggestions from Wednesday, December 3, through Wednesday, December 10.

North Carolina

Allan Gurganus

Among the top literary events in the Triangle area this weekend is an appearance by Allan Gurganus at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham. Gurganus will be reading “A Fool for Christmas,” an unpublished short story which was originally presented on NPR’s All Things Considered back on Christmas Eve, 2004. The story centers on a pet store manager named Vernon Ricketts and the pregnant teen he hires to do some part-time work around the holidays. Gurganus will be reprise the story at the Regulator on Friday, December 5, at 7 p.m. (And for those who can’t make it, NPR offers the original broadcast online.)

Other events this week in the Triangle and across Eastern North Carolina include:

• John Shelton Reed & Dale Volberg Reed, authors of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, on Wednesday afternoon, December 3, at The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, and again on Friday evening, December 5, at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.
• Chapel Hill author Kate Betterton, author of Where the Lake Becomes the River, on Thursday evening, December 4, at Quail Ridge Books.
• Dr. Mardy Grothe, Raleigh-based psychologist, management consultant, and author of I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like: A Comprehensive Compilation of History’s Greatest Analogies, Metaphors, and Similes, on Thursday afternoon, December 4, at The Country Bookshop. 
• Bruce Roberts, former director of photography for Southern Living and author of Just Yesterday: N.C. People and Places, on Saturday afternoon, December 6, at Quail Ridge Books. 
• Paul Austin, author of Something for the Pain: One Doctor’s Account of Life and Death in the ER, on Tuesday evening, December 9, at Pomegranate Books in Wilmington.

Northern Virginia, D.C., and Maryland

Two of the biggest events in D.C. over the next week — Toni Morrison discussing A Mercy on Thursday, December 4, and photographer Annie Leibovitz on Tuesday, December 9 — are both sold-out, but the events’ bookstore host, Politics and Prose, are still taking orders for signed copies of each author’s latest book; for information, call 202-364-1919. 

Cynthia Ozick

Another big event is the presentation of this year’s PEN/Malamud Awards, honoring excellence in short fiction. Peter Ho Davies and Cynthia Ozick are the 2008 recipients, and the two authors will read from their works at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Friday, December 5, at 8 p.m. The event is presented by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Tickets are $12. 

In other news:

• Writers in the MFA program at George Mason University offer a free reading on Friday, December 5, at 7 p.m. at The Firehouse Grille in Old Town Fairfax, VA. Slated to present new works are fiction writer Tim Rowe and nonfiction writer Valerie Lambros.
• On the same evening, poets Reed Whittemore, Cicely Angleton, and Elaine Magarrell appear at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, at 7:30 p.m. to read from the recent anthology Inventory.
• Finally, DC Poets Against the War host readings on Saturday and Sunday, December 6-7, in conjunction with the Peace Mural Exhibit. Readings take place at 3 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, and at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday at 3336 M Street, NW. 

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