Category Archives: Lecture

Ark Rep’s SALESMAN featured at Clinton School Lecture on May 1

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Salesman (1)The Arkansas Repertory Theatre works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting educational panel discussions on various Rep productions. The latest in these takes place today,  Wednesday, May 1 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.

Join Rep Producing Artistic Director and Death of a Salesman director Robert Hupp as he hosts the cast from The Rep’s current production. Why do critics call Death of a Salesman the greatest American play, and what relevance can audiences draw from this 50 year-old production? Call the Clinton School at (501) 683-5239 for reservations.

Death of a Salesman opened last Friday night and  runs through May 12. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evening performances are at 7 p.m., Friday, Saturday evening performances are at 8 p.m. Sunday Matinees performances are at 2 p.m.

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Two Tales from the South this week

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talesfromsouthHawthorne wrote of Twice Told Tales.  This week, Tales from the South offers two shows.

On Tuesday, April 30, the program will focus on “Lost and Found” featuring stories by Mary Lester, Wetzel LaGrone and May Griebel.  Music that night will be provided by Justin McGoldrick and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.

On Wednesday, May 1, Heritage Month will kick off with a Historic Preservation of Arkansas show.  It will feature stories by Deborah Carroll, James King and Sandra Hamilton. Mark Currey and blues guitarist Mark Simpson will provide the music.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host, in conjuction with Temenos Publishing Company. The show is taped live on Tuesday nights at Starving Artist Cafe’in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock, Arkansas.

The program offers dinner and a show, and shows are $7.50 admission and open to the public. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

Doors open at 5:00pm. Dinner is served from 5:00 to 6:30pm (dinner price not included in admission charge).  The program starts at 7:00pm.  Advance reservations are required.

Gov. Davis vs. Baptist Church in 1902 today at Old State House

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Jeff Davis2Today at noon, the Old State House will host another of its Brown Bag Lunch Lectures. This one is entitled Jeff Davis, Alcohol, and the Second Baptist Church Controversy of 1902.

In 1902, Arkansas’ notoriously divisive Governor Jeff Davis was spotted publicly drinking alcohol aboard a train. A firestorm of controversy resulted within the Second Baptist Church of Little Rock and Davis was thrown out of the congregation.

This lecture will reveal the roots of the controversy in an earlier fight over building the new state capitol building between Davis and former Governor James Eagle, chair of the deacons of the church.

Brian Irby is a library tech at the Arkansas History Commission. He received his B.A. and M.A. in history at the University of Central Arkansas.

On Shakespeare’s birthday, a look at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre events

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AST_logoToday is the traditionally accepted birthday of the Bard of Avon.  He also died on this date in 1616 at the age of 52.  The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre has an event later this week and is preparing for the 2013 season.  In honor of William Shakespeare’s birthday, today’s entry looks at some upcoming AST events.

On Wednesday, April 24, Robert Quinlan, who directed Richard III last season for AST, will speak in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on the UCA campus (next to Reynolds Performance Hall) at 7 p.m. about his particular process and explorations involved in directing Shakespeare.  The event is sponsored by the UCA Foundation.

Quinlan is a freelance director based in Chicago. His other recent directing credits include the world premiere of The Magic Bicycle, #thisrocks, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Illusion, Iphigenia, Other Daughters, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, and Killer Joe.

He was the assistant director to Tina Landau on productions of Superior Donuts on Broadway and The Tempest at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Internationally, he has directed The Maids and Proof at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. He holds an MFA in directing from Illinois State University.

The 2013 Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre season will open on June 6 with a production of Much ado About Nothing.  The other productions this summer, which will alternate in rotating repertory, are Oliver!, King Lear and a special one-hour version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Christi Shannon Kline one of Ark Lit Fest authors

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kline_christi_shannonThere are many wonderful authors coming to Little Rock for the 10th annual Arkansas Literary Festival.  (Including one with whom I went to college and one being brought in by my church.) But only one of them has been a friend of mine since elementary school.

Christi Shannon Kline and I had numerous classes together in school over the years.  We also participated in several school musicals, student council and other clubs while growing up.

She is now a New York resident, poet, playwright, and performer. Her debut book, No Child More Perfect & Other Poems, was endorsed by National Book Critics Circle winner Marie Ponsot, who said, “Watch out! Kline’s poems are original. She speaks her mind: frank, unfaked, and full of feeling. The poems sing!”

Christi will be appearing at 10am on Saturday, April 20, on the 3rd floor of the Cox Creative Center (at President Clinton and River Market).  She is part of a program entitled “Perfect Daydream” which also features poet Steve Kistulentz.  Marck Beggs is the moderator.

Arkansas Literary Festival This Weekend!

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litfestlogoThe Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, has expanded to include over 90 authors in many locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus, other venues in the River Markets and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet the authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Festival authors include:

Salma Abdelnour, David Abrams, Mary Stewart Atwell, Beth Ayer, Jenni B. Baker, Jan Barry, Carolyn Briggs, Kevin Brockmeier, Sam Calvin Brown, Oliver Burkeman, Mary Bucci Bush, Drew Cameron, Raquel Cepeda, Da Chen, Joseph Crespino, James Daily, Lela Davidson, Edmond Davis, Sylvia Day, James W. Erwin, Richard Ford, Ben Fountain, Tim Gallagher, Tim Gallagher, Paula J. Giddings, Kay Collett Goss, Jessica B. Harris, Ruth Hawkins, Roger D. Hodge, Ty Jaeger, Jay Jennings, Ben Katchor, Janis F. Kearney, Jeannette Keith, Brian and Terri Kinder, Steve Kistulentz, Christi Shannon Kline, Jon Krampner, Travis Langley, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Dorothy R. Leavell, Domingo Martinez, Ayana Mathis, Carla Killough McClafferty, Rosetta Miller-Perry, Lydia Millet, Pat Mora, Linda Murphy, Sara Nesson, Cynthia LeJeune Nobles, Harry Ostrer, Darcy Pattison, Lori Perkins, Leonard Pitts Jr., Garry Craig Powell, Padgett Powell, Joe Queenan, Karen Russell, Eric Rutkow, Courtney Miller Santo, Rosie Schaap, Martha Silano, Heather Sutherlin, Steve Teske, Chuck Thompson, Charles Todd, Caroline Todd, Duncan Tonatiuh, GB Tran, Dennis Vannatta, Frank X Walker, John Corey Whaley, Steve Wiegenstein, David Wesley Williams, Johnathon Williams, Rita Williams-Garcia, Christian Wiman, Jan Wolfe, Ron Wolfe, C.D. Wright, Steve Yates

This year’s Festival authors have won an impressive number and variety of distinguished awards, such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, James Beard Foundation Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Newbery Honor, National Book Critics Circle Award, a Coretta Scott King Honor, PEN/O.Henry Prize; Pushcart Prize; Barnes and Noble Discover Prize for Fiction, Roger Ebert’s Film Festival Thumbs Up Award, Pure Belpré Award, International Griffin Prize for Poetry, International Documentary Association Best Documentary Short, Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and several National Book Award Finalists. Many of the presenters’ works have been translated into multiple languages and made into films.

Special events for adults during the Festival include a cocktail reception with the authors, food, wine, and spirits workshops, films, a play, and Spoken Word LIVE!, a city-wide poetry competition. Panels and workshops will feature topics such as fiction, memoir, screenwriting, super hero psychology & law, Warrior Writers Project, erotica, and more.

Children’s special events include a storytime on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion, a book fiesta, the artmobile, plays, outdoor activities, and Super Hero Activity Afternoon. Festival sessions for children will take place at both the new Children’s Library, 4800 10th Street, and the Youth Services Department at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street.

At Level 4, the Main Library’s teen center, teens can meet authors and illustrators, participate in ComiCALS, activities and panels such as a cosplay contest, video game tournament, a writing workshop, and zombie survival activities.

Through the Writers In The Schools (WITS) initiative, the Festival will provide presentations by several authors for Pulaski county elementary, middle, and senior high schools and area colleges.

Support for the Literary Festival is provided by sponsors including Central Arkansas Library System; Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries (FOCAL); Department of Arkansas Heritage; Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau; Fred K. Darragh Jr. Foundation; Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; Regions; ProSmartPrinting; MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History; Historic Arkansas Museum; Clinton Presidential Center; Hendrix-Murphy Foundation; Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, Arkansas Times; Christ Church, Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church; Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center; Arkansas Library Association; Henderson State University; University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Arkansas Governor’s Mansion; Hendrix College Creative Writing and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature & Language; Hendrix College Project Pericles Program; Hendrix College; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, English Department; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Department of Rhetoric and Writing; Pulaski Technical College; Jewish Federation of Arkansas; Arkansas Arts Center; Power 92 Jams; Central High School National Historic Site; National Park Service; Literacy Action of Central Arkansas; Capital Hotel; Little Rock Film Festival; and LuLav. The Arkansas Literary Festival is supported in part by funds from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Author! Author!, a cocktail reception with the authors, will be Friday, April 19 at 8pm on the fifth floor of the CALS main library building.  Tickets are available at the door.

The Arkansas Literary Festival is a project of the Central Arkansas Library System. The Festival’s mission is to encourage the development of a more literate populace. A group of dedicated volunteers assists Festival Coordinator Brad Mooy with planning the Festival. Jay Jennings is the 2013 Festival Chair. Other committee chairs include Katherine Whitworth, Talent Committee; Lisa Donovan, Youth Programs; and Amy Bradley-Hole, Moderators.

Clinton School, Library participate in LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL reading at noon today

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4a08bf2ea81f2e2204f4fa22b3c66604f60eb8deb9a4On the 50th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. began writing his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Clinton School and Clinton Foundation will join participants around the world for a public reading of King’s letter in celebration.

King wrote the letter in 1963 after he was arrested for participating in the Birmingham Campaign, a non-violent protest against racial segregation in the city. Written in response to criticism of the campaign from local clergy, the letter became a classic document of the Civil Rights Movement.

Those reading the letter will include elementary school and middle school students, local celebrities, Clinton Foundation staff and Clinton School students. This event is sponsored in conjunction with the Birmingham Public Library.

The program will take place at 12 noon today in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center.