Category Archives: Literature

Friday events for the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival

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The Arkansas Literary Festival’s Author! Author! party is tonight (Friday, April 26).  But before that, some of the current festival authors visit future authors.

Many authors have participated in the Fest’s Writers in the Schools (WITS) initiative over the years. The authors travel to schools in the Central Arkansas region speaking directly to students. While today’s students are already authors, interacting with these published authors gives them the opportunity to be inspired by people who have persevered through writers block, frustrations, rejections, successes, and excitement.

This year’s WITS presenters include Higgins Bond, Rick Campbell, Andrés Cerpa, Geffrey Davis, Elizabeth Eckford, Laurie B. Friedman, Lillian Li, Carla Killough McClafferty, Roman Muradov, Chigozie Obioma, Ian S. Port, Joe David Rice, and Maurice Carlos Ruffin.  Sponsored by Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP

Then tonight at 7pm is the aforementioned Author! Author! party on the top floor of the CALS Main Library building in Library Square.  It gives attendees the chance to toast the Arkansas Literary Festival authors at this fête featuring hors d’oeuvres and libations. Books will be available for purchase during the party geared for adults. Tickets are $25 in advance and $40 at the door.

Later at 10:30pm is “The Birth of Loud” Concert. Loosely inspired by Ian S. Port’s new book about the “guitar-pioneering rivalry that shaped rock ‘n’ roll,” Isaac Alexander and Joshua Asante each take the stage, guitar in hand, followed by a mighty set featuring singer/songwriter Bonnie Montgomery and her guitarist. $5 at the door (415 Main Street in Argenta)

A GAME OF THRONES themed Science After Dark tonight at the Museum of Discovery

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Science After Dark is Coming…on Thursday, April 25.
When you play this game of thrones, you win (you won’t die…you’re welcome.) Brace yourself for an evening of adventure in fantasy as we explore some of the science behind your favorite show. Admission is $5 or free for members. You must be at least 21 to enter.

-Fighting Arena Demos with Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) local branch The Barony of Small Gray Bear at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
-Dragon-like animals
-“Did your Family Battle for the Throne?” (or maybe just over cattle) Genealogy with Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) – Butler Center
-Archery with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
-Thrones with Baron & Barroness
-“Winter is Coming” (Destroying things with Liquid Nitrogen)
-Pelts and Furs with Old State House Museum
-Sinking ships with fire Crossbows (Whoa.)
-Weapon Throwing
– Arkansas Poison and Drug Information Center
– MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
And much, much more!!

Tickets are $5 or free for members and may be purchased at the door or online at https://museumofdiscovery.org/event/april2019/. Each Science After Dark, we will support a local charity and this month we are accepting donations for Arkansas Foodbank. You can also sign up to volunteer with us at the Foodbank on Tuesday, June 11 from 6-8 p.m. at http://cerv.is/m?0334gpyrxNj!

Presenting sponsors are Fassler Hall Little Rock and Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge Little Rock and sponsors are Rock Town Distillery and Stone’s Throw Brewing

2019 Arkansas Literary Festival events on tap for today

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Though there have been a few events earlier, today (April 25) offers several events to kick off the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival.

During the day at the Clinton Presidential Center and also the Museum of Discovery is a Day of Science and Reading. Students meet Miami-based author Laurie Friedman, Mallory McDonald, Super Sitter and Can You Say Catastrophe? and Nashville-based illustrator, Higgins Bond, A Place for Turtles and Lorraine: The Girl Who Sang the Storm Away. Both successful presenters are originally from the Natural State. Limited seating is available. 

Tonight at 6pm at the ESSE Purse Museum a program will feature Anita Davis, the museum’s founder.  The author of What’s Inside?: A Century of Women and Handbags, 1900–1999, she is a native Arkansan and lifelong collector who loves outsider art, Gladys Knight, dream work, her two daughters, and learning about the mysteries of life. Her varied life experience includes owning a mail-order catalog called Pure and Simple in the 1980s and co-owning Vagabonds coffee house and vintage store in the 1990s. She has a talent for finding valuables (“They’re valuable to me!”) in unexpected places and has led the revitalization of Little Rock’s SoMa neighborhood, where ESSE Purse Museum & Store is located. What’s Inside? is an extension of her endeavor to explore concepts of art, history, and the feminine at ESSE – the only purse museum in the United States and one of only three in the world.

At 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, Elliot Ackerman & Charmaine Craig participate in a discussion entitled, The Human Element of War. Despite the dehumanization that goes hand in hand with war and the media coverage of conflict, moments of deep humanity can be glimpsed even in the most harrowing of circumstances. How do we ensure that those moments are not overlooked, and that our stories – even fictional ones – reflect the nuances of a historical moment? Join 2017 National Book Award Finalist Elliot Ackerman (Dark at the Crossing) and 2017 Longlister Charmaine Craig (Miss Burma) for a discussion on depicting conflict, preserving humanity, and finding truth in fiction. This session is presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (or is it Fronkensteen?) tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as part of 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival

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Young Frankenstein PosterThe laughs come alive as the Arkansas Literary Festival presents Mel Brooks’ comic masterpiece YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

This 1974 comic riff on Mary Shelley’s story, features Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, and Madeline Kahn (along with a cameo by Gene Hackman).

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
The movie was nominated for two Oscars: Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The screening starts at 7pm.

GOLDFINGER at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as part of the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival

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Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, and Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger (1964)Before Goldfinger was an iconic film (with a great song sung by Shirley Bassey), it was a novel by Ian Fleming.

Kick off the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival with a screening of the 1964 film Goldfinger, the third in the franchise.

The screening starts tonight at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay adapted by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn, this is considered by many to be the best classic Bond film.

Goldfinger is stockpiling gold reserves. Bond investigates and uncovers an audacious plan to commit the heist of the century.

Sean Connery returned as the suave spy. Joining him in this outing were Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, and Lois Maxwell.

The film won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects, which went to Norman Wanstall.

 

Shake a Spear, or What You Will on Shakespeare’s Birthday

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Today is the traditional birthday of William Shakespeare. It seems a good chance to preview the 2019 Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre season.

The lineup includes: The Comedy of Errors (the first Shakespeare play I ever read), The Scottish Play (sorry, but I don’t want to invoke the curse so I won’t write or say the title), as well as a streamlined version of Romeo and Juliet for families.  Also on tap, in the non-Shakespeare musical slot is Guys and Dolls.

Here is more about each show.
The Comedy of Errors
A tragic shipwreck, two sets of twins divided at birth, mistaken identities, and unrequited love provide the perfect recipe for fun in this Shakespearean farce. The fates bring the brothers and their long-lost father Aegeon together in the land of Ephesus with hilarious results.
Outside on the lawn at UCA – Performances June 7, 8, 9, 23, 26, 29, and July 4

Guys and Dolls
A Musical Fable of Broadway
Based on a Story and Characters of Damon Runyon
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
High-rolling gambler Sky Masterson never took a bet he couldn’t win, until he met the no-nonsense Sarah Brown, a mission worker set on redeeming the sinners of Broadway. While fellow gambler Nathan Detroit has his own hands full with his fourteen year engagement to Miss Adelaide. It’s the audience who wins in this delightful musical of love and luck!
On-stage in Reynolds Performance Hall – Performances June 15, 16, 23, 25, 28, 30 (twice), and July 2, 4, and 6.

[The Scottish Play]
Brave warrior The Thane of Cawdor emerges victorious from battle to be greeted by three witches who hail him as the future king of Scotland. What follows is a dizzying descent into political machinations, murder, and madness.
On-stage in Reynolds Performance Hall.  Performances are June 21, 22, 27, 29 and July 3, 5, and 7.

Family Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
The fighting families of Montague and Capulet put their feud before their children’s happiness in Shakespeare’s classic tale of “star-crossed” young love, reimagined for audiences of all ages in this one-hour adaptation.
On-stage in Reynolds Performance Hall.  Also available to tour.  Performances are June 26, 28, 29 and July 2 and 4.

Mary Ruth Marotte is the Executive Director and Rebekah Scallet is the Producing Artistic Director.

Enjoy Lit Feast in preparation for Arkansas Literary Festival.

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The Arkansas Literary Festival is April 25-28 and they’ve added some new activities and promotions…one being Lit Feast.

From April 18 to 28, five area restaurants will offer specials inspired by four of the fest authors’ books.

The list of menu items is below. Try one or all!

Visit arkansasliteraryfestival.org for full festival details.

Share with your friends, fellow book lovers, and those who enjoy a night out. I hope to see you at Lit Fest next week!

Allsopp & Chapple Restaurant + Bar
Barbecued Pork Chops and Ham Slices served with Deviled Eggs, Baked Beans with Thick Cut Bacon and Jalapeno Cornbread
Inspired by Rick Bragg’s memoir, The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table

Capers
German Chocolate Cake
Inspired by Jeff Henderson’s book, If You Can See It, You Can Be It

Ciao Baci
Small plates of Polpettine Fritte (Fried Meatballs), Mortadella e Peperoni, Uova con Acciughe (Egg with Anchovy)
Inspired by Elizabeth Minchilli’s book, The Italian Table

Copper Grill
Red Beans and Rice
Inspired by Jeff Henderson’s book, If You Can See It, You Can Be It

The Root Café
Tomato Tart with Mustard and ricotta (breakfast only)
Lettuce Soup (lunch and dinner)
Soy-Sauce Egg with Sticky Rice (dinner only)
Apple Custard Crisp (dinner only)
Inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s book, Everyday Dorie.