Category Archives: Literature

Friday Faces of February: Andrew Carnegie

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andrewcarnegieThis Friday’s face is a bronze plaque of Andrew Carnegie. It can be found in the first floor of the main building of the Central Arkansas Library System.

A Scottish immigrant to the US, he amassed a great wealth as an industrialist, chiefly in the steel industry.  He started funding libraries in the 1880s.  He set up the Carnegie Corporation and used that as one of his avenues for philanthropy, especially for the establishment of libraries.

There were several Carnegie Libraries built in Arkansas.  Little Rock’s first public library, which opened in 1910, was one of these libraries.  It was located at the southwest corner of 7th and Louisiana.

The original building was razed in 1964, but the four columns which were on the front facade now stand outside the current Main Library building at 100 Rock Street.

Mary Birthday

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It is Oscar month, so it is fitting to highlight at Arkansas’ own Academy Award winning actress, Mary Steenburgen on her birthday.  She was born on February 8, 1953 in Newport, Arkansas.  After moving to North Little Rock as a schoolgirl, she attended North Little Rock public schools and had her first starring role as Emily in the 1971 North Little Rock Northeast High School production of Our Town, which was the new school’s first play.

After moving the start of a successful film career, she started returning to the stage in a London production of Holiday in 1987.  In 1993, she made her Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Candida (during Roundabout’s initial season with a Broadway house).  Her costars included Robert Foxworth and Robert Sean Leonard.

The next year, she starred in Marvin’s Room in Los Angeles.  She returned to the New York City stage with 2000′s The Beginning of August at the Atlantic Theatre Company.  Steenburgen has remained an active supporter and is now a member of Atlantic.  In 2007 she and husband Ted Danson were honored by the Atlantic Theatre Company.

Throughout her career, Mary Steenburgen has been a champion of the arts in Central Arkansas.  She has long been a supporter of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, where she and Danson served as honorary chairs of the Rep’s recent successful capital campaign.  In addition, she has been very involved in two other Central Arkansas arts endeavors.  Steenburgen has spoken at acting workshops and lent her support in many other ways for The THEA Foundation (which encourages arts education in Arkansas).

Steenburgen has also been a supporter of theOxford American magazine as well as the new Argenta Community Theatre in North Little Rock.  She and another Arkansan, President Bill Clinton, headlined the grand opening of this complex in 2011.

Ark Literary Fest Preview Event: Three on Three

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three on threeThree on Three, Arkansas Literary Festival’s fast-paced sneak peek at a trio of authors on the 2013 Festival roster, tips off at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 7, in the Main Library’s Darragh Center.

Arkansas authors Kevin Brockmeier (The Illumination), Nickole Brown (Sister), and Festival Chair Jay Jennings (Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany), offer insight into the work of authors Ben Fountain, Frank X. Walker, and Karen Russell.

If you like pro football, poetry, or the supernatural, or if you’re interested in social justice, the Iraq War, or alligators in the Everglades, Three on Three has you covered.

Fountain, Walker, and Russell will appear at the 2013 Festival, April 18-21, along with additional best-selling and emerging authors from across the country.

The tenth annual Arkansas Literary Festival, the premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas, will include more than 80 presenters in locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013. The Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library campus and other venues in the River Market and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops, presentations, opportunities to meet authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Plans Announced for 2013 Literary Festival

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lit fest logoLast week, the tenth annual Arkansas Literary Festival announced the plans for this year’s festival.

The premier gathering of readers and writers in Arkansas will include more than 80 presenters in locations on both sides of the river from April 18-21, 2013. The Main Library campus and other venues in the River Market and Argenta Arts districts are the sites for a stimulating mix of sessions, panels, special events, performances, workshops,presentations, opportunities to meet authors, book sales, and book signings. Most events are free and open to the public.

Festival authors include Richard Ford, Sylvia Day, Ben Fountain, Karen Russell, Ayana Mathis, Domingo Martinez, Da Chen, CD Wright, Pat Mora, Charles Todd, and more.

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.

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 College; 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 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $25 in advance, and $40 at the door.

3 Pigs and 3 Goats Up Next at AAC Children’s Theatre

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Two childhood tales of animal sibling trios are combined in the latest offering of the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre.  Opening tomorrow night, The Three Little Pigs and Three Billy Goats Gruff is a witty musical production full of whimsy that takes its audience to a magical land where pigs and goats talk, trolls reside under bridges, and wolves huff and puff.

The play, written by Children’s Theatre Associate Director Keith Smith, opens with the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. The three young goats are grazing in Gruff Valley, but wonder if the grass really is greener on the other side of the bridge. They have heard tales of greener pastures, but exploration to those lands is hindered by a troll that lives under the bridge. The three goats hatch a plan to
defeat the troll, giving him the “what-for,” and earning passage to the luscious lands beyond. They carry out their plan, but find some surprising truths along the way.

On the other side of the troll’s bridge, meadows are lush and pigs live in houses! The second part of the play focuses on another famous set of siblings: the three pigs. After Mama Pig sends out the three piglets to find their own way in the world, each decides on a different way to establish their new life. Dennis, the Big Bad Wolf, is just as interested in how each decides to construct their new home as he is in Grandpa Bill’s famous recipe for piggy pie. The classic story provides the basis for this retelling, but the characters are sure to provide a new form of entertainment for both the young and young-at-heart.

The production runs from January 25 through February 10.  Public performances take place on Friday evenings at 7pm, Saturday afternoons at 3pm and Sunday afternoons at 2pm.

Bradley Anderson is the Artistic Director of the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre.  Dr. Todd Herman is the Executive Director of the Arkansas Arts Center.

 

CALS Celebrates: New Year, New Reads

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 The Central Arkansas Library System is encouraging patrons to “Read in” the new year with the  winter reading program: New Year, New Reads.

From Monday, January 7 through Saturday, March 2, patrons may read any book they choose and the submit reviews one of three ways:

  1. at the branch
  2. via email to NewYearNewReads@cals.org
  3. tweet @calibrarysystem using the hashtag #NewYearNewReads.

Each branch will display the reviews submitted at their branch, and most branches will have drawings for door prizes from the reviews received. Each branch will determine the rules and prizes for their contest.

A prize of a Kindle Fire will be awarded for the Most Creative Book Review of all entries submitted online. Reviewers tweeting or emailing reviews of no more than 144 characters will be entered into the contest.

Readers can pick up reading suggestion bookmarks and review cards at the circulation desk of any CALS branch. The program is free and open to the public.

Martha Miller new director at Department of Arkansas Heritage

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MARTHA MILLER: New Heritage leader.Last week, Governor Mike Beebe announced that Martha Miller would be the new Director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  She succeeds Cathie Matthews, who retired at the end of 2012 after serving for 15 years.

In making the announcement the governor noted, “Martha is a life-long Arkansan who has strong experience within the department and with state government. Promoting her from her position as deputy director was an easy and sensible decision in light of Cathie Matthews’ retirement.

Miller, 60, previously served as Deputy Director for the Department of Arkansas Heritage Museums. Formerly a self-employed attorney and lobbyist, she has served on the boards of Lyon College (her alma mater), the Little Rock Interfaith Hospitality Network and Audubon Arkansas.

The Department of Arkansas Heritage’s mission is to identify Arkansas’ heritage and enhance the quality of life by the discovery, preservation, and presentation of the state’s cultural, historic and natural resources. The agency oversees the Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Old State House Museum.