Poetry Reading and Open Mic at Rosie's Coffee and Wine Garden
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Friday, August 19, celebrate summer’s end and help us kick off Charlotte Lit's fall programming.
Join us and featured guest Jay Ward, Charlotte’s inaugural poet laureate, and members of Charlotte Lit's Poetry Chapbook Lab, for a Charlotte Lit social and poetry open mic. Rosie’s Coffee and Wine Garden, 940 N. Davidson Street, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Free and open to all. If you'd like to read, arrive early—limited spaces available—and register at the event.
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Join us for the final 4X4CLT September 9
Reginald Dwayne Betts
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Acclaimed poet, author, lawyer, and reform advocate Reginald Dwayne Betts visits Charlotte for the final edition of our 4X4CLT Poetry+Art poster series, with an evening reading and book signing with presenting partner Arts at Queens in celebration of the poster release.
Betts is a poet, lawyer, 2021 MacArthur and 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, and founder of Freedom Reads, a nonprofit radically transforming the access to literature in prisons across this country. For more than 20 years, he has used his poetry and essays to explore the world of prison and the effects of violence and incarceration on American society. He is the author of a memoir and three collections of poetry, including the American Book Award-winning Felon. Betts holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Event Details
Friday, September 9: Reception, Reading, Conversation & 4X4CLT Poster Release. Sarah Belk Gambrell Center, 2319 Wellesley Avenue, Queens University of Charlotte. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
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Charlotte Lit Receives Two Grants
for "Artists Reckoning with Home"
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Charlotte Lit has received grants from NC Humanities and the Albemarle Foundation to support our "Artists Reckoning with Home" program.
In October, we’ll celebrate the art and legacy of acclaimed artist Romare Bearden, who was born and spent his early years in Charlotte. Though Bearden’s working years were spent primarily in New York, he understood himself as a Southerner and gradually reconstructed his memory of life in Charlotte’s historical Brooklyn neighborhood, eventually claiming, “I never left Charlotte, except physically.” In iconic collages created in the last 15 years of his life, Bearden reckons with his homeland in a fusion of memory and mythic imagination that depicts the rich and complex daily lives of African Americans in an early 1900s Charlotte.
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We invite creators and community members of all backgrounds to engage in a similar reckoning through a series of events that provide opportunities to learn about Charlotte’s past and re-imagine its future. Registration opens soon for these events:
• October 12: Jazz Night at the Brooklyn Collective: artists perform and converse about generative intersections between visual art, music, and poetry, at Studio 229 on Brevard. Doors open 6:30 pm.
• October 16: Writing with Bearden: An Ekphrastic Workshop at Mint Museum Uptown, 2:00 pm.
• October 19: Reading and talk by Dr. Glenda Gilmore on her book Romare Bearden in the Homeland of His Imagination, in partnership with Mint Museum Uptown, 6:00 pm.
• Brooklyn Neighborhood Walking Tour, dates TBA.
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Order Your Copy of Litmosphere!
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Now available for your summer reading pleasure: the inaugural issue of Litmosphere: Journal of Charlotte Lit.
This edition features the winners and selected finalists of our 2022 Lit/South Awards in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and flash—plus works by our judges: Ron Rash, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, Tara Campbell, and Stephanie Elizondo Griest, and cover art by Laurie Smithwick (who also designed Charlotte Lit's logo back in 2015).
Litmosphere copies are just $15 delivered. Order here!
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Charlotte Readers Podcast
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Charlotte Readers Podcast episode 303 touches on one of the hottest topics in the literary world: BookTok. Also on this episode: craft discussions about how to build strong settings and writing series and sequels. Featured authors: Cathey Daniels, author of Live Caught, a dark southern gothic adventure sourced in the rural mountains of Western North Carolina; Jon Bassoff, author of Beneath Cruel Waters, a psychological thriller; and Suzanne Goodwyn, author of Wrightsville Beach, a novel set at an iconic North Carolina beach that explores self-discovery, surfing and finding true love.
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Also on this episode: Charlotte Lit's Two-Minute Tip, "Show and Tell," by Paul Reali. (You can listen to last week's tip, "Read, Read, Read," by Kathie Collins, in episode 302.)
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Charlotte Lit's Pen to Paper, Tuesdays
Tuesdays we gather in Charlotte Lit's Zoom room for a writing prompt, community time, and sharing, led by Meg Rich, Kathie Collins, or Paul Reali. 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Register
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Readings & Conversations
Waterbean Poetry Night at the Mic, Wednesday, July 27, 7:00 p.m. Featured poet Joseph Mills plus open mic. Waterbean Coffee, Northcross Shopping Center, Huntersville. Info
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Podcasts & Blogs
This week's Storied Charlotte blog by UNC Charlotte English professor Mark West is about the new Independent Picture House. A project of the Charlotte Film Society, "The Indie" grew out of the late, great Manor Theatre, and has a fantastic new space on Raleigh Street in NoDa. And check out last week's post about ImaginOn, featuring Friend of Lit Becca Worthington's reflections on the significance of this special place.
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More Lit Arts Events & News
Goodyear Arts Summer Residency Showcase, July 29, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Camp North End. Summer Artists-in-Residence are finishing up their six week, paid residencies. Stop by for new paintings by Quynh Vu, a poetry reading by Honora Ankong, a performance by Andy the Doorbum, and more. Free! Info
20th Annual James River Writers Conference, October 7-9, Richmond, Virginia and online. Early bird pricing through July 31. Info
The Shining Rock Poetry Anthology & Book Review's Summer 2022 issue is available online, featuring former NC Poet Laureate and Charlotte Lit faculty member Joseph Bathanti, and many others. Info
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2023 Press 53 Award for Poetry. Winston-Salem's Press 53 is looking for an outstanding, unpublished collection of poems. First prize: $1,000 advance and 50 copies. Deadline: July 31. Info
2022 Prime Number Magazine Flash Fiction Prize. Reading fee: $11. First Prize: $251, Second Prize: $151, Third Prize: $53. Publication in Prime Number Magazine for all three winners. Judged by the editors of Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine. Deadline: July 31. Info
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CHARLOTTE LIT'S MISSION is to celebrate the literary arts by educating and engaging writers and readers through classes, conversations, and community.
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Charlotte Lit is a community, open to all. Through our programming and practices, we consciously reach out to non-majority and under-represented groups and individuals.
— Charlotte Lit's Statement of Inclusivity, adopted by our Board of Directors
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Charlotte Lit is Grateful for the Support of...
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