Here at Charlotte Lit, we’re excited about our ongoing Beautiful Truth initiative, with community writing workshops every weekend in January, a February 1 & 2 visit from poet Terrance Hayes, AND a community public reading event in March. But we’re not the only ones lining up excellent literary events for this new year.

Up this week, Queens University’s MFA faculty holds two readings that are free and open to the public. Local favorites Judy Goldman and Tommy Tomlinson each have new memoirs coming out in the next two months. Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist Leonard Pitts holds a reading coordinated by Park Road Books. As part of their Community Read, the library hosts Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give. All of this and we haven’t even mentioned the UNCC Center City Literary Festival and the Sensoria Festival at CPCC. Take a look at this event listing and invite your friends to join you in celebrating the literary arts in Charlotte.

Tuesday, January 8 at 5 pm – Queens University MFA Faculty Readings: Morri Creech and Jenny Offill, Ketner Auditorium, Sykes Building

Writer in Residence Morri Creech is author of four collections of poetry, including his latest, Blue Rooms, and The Sleep of Reason, a 2014 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Fiction Writer Jenny Offill is author of the novels Dept. of Speculation and Last Things, which was chosen as a notable or best book of the year by The New York Times, The Village Voice, The L.A. Times, and The Guardian (U.K). Sponsored by The Arts at Queens.

Friday, January 11 at 8:30 pm – Queens University MFA Faculty Readings: David Christensen and Marcus Jackson, Ketner Auditorium, Sykes Building

David Christensen is the Executive Producer of the National Film Board of Canada. Poet Marcus Jackson is author of the recently released collection Pardon My Heart. A Cave Canem fellow, he is also author of the collection Neighborhood Register, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harvard Review and The Cincinnati Review. Sponsored by The Arts at Queens.

Tuesday, January 22, 2018  at 7:30 pm – Davidson College Abbott Scholars Event: Chris Hudgins “From Davidson to Stockholm,” Lilly Family Gallery

Chris Hudgins will discuss Tony Abbott as a mentor, a “Scholar Adventurer” who led Hudgins to his life’s work, to a love of the plays of Harold Pinter and many other dramatists. Hudgins will focus on his scholarly and personal experiences with Harold Pinter (Nobel Laureate, 2005) and on three of the unpublished film scripts Pinter provided Hudgins during their twenty-four-year friendship: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Remains of the Day, and Lolita.

Thursday, January 24 at 7:30 pm – Queen University: Novelist Jeff Jackson, Ketner Auditorium, Sykes Building

The English Department Reading Series presents local author Jeff Jackson, who will read from his mesmerizing novel Destroy All Monsters, a book that’s been called a “taut, atmospheric rock and roll thriller.” His previous novel Mira Corpora was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Admission is free and open to the public. Sponsored by The Arts at Queens. Info

Thursday, January 31 at 7 pm – Main Street Books, Davidson: Tommy Tomlinson

Tommy Tomlinson is a household name in the Charlotte area due to his profoundly enjoyable podcast “Southbound,” which he records in partnership with WFAE. Between recording sessions, Tomlinson has written for Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Garden & Gun, and other publications. Written with the same insight and mesmerizing tone that have catapulted “Southbound” to the top of many podcast playlists, Tommy Tomlinson’s memoir The Elephant in the Room is a searing, honest, and candid exploration of what it’s like to live as an overweight man in a growing America. Info

Friday February 1 & 2, Beautiful Truth at Charlotte Lit

Charlotte Lit is thrilled to bring Terrance Hayes to our city as part of our Beautiful Truth Initiative. Hayes is the author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry; Lighthead, which won the 2010 National Book Award for poetry; and other works. He is artist-in-residence at New York University, and is a MacArthur “Genius” Award Recipient.

• Friday, February 1 from 7-8:30 pm: Terrance Hayes Reading and Talk, Midwood International and Cultural Center Auditorium.

Hayes will discuss using personal narratives to share our stories; and we’ll also celebrate the release of the quarterly 4X4CLT poetry+art posters, featuring poetry by Terrance Hayes and art by Susan Brenner and J. Stacy Utley. Tickets

• Saturday, February 2 from 10 am to Noon: Writing Workshop 

Led by Terrance Hayes for writers and educators, in the Charlotte Lit studio. Limited to 24 participants. SOLD OUT.

• Saturday, February 2 from 2-4 pm: Community Conversation about sharing stories for social change, facilitated by Terrance Hayes in The Light Factory. Free, but limited to 40 participants. To request an invitation, email kathie@charlottelit.org.

Wednesday, February 6 at 4:30 pm, Davidson College: Chelsea Hodson, Hance Auditorium/Chambers Building

Chelsea Hodson is the author of the book of essays, Tonight I’m Someone Else, and the chapbook, Pity the Animal. She is a graduate of the MFA program at Bennington College and has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony and PEN Center USA Emerging Voices. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Frieze Magazine, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at Catapult in New York and at Mors Tua Vita Mea in Sezze Romano, Italy.

Thursday, February 7 at 7 pm: Leonard Pitts, Jr., “Last Thing You Surrender,” Park Road Books (check event listing, venue may change)

In a career spanning more than 35 years, Leonard Pitts, Jr. has been a columnist, a college professor, a radio producer and a lecturer. He is the author of one of the most popular newspaper columns in the country for which he was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary; and of a series of critically-acclaimed books, including his latest, a novel called Freeman.

Thursday, February 7 at 6 pm: An Evening with Tommy Tomlinson, ImaginOn

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation and WFAE are pleased to celebrate the release of Tommy Tomlinson’s inspirational memoir The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America. Tommy will speak and take questions about his experience and his writing.

The evening will begin with wine and light bites, and Park Road Books will be on-site with books for sale before and after the program. This event is free, but seating is limited, RSVP required.

Monday and Tuesday, March 4 & 5, Friends of the Library at Queens University: Cocktail Reception and Luncheon.

This year’s featured authors are Marie Benedict whose book The Only Woman in the Room is a powerful novel based on the incredible true story of Hedy Lamarr, and Tim Johnston whose thriller debut novel Descent was a New York Times bestseller.

Sunday, March 3 from 2-4 pm, Charlotte Lit’s Third Birthday Celebration, Mint Museum on Randolph Road, featuring Judy Goldman, author of the memoir Together (Nan A. Talese). (More details to come.)

Friday, March 15 from 7-9 pm, Charlotte Lit’s Beautiful Truth Community Public Reading Event, Midwood International and Cultural Center Auditorium. Beautiful Truth participants from all over Charlotte will read short narratives written and shared during library workshops. Free, registration required.

Tuesday, March 19: Angie Thomas, ImaginOn

As part of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s community-wide book club known as Community Read, Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, speaks at ImaginOn. Each year, the library chooses book titles for adults, teens, preteens and children, and invites everyone in the community to engage in Community Read.

Saturday, March 30: UNCC’s Center City Literary Festival

The evening author lineup includes Tony Earley, Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams, Patrice Gopo, and Allison Hutchcraft. The day events and authors will be finalized soon. Sponsored by the UNC Charlotte Department of English and UNC Charlotte Center City, the two-part festival includes daytime and nighttime events. The day events include children’s authors along with fun kids’ activities such as creation stations (coloring, crafting, and character-building) and scavenger hunts. In the evening, the festival welcomes award-winning authors for a reception, readings, book signings, and socializing. All events are held at UNC Charlotte’s Center City Campus, 320 E. 9th Street. The event is free and open to the public. Info

Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm: Jason Ockert, Davidson College, 900 Room

Jason Ockert is the author of Wasp Box, a novel, and two collections of short stories: Neighbors of Nothing and Rabbit Punches. Winner of the Dzanc Short Story Collection Contest, the Atlantic Monthly Fiction Contest, and the Mary Roberts Rinehart Award, he was also a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Million Writers Award. His work has appeared in journals and anthologies including Best American Mystery Stories, Cover Stories, Ecotone, The Iowa Review, Oxford American, One Story, and McSweeney’s. He received his MFA from Syracuse University, and he teaches at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, and in the University of Tampa low-residency MFA program.

April 5 – 14: Sensoria Festival at CPCC

Monday April 8 at 6 pm: The Irene Blair Honeycutt Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts, awarded to poet, novelist, and memoirist Judy Goldman. Dannye Romine Powell will interview Goldman, who will also read excerpts from her new memoir, Together (Nan A. Talese, Feb. 2019).

Tuesday April 9 at 8 pm, and Wednesday April 10, 11:30 am: Carolyn Forche, 2019 Irene Blair Honeycutt Distinguished Lecturer, Halton Theatre, Central Campus

What You Have Heard is True (March 2019) is a devastating, lyrical, and visionary memoir about a young woman’s brave choice to engage with horror in order to help others. Written by one of the most gifted poets of her generation, this is the story of a woman’s radical act of empathy, and her fateful encounter with an intriguing man who changes the course of her life. (from Random House)

Thursday April 11 at 11 am, Tate Hall, CPCC Central Campus and Thursday April 11 at  7:30 pm, Goodyear Arts: Poet Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib presents poetry and prose, including work from his new chronicle Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest which received a starred review in Kirkus.

Sunday April 28, Main Street Books Davidson: Charles Frazier, author of Varina and Cold Mountain, in conversation with D.G. Martin (location TBD).

The fall conference of the North Carolina Writers’ Network returns to Charlotte this year—November 2-4 at Hilton Charlotte University—so we have tips for those who are attending (or still thinking about it). There are deadlines in here, so read on down.

BEFORE YOU GO

Select Workshops in Advance. One sure way to know if you’ll receive a good value for your money and time is to review all five workshop time slots (three on Saturday and two on Sunday) and make your selections in advance.

Bonus tip: choose a backup workshop for each time slot, too. Sometimes you realize once a session is underway that it’s not for you. It’s OK to slip out and try another one.

Carefully Consider the Extras. This conference has extra options that might fit you. Manuscript Mart and Critique Service are 30-minute feedback sessions on 20 pages of your manuscript—the former with a literary agent or publisher, the latter with an accomplished writer. Master Classes are all day on Saturday, taking the place of the three workshop slots. The cost is just $30 extra—although it’s a small gamble, because that’s the reading fee, non-refundable if you’re not placed in one.

Bonus tip: Deadlines for all these are this Friday, October 19.

Save Money. The conference is a great bargain if you register by October 26 (you’ll save almost $200). If you’re not a NCWN member, join! Membership plus the member rate for the conference is less than the nonmember rate.

Bonus tip: If you don’t need a hotel room, you save even more. NCWN’s fall conference rotates here only every four or five years, so this is your best chance for awhile.

AT THE CONFERENCE

Meet New People. The classes are generally excellent, yet meeting writers from across the Carolinas might be the best part. Try sitting with new people at meals, and saying hello to people at break times. Here’s a sure-fire way to break the ice, even if you’re an introvert: ask “where do you live?” and “what kind of writing do you do?”

Bonus tip: Take names. If you meet someone you’d like to be in touch with again, jot down their name and something about them. If you carry a business (or writer) card, offer to exchange cards.

Stretch Yourself. When selecting workshops, consider taking some that are out of your normal wheelhouse. If you’re a fiction writer, consider a session in poetry, for example.

Bonus tip: This is especially easy to do when the time slot doesn’t have something in your genre or form that really excites you.

Thank the Presenters. After a session, or when you see them later at the conference, say a few words to the presenters. Most work very hard getting ready, and it’s nice to feel appreciated, and you might make a lasting connection—most of the presenters are local (and most also teach at Charlotte Lit). Not sure what to say? Try one piece of specific praise (“I found the part about x especially valuable”).

Bonus tip: Most presenters will have books for sale at the conference bookstore, and they’d be happy to sign for you.

AFTER YOU GET HOME

Follow Up with People. Did you collect names and email addresses? Reach out and say hello. Did you meet an agent or editor who expressed interest in your work? Send what you said you’d send.

Bonus tip: No email address? Send a connection request through Facebook or LinkedIn.

Review Your Notes. Most conference materials never again see the light of day, which is a shame: there’s likely a lot of great stuff in there. Did you come up with a story idea, or write a great piece of dialogue, or jot down a book you want to read? Now’s the best time to review and act.

Bonus tip: Do this within the first week, while your memory is fresh and motivation high.

Keep the Motivation Going. You’ll likely leave the conference fired up. While it’s hard to sustain that level of enthusiasm all year, use it as a springboard for your current or next project.

Bonus tip: Decide on your next conference or class and sign up right away. Might we suggest charlottelit.org/classes?

That’s it! We hope to see you there. And please stop by the Charlotte Lit table and say hello.

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Learn more and register for the NC Writers’ Network Fall Conference. Hurry! Early bird rates are open until October 26.

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Paul Reali is a co-founder of Charlotte Lit, and the author of Creativity Rising and other books on creative problem solving. He will present “Technology Toolkit: Software and Tech Stuff for Writers” at the NC Writers’ Network Conference. 

Compiled from multiple sources by Lisa Zerkle.

Fall brings a fresh slate of book releases and literary events for writers and readers to note.  We’ve rounded up some highlights here, but this is by no means a complete listing. Keep an eye on events calendars for Park Road Books, Queens University (try here and here), and UNCC. If you’re willing to venture further afield, Davidson College and Main Street Books Davidson both have a slate of readings and events, most free and open to the public.  While we didn’t list it here, Lenoir Rhyne’s Visiting Writers Series celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. If you’re willing to drive to Hickory on a weeknight, you’ll find a host of excellent writers including Laila Lalami, Li-Young Lee, and Juan Felipe Herrera. Lit’s weekly newsletter calls out local lit arts events and we do our best to mention them on our website, too. Let us know if there’s something we missed.

Kathryn Schwille reading: What Luck, This Life
Thursday September 20, 7 to 8:30 pm at Park Road Books

What Luck, This Life begins in the aftermath of the space shuttle’s break-up, as the people of Piney Woods watch their pastures swarm with searchers and reporters bluster at their doors. A shop owner defends herself against a sexual predator who is pushed to new boldness after he is disinvited to his family reunion. A closeted father facing a divorce that will leave his gifted boy adrift retrieves an astronaut’s remains. An engineer who dreams of orbiting earth joins a search for debris and instead uncovers an old neighbor’s buried longing. Info

Janet Mock, author of Redefining Realness, Reynolds Lecture (free, but tickets required)
Tuesday, September 25, 7 pm at Davidson College

Writer, TV host and producer, and advocate Janet Mock’s bestselling memoir Redefining Realness was the first autobiography written from the perspective of a trans girl. She produced the MSNBC series Beyond My Body and the HBO documentary The Trans List. Mock is a contributing editor at Allure, where she writes the column “Beauty Beyond Binaries.”

The First Annual Yorkville Literary Festival
October 5-6

Friday: Poetry Slam and Open Mic at the Sylvia, 9 pm. Saturday: events from 10 am-2 pm, including author presentations inside shops and cafes along Congress Street, children’s read-alouds, writing activities, and street performers. Downtown York. Info

Launch Party and Reading: Jeff Jackson, Destroy All Monsters
Friday October 19, 7-9 pm at Goodyear Arts

An epidemic of violence is sweeping the country: musicians are being murdered onstage in the middle of their sets by members of their audience. Are these random copycat killings, or is something more sinister at work? Has music itself become corrupted in a culture where everything is available, everybody is a “creative,” and attention spans have dwindled to nothing? With its cast of ambitious bands, yearning fans, and enigmatic killers, Destroy All Monsters tells a haunted and romantic story of overdue endings and unlikely beginnings that will resonate with anybody who’s ever loved rock and roll.

Jaki Shelton Green, North Carolina Poet Laureate, Q&A on Poetry, Activism,and Community
Tuesday, October 30, 7:30 pm, at Davidson College

Jaki Shelton Green teaches Documentary Poetry at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and is a 2014 NC Literary Hall of Fame inductee, 2009 NC Piedmont Laureate, 2007 Sam Ragan Award in Fine Arts and won the 2003 North Carolina Award in Literature. Open to the public. No tickets are required.

Verse and Vino, fundraiser for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation
Thursday, November 1, 6 to 9:30 pm, Charlotte Convention Center

Featuring authors Elliot Ackerman, Lou Berney, Casey Gerald, Paula McClain, Julia Reed. Tickets required. Info

North Carolina Writers Network Fall Conference Hilton Charlotte University Place
Friday-Sunday, November 2-4, 2018

The Fall Conference attracts hundreds of writers from around the country and provides a weekend full of activities that include readings, keynotes, tracks in several genres, open mic sessions, and the opportunity for one-on-one manuscript critiques with editors or agents. For the first time, this year the conference offers a full slate of sessions designed specifically for writers of stage and screen. In addition, as part of the Network’s ongoing mission to serve writers at all levels of experience, the Charlotte Lit will sponsor a “Business of Writing” track at Fall Conference for those who feel ready to take their manuscripts to market. Conference faculty include professional writers from North Carolina and beyond, including John Amen, Bryn Chancellor, Morri Creech, Sarah Creech, Julie Funderburk, Judy Goldman, Patrice Gopo, Maureen Ryan Griffin, Jodi Helmer, Kathy Izard, Paula Martinac, Dannye Romine Powell, Paul Reali, Amy Rogers, Betsy Thorpe, Kim Wright, Lisa Zerkle. Registration now open. Info

Morri Creech reading, Blue Rooms
Tuesday November 13 at Queens University

The Arts at Queens presents Writer in Residence Morri Creech reading from his fourth poetry collection, Blue Rooms, for the English Department Reading Series. These poems explore the terrain between conscious perception and the objective world and include references to such artists as Magritte and Goya. Creech’s last book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

December 4X4CLT Poetry and Art Poster release with featured poet, Maurice Manning
Friday November 30 at Resident Culture Brewing, Saturday December 1 at Charlotte Lit

December’s 4X4CLT features Maurice Manning who will read at the release party on Friday November 30 at Resident Culture Brewing in Plaza Midwood and teach a master class at Charlotte Lit on Saturday December 1. Manning teaches at Transylvania University in Kentucky and is on faculty at Warren Wilson’s MFA program. He is the author of six books, the latest, One Man’s Dark, published in 2017. In 2010 his book The Common Man was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Manning’s poem “Orchard at the Bottom of the Hill” recently appeared in Time.

On Friday, May 4, we’re throwing a garden party to celebrate Charlotte Lit’s 2nd birthday. Join us for a stroll around the gardens of Wing Haven’s Elizabeth Lawrence House as we kick off Year Three—Year of the Tree. We’ll have food from La Tea Da’s, drinks, and delicious sweet treats courtesy of our friends at Sunflour Baking Company. Charlotte Lit teachers Bryn Chancellor (Sycamore) and Martin Settle (Maple Samaras) will read from their latest (tree-titled) books, and artist Crista Cammaroto will display pieces from her stunning collection of tree art. (If you arrive early, you might be lucky enough to purchase one of them.) And everyone goes home with a tree seedling, courtesy of Trees Charlotte. Tickets are $50. Click here to purchase yours.

Our official birthday was February 19, so we’re just a little late celebrating—but with good reason! Since last February’s birthday party at Copper Restaurant, where we kicked off our year-long celebration of renowned author Carson McCullers, we’ve hosted dozens of classes in virtually every writing genre, held community conversations and staged readings based on McCullers work, graduated our first group of Authors Lab students, celebrated six rounds of 4X4CLT poetry+art poster series, collaborated on events with a number of arts organizations, including CPCC’s Sensoria Festival, brought the NC Arts Council’s literature fellows to town for a wonderful evening of readings in The Light Factory, hosted Charlotte Lit members for Open Studio writing hours every Tuesday and Thursday…and the list goes on.

More important than any of the things we’ve done or any of the events we’ve hosted, however, are the friends we’ve made in the last two years. To all of you who have become members of Charlotte Lit, attended our classes, conversations, and events, added your energy to our Open Studio sessions, donated your time and dollars, or told your friends about the cool center for literary arts over in the Midwood International and Cultural Center—thank you for helping us “spread the words.”

We couldn’t do it without you, and we wouldn’t want to.

We need you back this year, too. The best way to help Charlotte Lit is through membership. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to renew your membership. If you’re not sure whether or not your membership is current, just email paul@charlottelit.org.

Special thanks to Janet Miller for helping us plan our birthday party and to all of you who plan to celebrate with us. Can’t wait to see you!

Cheers!
Kathie