Here are some notable literary events taking place around the Triangle during the week of 3/6 - 3/12:
RALEIGH
Friday, March 6th at 7pm @ Quail Ridge Books
A powerful personal journey to find meaning and life lessons in the words of a wildly popular 13th-century poet.
Rumi’s inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional, for Moezzi, they became a lifeline as she discovers a 13th-century prescription for modern life.
Melody Moezzi is a writer, speaker, activist, commentator, columnist, attorney and award-winning author. Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, earned wide critical acclaim and broke new ground as the first mainstream mental health memoir by either a Muslim or a Middle-Easterner.
Saturday, March 7th at 7pm @ Quail Ridge Books
NOTE: Reserved seat and priority signing line tickets may be purchased here. A purchase is not required for general admission. This is a playbook for the common citizen which addresses the many things individuals can do in 2020 every day, without having to leave their jobs, move to Iowa, or spend every waking moment on the election. The message is simple: the only way change happens, especially on scale, is one human being talking to another. It will happen because citizens take action. And Plouffe is here to help, with specific strategies and tailored talking points to make sure your time and energy aren't wasted. It is a pragmatic, specific, and very motivational guide for the path forward.
David Plouffe served as the campaign manager for Barack Obama's primary and general election victories in 2008 and later joined the White House as a Senior Advisor, with responsibility for his re-election victory in 2012.
Co-sponsored by the Wake County Democratic Party.
Sunday, March 8th at 2pm @ Quail Ridge Books
Maximiliano Córdoba loves stories, especially the legend Buelo tells him about a mythical gatekeeper who can guide brave travelers on a journey into tomorrow.
If Max could see tomorrow, he would know if he'd make Santa Maria's celebrated fútbol team and whether he'd ever meet his mother, who disappeared when he was a baby. He longs to know more about her, but Papá won't talk. So when Max uncovers a buried family secret--involving an underground network of guardians who lead people fleeing a neighboring country to safety--he decides to seek answers on his own.
With a treasured compass, a mysterious stone rubbing, and Buelo's legend as his only guides, he sets out on a perilous quest to discover if he is true of heart and what the future holds.
Pam Muñoz Ryan is the recipient of the Newbery Honor Medal and the Kirkus Prize for her New York Times bestselling novel, Echo, as well as the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award and the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for multicultural literature for her body of work. Her celebrated novels, Echo, Esperanza Rising, The Dreamer, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi Léon, and Paint the Wind, have received countless accolades.
Tuesday, March 10th at 7pm @ Quail Ridge Books
You won’t want to miss this exciting Arts & Lecture Series: Season Two event! Tickets are available through EventBrite. From Raleigh local and New York Times bestselling author of Z and A Well-Behaved Woman comes a gripping contemporary novel that examines the American dream through the lens of two families living side by side in an idyllic NC neighborhood.
With little in common except a property line, these two very different families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over a historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, over the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.
Told in multiple points of view, A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today -- what does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye? -- as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending star-crossed love in a story that's as provocative as it is powerful.
Purchase your tickets
here.
Wednesday, March 11th at 7pm @ Quail Ridge Books
North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn will discuss Gershwin’s An American in Paris, featured at the
NC Symphony’s March 13 and 14 concerts! Grant will discuss Gershwin’s inspirations for this jazz-infused work, its most unique aspects, and his own approach to conducting it.
Joe A. Mobley taught history at North Carolina State University after retiring from the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. He has authored a number of articles and twelve books, received a North Caroliniana Book Award for best book on the state's history, and served as president of both the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association and the Historical Society of North Carolina. Mobley will speak briefly prior to the event with Grant Llewellyn.
Co-sponsored by WCPE - FM The Classical Station.
DURHAM
Sunday, March 8th at 1:30pm @ The Regulator Bookshop
Durham Animal Protection Society holds a monthly cat adoption event at the Regulator, every 2nd Sunday of the month. Come visit our furry friends from 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL
Friday, March 6th at 6:30pm @ Flyleaf Books
Celebrate International Women's Day with a reading by poets of diverse age, race, and background, all female or who identify as female. Each poet will read three poems on the themes of who I am; what matters to me; and a woman who has loved, inspired, and/or influenced me. Featured readers: Pam Baggett, L. Teresa Church, Ashley Harris, Marylin Hervieux, Nicole Higgins, Maureen Sherbondy, D. M. Spratley, Priscilla Webster-Williams, and Jacinta White.
This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sunday, March 8th at 3pm @ Flyleaf Books
Featured poets will each read for approximately 20 minutes and, after a short break for the readers to sign books, there will be a poetry open mic. Please sign up to read no later than 2:45 pm. Each open mic reader will be limited to no more than a page of poetry. Hope to see you there!
Annie Woodford’s writing has appeared in The Greensboro Review, One by Jacar Press, Carolina Quarterly, Appalachian Journal, Raleigh Review, and Cold Mountain Review, among others.
Her first book of poetry—"Bootleg"—was published by Groundhog Poetry Press in Spring 2019. It uses the life of North Carolina banjo revolutionary Charlie Poole as its organizing principle, both sonically and thematically. That his art was born of a mixture of classical training and the staccato modernity of the machinery of textile mills speaks to her own background as a poet of both formal training and working-class roots.
A Tennessee native, Diana Ewell Engel credits caring parents for sparking her imagination in the choice of an Austen/Bronte-worthy childhood home with a yard hosting the spruce she climbed to write verse. Her poems appear in diverse journals and anthologies. Having served as editor of two local poetry collections, she currently tutors college-level writing and leads reading and writing response workshops in the Triad area. Excavating Light, her chapbook published in 2019 by Finishing Line Press, explores memory. As she walks her wrack line, the world enters, animated by tide, wind, trees, sleet and a blood moon.
Monday, March 9th at 7pm @ Flyleaf Books
Rumi's inspiring and deceptively simple poetry has been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. To writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became a lifeline. In The Rumi Prescription, we follow her path of discovery as she translates Rumi's works for herself - to gain wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock. With the help of her father, who is a lifelong fan of Rumi's poetry, she immerses herself in this rich body of work, and discovers a 13th-century prescription for modern life. Addressing isolation, depression, anger, distraction, fear, and other everyday challenges we all face, the book offers a roadmap for living with intention and ease, and embracing love at every turn--despite our deeply divided and chaotic times. Most of all, it presents a vivid reminder that we already have the answers we seek, if we can just slow down to honor them.
Tuesday, March 10th at 7pm @ Flyleaf Books
The Roman Forum, the Leaning Tower, the Piazza San Marco: these are the sights synonymous with Italy. But such landmarks only scratch the surface of this magical country’s offerings. In See You in the Piazza—freshly available in paperback!—Frances Mayes introduces us to the Italy only the locals know, as she and her husband, Ed, eat and drink their way through all twenty regions—from Friuli to Calabria. Along the way, she seeks out the cultural and historic gems not found in traditional guidebooks.
Frances conjures the enchantment of the backstreets, the hubbub of the markets, the dreamlike wonder of that space between lunch and dinner when a city cracks open to those who would wander or when a mind is drawn into the pages of a delicious book—and discloses to us the secrets that only someone who is on intimate terms with a place could find.
Thursday, March 12th at 7pm @ Flyleaf Books
Terrorism kills far fewer Americans annually than automobile accidents, firearms, or even lightning strikes. Given this minimal risk, why does the U.S. continue expending lives and treasure to fight the global war on terror? In Monsters to Destroy, Navin A. Bapat argues that the war on terror provides the U.S. a cover for its efforts to expand and preserve American control over global energy markets. To gain dominance over these markets, the U.S. offered protection to states critical in the extraction, sale, and transportation of energy from their "terrorist" internal and external enemies. However, since the U.S. was willing to protect these states in perpetuity, the leaders of these regimes had no incentive to disarm their terrorists. This inaction allowed terrorists to transition into more powerful and virulent insurgencies, leading the protected states to chart their own courses and ultimately break with U.S. foreign policy objectives. Bapat provides a sweeping look at how the loss of influence over these states has accelerated the decline of U.S. economic and military power, locking it into a permanent war for its own economic security.
PITTSBORO
Friday, March 6th at 9:30am @ McIntyre’s Books
Price: $100
Got a great idea for a picture book? Not sure where to begin? This lively, informative workshop will cover the essentials you need to get started, with exercises and tips on how to turn those great ideas into a manuscript. We’ll focus on craft—things like structure, voice, point of view, language and character—as well as the business side of publishing (editors, agents, and rejections, oh my!). You’ll leave feeling informed and inspired, with plenty of ideas, tools and resources to continue on your way. Two lucky attendees will have a chance for a manuscript consultation with Linda post-Whirlikids weekend.
Linda Ashman is the author of many acclaimed picture books—some forty to date—and The Nuts & Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books. Her books have been included on the “best of the year” lists of The New York Times, Parenting and Child magazines, the Children’s Book Council, the New York Public Library and others, and have been translated into many languages. Recent books include Take Your Pet to School Day, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman (Random House) and William’s Winter Nap, illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Disney-Hyperion), which Booklist called “beautifully paced, rhymed and cadenced” in a starred review. She’s led workshops and given presentations about writing across the country. Find out more at lindaashman.com.
THE FINE PRINT: Deadline to register for this class is Monday, February 10th. This event is not refundable after February 10th, but if your plans have changed, please feel free to send a lucky friend in your place! Just send us an email with their name or have them bring your confirmation email.
Saturday, March 7th at 10am @ McIntyre’s Books
McIntyre’s Books presents the third annual book festival on Saturday, March 7th, 2020 from 10am – 4pm for readers at all levels, but especially for ages 3 and up. Featuring storytimes, readings, book signings, panel discussions with authors and illustrators, crafts and more – it’s a day of book fun for all ages!
This year we’ll have events at three different locations in Fearrington Village. Be sure to visit all three spots--the barn, the garden terrace, and inside McIntyre’s Books:
10-10:45am in the barn
Ethan Long
Tameka Fryer Brown
Beth Ferry
Jason Tharp
E.B. Goodale
10:15-11am in the garden terrace
Sue Soltis
Linda Ashman
Shana Keller
Stacy McAnulty
11am-1pm at McIntyre’s Books
TinkerActive workshops
11:15 to 11:45 in the barn
Zetta Elliott
John Patrick Green
Matt Phelan
11:30-12:00 in the garden terrace
Justin Dean
Tom Watson
noon in the barn
Meet Pete the Cat
1-1:40pm in the barn
Gillian McDunn
Frances O’Roark Dowell
Greg Howard
Mariama Lockington
2-2:40pm in the barn
Andrew Maraniss
J. Kasper Kramer
Anne Blankman
Rajani LaRocca
3pm in the barn
Keynote Speaker: Stacy McAnulty
For aspiring writers, sign up for a Friday workshop: The Nuts and Bolts of Writing Picture Books with author Linda Ashman.
Kid lit fans of all ages are invited! While you’re in the Village, enjoy lunch at The Belted Goat, explore the gardens and meet the farm animals in our Belted Barnyard.
Don’t forget to share your excitement on social media using #Whirlikids!
Contact the bookstore with any questions at 919.542.3030.
