Friday Selected Shorts - Celebrate Toni Morrison

Got the brain in gear on Saturday night and bought a ticket to a virtual DMA Arts and Letters Live program.  Selected Shorts: A Celebration of Toni Morrison was a lovely event with some excellent readings and engaging excerpts.

The host Yaa Gyasi has won many awards and her latest book is Transcendent Kingdom.  

From Broadway and television - Anika Noni Rose read an excerpt from Jazz. Lovely read and she has such soulful eyes. 

Another theater and TV award winner - Brandon J. Dirden read from Sula -  quite touching and descriptive 

My favorite  of the evening was a stand alone piece called The Dancing Mind. Joe Morton (he was Rowan- Olivia Pope's Dad on Scandal) has a voice that could just read the phone book to me.  This Emmy award winner, Tony nominated actor is powerful. 

The finale was an except from Sweetness done by Charlayne Woodard - two time Obie winner and more. 

 Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a Pulitzer Prize winning author (Beloved), and powerful writer through the years. Name any top writing honor and she earned it, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994. Class act, commanding speaker, and activist. Her writing has made us all think through the years, as she strove to bring the black experience to the written page. 

I thank the DMA for this hour long program. It was well executed. Yes, it's more fun live with audience reaction, but virtual is better than nothing and worth the $20 ticket. 

Virtual Arts and Letters Live - Sue Monk Kidd

Arts in the new Era - a Virtual ticketed event to hear Sue Monk Kidd give an author talk.

Totally worth the price of admission. Thanks to the Dallas Museum of Art and their Arts and Letters Live program, I was able to enjoy an hour long outdoor fireside chat with Sue Monk Kidd. Her new book is called Book of Longing.  I have not read it yet - a copy is being sent to me as part of the ticket price. Nonetheless, it sounds intriguing and I enjoyed hearing the author's comments on her process, concerns, and efforts to bring this book alive.

"You put yourself out there, " she said.  She decided to write a book about Anna, her creation - the wife of Jesus.  As her husband said, "What could go wrong?"  She approached it with trepidation, but felt there was a story there. It's fiction, but she believes writing is " a fight of courage."

She did a year of research and then took over four years to write the book. She wants the novel to "inspire our longings, our largeness." It was a feminist quest, a concern for freedoms, and to give a voice to a strong woman.

Sue Monk Kidd said, "My writing is a prayer."  She's seventy years old now, began writing at age thirty - a tad late to the game.

She was classy, well spoken, sincere, had a super sense of humor.  This program was a delight to watch. It would have been more fun live, but this could be the new norm and I am happy to pay for a ticket.

Sue Monk Kidd - author and neat lady.

Arts and Letters - Artful Musings on a Sunday afternoon

Enjoyed a Sunday afternoon program at the Dallas Museum of Art. The theme of Artful Musings was Fame.  It consisted of letters about fame from the famous. Four performers - Todd Beadle, Jamie Maschler, David Quicksall, and Jen Taylor presented a program with letters, a slide show, and an accordion accompaniment. It was all quite entertaining, amusing, and enlightening.

The show was in four parts - the struggle, fame, stardom, and fleeting aspects. It began with a letter from a 14 year old to a magazine, hoping for acceptance. The author...Stephen King. Other letters included David Bowie writing back to his very first fan letter from America  - his response was incredibly gracious. Another letter read aloud was from a young Bruce Springsteen to his landlord explaining why he was late.

There was quite a variety - some from authors to their publishers along with a response (sadly a rejection or two). There was a very funny letter response from the Monty Python troupe - John Cleese wrote, then Michael Palin did a follow-up, along with Eric Idle. It was a hoot.

The program flowed and the performers read with verve. This was a well curated collection and performance piece. Fame - quite a concept.

Arts and Letters Live - Selected Shorts

 When you are a kid, you enjoy being read to out loud. Well, turns out - it's a joy as an adult, too.
The latest Dallas Museum of Art's program Arts and Letters Live featured three selected short stories read aloud by three known actors. Truly inspirational. The theme was Surprised by Love, and yes, each story had a twist.

 

 

Jane Kaczmarek (known as the mother in Malcom in the Middle) read The Proxy Marriage by Maile Meloy.  She seemed touched by the story herself.

 

Mary Kay Place (from the Big Chill to Big Love) has a wry sense of humor and she brought her voice to Who Am I This Time? by Kurt Vonnegut. This was my favorite.

 

Rene Auberjonois (Broadway and Star Trek:Deep Space Nine) gave a rousing read of The Big Cat by Louise Erdrich. This story built slowly, but was rich in description.

 

This program turned out to be a very fun 1-1/2 hours. Check it out if Selected Short Stories comes to your area. As an author, I've read my own writing out loud - it makes you think about word choice, rhythm, and whether there is a flow.

 

 

Author Talk: Daniel Silva

 Saturday July 21st, the Dallas Museum of Art hosted a special Arts & Letters Live event with author Daniel Silva. I have not read his new novel The Fallen Angel yet, but I'm a follower of lead character Gabriel Allon's adventures and I look forward to an exciting thriller. However, the talk delved much deeper - Silva's research, travels, world economic and political chat, and his view of publishing today were all on the evening's menu. We enjoyed appetizing plot teasers as well as deep dish opinions.

Mr. Silva began writing as a Middle East correspondent. After returning to Washington and working for CNN, he began his first novel, The Unlikely Spy. It wasn't until his fourth, The Kill Artist, that he created Gabriel Allon - an art restorer and Israeli secret agent. Now with his fifteenth book, Silva still doesn't bore us. He blends art, smuggling, danger, and world threatening secrets. Espionage, intrigue, and fascinating characters are the hallmarks of Silva's novels.

When asked, "Which is harder - writing the book or doing the book tour?" Mr. Silva laughed, paused, and said, "Well......I like meeting the readers, but the actual travel is a beating." He proceeded to tell some funny travel horror stories from his current tour. It's not glamorous.

Because the publishing industry is demanding, he'll return after Labor Day and hunker down to work on the next novel with the expectation that it will be completed by March 2013. He writes seven days a week, full work hours. His research is thorough and his editing precise.

He personally is not keen on social network expectations and prefers paper to e-books.  He works alone and doesn't "understand the idea of writer critique groups. I'm not reading my work to a bunch of people." Silva does run words by his wife, but otherwise, he relies on his own ability as a writer to produce product.

Daniel Silva was a delightful interview. His sense of humor and his obvious intelligence gave the audience a well-rounded sense of a quiet talented man. If you haven't read any of Silva's books, seek one out now and you'll be hooked.