THIS BLOG HAS A NEW ADDRESS ...

AND THE NEW ADDRESS IS
http://www.thecarsonmccullerscenter.blogspot.com

McCullers Center Welcomes Courtney George!

Columbus State University has announced the selection of Dr. Courtney George as Interim Director of the Carson McCullers Center, to replace Cathy Fussell, who is retiring. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Dr. George completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia and her doctoral studies at Louisiana State University where her areas of focus included Southern literature and culture, women's and gender studies, American music history and culture, and race and class in American culture. Dr. George has published a number of articles on these subjects.

You can read more about Dr. George on the McCullers Center website.

In the meantime -- Welcome, Courtney!

News from a Fellow

Selena Anderson, the McCullers Center's 2009 Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow, has a story in the very latest issue of Glimmer Train literary magazine. Order your copy here.

Photos from McCullers Course End-of-Semester Covered Dish

I always declare the last day of class in the McCullers course "McCullers Covered Dish Day," and I instruct students to bring dishes referenced in McCullers. I pitch in, too, of course. This year we produced a particularly delectable feast, complete with hoppin' john, fried chicken, sweet potatoes, homemade biscuits, and much more -- even a cake which did not fail. Here are some photos:

I even made a very funny-lookin' Baked Alaska:

Photos from ARDEN Release Party, April 29, 2011

McCullers in Chicago --

Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre has announced that they will stage not one but two McCullers-inspired plays next season. Read all about it here.

New York Times Article ...

... about Suzanne Vega's play:

FEBRUARY HOUSE to be Staged in New York

The Public Theater in New York City has announced its 2012 season, and a musical adaptation of Sherrill Tippins' book FEBRUARY HOUSE is on the production schedule for May/June 2012. This oughta be interesting! Here's a description from the Public's website:

http://publictheater.org/content/view/244/

Sunday's Event Canceled

The event originally scheduled for this Sunday afternoon, April 3, "An Afternoon with Carrie Fall Benson and Louise 'Biddy' Hammett," has been canceled due to Mrs. Hammett's illness. We'll try to re-schedule for a later date. Thanks for your understanding.

Photos from Conference!

Conference Photos!

I'll post 'em as I get 'em.  Here's one of Georgios Tsarsitalidis, of Uppsala University, Sweden.  Georgios presented a paper titled "Carson McCullers' Representation of Deafness in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."

HAPPY 94TH BIRTHDAY, CARSON!

Front page article, by Tim Chitwood, in today's Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Central Illinois Reads THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER

Read here all about the terrific programming they have planned.

Happy Birthday, Gay Talese!

The Carson McCullers Center wishes a Happy Birthday today to author Gay Talese, who with his wife Nan Talese was a guest at the Carson McCullers Center last year.  Talese, who is credited with developing "New Journalism," himself credits McCullers with having been a major influence on his own writing.

A Little Dartmouth Reunion at the McCullers House

Pictured here are Thornton Jordan and visiting poet Cleopatra Mathis, in the dining room of the Carson McCullers childhood home in Columbus.  Professor Mathis, who is the Director of the Creative Writing Program and the Frederick Sessions Beebe Professor in the English Department at Dartmouth College, was in town to give two poetry presentations sponsored by the Center in collaboration with the Georgia Poetry Circuit. Dr. Jordan, who in 2002 donated the Smith-McCullers House to Columbus State University to establish the Carson McCullers Center, is a graduate of Dartmouth.

Register now!

The Jake Leg Stompers

Hambone Willie of The Jake Leg Stompers will entertain us at Carson's 94th Birthday Celebration on Saturday night, February 19, during the Conference.  We're billing the evening as "Supper at the Sad Cafe -- On a GOOD Night."  To register:  www.mccullerscenter.org

POET CLEOPATRA MATHIS TO READ ON MONDAY

Acclaimed poet CLEOPATRA MATHIS will give two readings on Monday, January 24:

4:00 PM at the Carson McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue in Columbus -- an informal reading and discussion.

7:30 PM at the Simon Schwob Memorial Library on main campus -- a formal reading.

Everyone is cordially invited to these free events.

Since 1982, Cleopatra Mathis has directed the Creative Writing Program at Dartmouth College, where she is the Frederick Sessions Beebe Professor of the Art of Writing. She has published six collections of poetry, including What to Tip the Boatman?, which won the Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book of Poems in 2001. Other prizes for her work include the Peter Lavin Award for Younger Poets from the Academy of American Poets, the Robert Frost Resident Poet Award, the May Sarton Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. Her work appears frequently in magazines, anthologies, and textbooks, including The New Yorker, Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Georgia Review, and The Southern Review. Mathis was born in Ruston, Louisiana. She graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1970, taught high school for a while, then earned an MFA from Columbia University in 1978. The following year she published her first book of poems.

Interesting production in Canada ...

Look at this -- a production troupe in Canada is staging a play titled Smash Cut Freeze, inspired by the 1952 film version of The Member of the Wedding:
http://www.calgarysun.com/entertainment/columnists/2011/01/12/16853516.html

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE NOW POSTED ONLINE!

It's time now to register for our mid-February Carson McCullers Conference and 94th Birthday Celebration, which will feature scholarly presentations, discussions, tours, food, film, music and a special performance by Suzanne Vega. You know you don't want to miss out on the fun!  The complete schedule is here.