It is time to mark your calendars for the 2nd Annual Kudzu Chronicles – A Southern Writers Event on the Square. Kudzu is scheduled for Saturday, September 7th this year. A special committee is planning this event that brings published authors to help you learn how they got started writing, or what you need to know to get published. Three talented authors – Tim Hollis, Jacquelyn Procter Reeves, and John Mantooth – have accepted our invitation to tell their personal stories. Several local authors – Kelly Kazek, Jerry Barksdale, Ali Turner, and others – will join them on panels and be on hand at the book bazaar to answer questions and sell/sign books.
John Mantooth is an award-winning author whose short stories have been recognized in numerous year’s best anthologies. His debut novel is The Year of the Storm. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Becky, and two children.
Tim Hollis began writing when he was seven years old and simply never stopped. His first professional experience came when he was hired as an editor to polish and refine the works of other local writers, and he eventually found the time to complete his first book in 1990. Hollis has published a new book nearly every year since including See Alabama First: A History of the State’s Tourism Industry (History Press, May 2013) and the forthcoming Toons in Toyland: The Story of Cartoon Character Merchandising (UPM, Fall 2014).
Historical writer Jacquelyn Procter Reeves, curator of the historic Donnell House in Athens has published her most recent book Murder Untenured an account of the background of former UAH professor and murderer Amy Bishop, which Reeves self-published.
Watch for more on Kudzu Chronicles on our web page – www.athens.edu/CLL – or our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/#!/KudzuChronicles.
If books are not your thing, you might be interested in the Athens State University Community Chorus. The Chorus has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June of 2014. This will be the first time the group has been asked to travel to New York to be featured in a concert setting.
The chorus was started in 2011 at Athens State’s Center for Lifelong Learning and is under the direction of Dr. John Buttler and assistant directors Lynette Pope and Frank Holmes. Beth Andrews serves as the accompanist for the group. Currently the Chorus has around 20 members with a goal to find more talent to increase that number to 50. The Center for Lifelong Learning will be holding auditions for new members. Anyone who has officially registered or performed with the group since 2011 will not be required to audition.
To audition, contact the Athens State University Center for Lifelong Learning by phone at (256) 233-8260 or by e-mail at cll@athens.edu. Audition times have been set on July 13, 14 and 15 at various times. New members will be notified by July 22.
Learning never stops at the Center for Lifelong Learning. We hope to see you there.
By: Wanda Campbell
