Literary

Nevada Center for the Book and the Carson City Library will present author Tupelo Hassman on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m. Hassman’s first novel, "girlchild," is written in a compelling style of short chapters, redacted pages, and gut-wrenching narrative. The Nevada Reads event is sponsored by the Nevada Center for the Book and Nevada Humanities.

Nevada Humanities Scholar Dr. Reginald Stewart will participate in this book discussion, as well. A focus of discussion will be on the eugenics of generational poverty.

Finding ordinary magic just became a little easier for Amanda Aldridge, who teaches high school English in the agricultural community of Yerington, 80 miles outside of Reno. Thanks to money awarded through the Nevada Poetry Out Loud Program, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, Aldridge added $500 in her budget for resources to help students overcome fears and experience the magic of poetry.

New York Times best selling author Ellen Hopkins is this week's guest on It's Your City produced by Access Carson City Television. Hopkins discusses her books, including "Crank" as well as founding the nonprofit Ventana Sierra in Carson City along with her daughter Kelly. The house opened June 1.

Carson City is being featured on C-SPAN network's two channels this weekend after their visit to the capital city last month.

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles made a stop in their “2013 LCV Cities Tour” in Carson City from July 8-12 to feature the history and literary life of the community. 

Carson City Mayor Robert Crowell and invited guests welcomed the 100 million household TV giant C-SPAN and its cable carrier Charter Communications to the steps of the capitol building for the first day of a week-long visit to the capital city.

C-SPAN’s video-journalists aim to capture Carson City’s history and literary journey as told by local historians, published authors and long-time residents. Collected stories will air August 3 and 4 on Charter channels 235 and 236 on C-SPAN’s American History TV and Book TV.

Carson City will be in the national spotlight as film crews from C-SPAN will begin taping a segment beginning July 8 that will feature local history and authors that will air to a nationwide audience in August.

Mayor Robert Crowell and Charter Communications will welcome the national network on the steps of the Nevada State Capitol as they prepare for a week-long visit to record and feature the city’s history and literary life. On Monday, July 8, C-SPAN representatives will reveal the stories and segments that will be explored.

The Sierra region’s own literary stars will be shining at the Ventana Sierra Advanced Writing Workshop Friday-Sunday, June 14-16, at Western Nevada College in Carson City.

New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins is the keynote speaker and the architect of the event, designed to help writers of all genres and skill levels to be successful. All proceeds benefit Ventana Sierra Youth Housing and Resource Initiative, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit foundation created by Hopkins to provide housing and resources to local youth.

Minden resident Krista Lukas has published her debut poetry collection "Fans of My Unconscious." She will read from her collection at two venues in June: the Mile High Jazz Band’s Jazz and Poetry event at Comma Coffee in Carson City on June 11, 7:30 p.m., and the Ventana Sierra Advanced Writers Conference at Western Nevada College in Carson City on June 14 at 6:30 p.m.

The book is published by The Black Rock Press, University of Nevada, Reno, 2013.

Enrollment at Nevada Performance Academy, a Nevada tuition free charter school in Carson City that will serve grades 7-12, begins Wednesday. In an effort to ensure high quality teaching and learning, and because of predicted space constraints, the Academy will limit first-year enrollment in the blended components of its academic program, which is face-to-face instruction and participation in extracurricular classes.

Sam Davis was a Sagebrusher from the old school who backed up what he wrote. It was a tradition he learned on the Comstock. You could write what you wanted, but you had to back up what you wrote.

Sagebrush journalism was a style of literature born in the American West that had some very deep roots in Virginia City. It came to life around 1860 and had run its course by the turn of the 20th century. In that ensuing 40 year time period some Sagebrushers became world renown.

Recently, while dialing thru the radio spectrum I stumbled upon the “conservative” Mike Gallagher talk show, which is broadcast locally here in Carson City, on KKFT-99.1.

Mr. Gallagher stated (and I am paraphrasing here) “our children are not allowed to pray in public schools”

“The United States Supreme Court has never held that students cannot pray in school.

The Western Nevada College exhibit "Always Lost: A Meditation on War" continues to travel the country, now with a stop at Wisconsin's Mount Mary College.
Marilee Swirczek, Emeritus Professor of English at Western Nevada College notes the exhibit at the college and an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Sierra Nevada College professors and editors evaluated over 500 submissions to choose the top winners for the 2012 High School Writing Contest, a national competition that produced exceptional stories, poems and creative nonfiction from high school juniors and seniors.
“The level of talent was extraordinary, making it tough for the judges,” said June Saraceno, English Department chair at Sierra Nevada College, a four-year private college in Incline Village, Nev.

I wanted nothing to do with Western Nevada College’s Always Lost: A Meditation on War project when English professor Marilee Swirczek presented the idea in 2009 of personalizing the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars through literary work, combat photos, and a wall displaying the faces of U.S. military war dead since Sept. 11, 2001.

Proscenium Players will hold open auditions at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City for their March 2013 production of “The Underpants” directed by Jeff Whitt. Auditions will be held on Sunday, December 2 and Monday, December 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Maizie Harris-Jesse Theater, 449 West King Street, Carson City.

The Nevada Arts Council has awarded $9,148 in Jackpot Grants to nine Nevada artists and one public institution for arts and arts learning projects. Jackpot grants are awarded on a quarterly schedule and are designed to support arts projects initiated by artists, schools, nonprofit organizations and public institutions. These projects are usually “sudden opportunity events” or applications from groups new to the NAC.

High school teachers and students are invited to get involved in Nevada Poetry Out Loud, the dynamic poetry program that is structured similarly to the National Spelling Bee, but focuses on literary heritage through memorization and performance of classic and contemporary poetry. Registration for The Eighth Annual Nevada Poetry Out Loud competition is open to all Nevada public, private, charter, parochial and alternative schools and home school associations through Dec. 1.

Minnesota prose poet Julie Gard will be reading from her new chapbook, Russia in 17 Objects (Tiger's Eye Press), at Comma Coffee, 312 S. Carson St. Subjects include Russian literary icons, international adoption, and found objects from St. Petersburg courtyards. This event is free.

The film "Atlas Shrugged Part 1," opened Friday night at the Fandango Galaxy cineplex in Carson City. The opening was overshadowed by the first-night celebration the V&T's No. 18 steam locomotive in "Water for Elephants," an average romance-plus-disaster film.

Wally Cuchine, a champion of the Arts, officially retired April 8 with a big send up from people from around the State, including proclamations of “Wally Cuchine Day” from Governor Brian Sandoval and Reno Mayor Bob Cashell at a concert at the Eureka Opera House with Ralph Cuda and the Dixieland Boys.

Take My Home Tonight" is supposed to be, I think, a blast from the past about 1988. It's playing at the Casino Fandango Galaxy multiplex in Carson City where the sound system is up to the wild and rocking music, luckily, since the music is the best thing in the film, even to non-rock fans like me.

An art exhibit that explores an observation made in author Barbara Kingsolver's book, "Animal Dreams: Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin" is featured at Western Nevada College.
The public is invited to meet the artists at a reception, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 5-6:30 p.m. in the WNC Carson City galleries.