You don’t have to have read the books to participate. The idea is to help enrich your appreciation and understanding of these authors and their works.
"Community Conversations: Books of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize" kicks off from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24. This first event will focus on the 2014 Nonfiction Winner, "Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here" by Karima Bennoune. The Algerian-born author's book tells stories of heroic resistance by Muslims to Islamist fundamentalism. Awad Halabi, associate professor and coordinator of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Wright State, will lead the conversation. He will be joined by physician Dr. Urmee Siraj and Leilia Chamankah, adjunct professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton.
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At 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, Andrew Strombeck, an associate professor of English at Wright State University, will lead a discussion about the 2016 Fiction Winner, "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The Vietnamese-born author will participate in the conversation via Skype. He's the author of two works of fiction and two works of non-fiction and frequently addresses the impact of the Vietnam conflict on the lives of Vietnamese and Americans.
Mr. Nguyen will participate online during the community conversation on his work on October 2. Other panelists will include Matt Joseph, Dayton City Commissioner and a member of the commission’s Welcome Dayton Committee.
On Nov. 2, the final conversation of the series will focus on Colm Tóibín, 2017 winner of the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, whose fiction and nonfiction "captures in heartbreaking detail the impact of exile and political conflict on individual lives." Carol Loranger, associate professor and chair of English at Wright State, will lead the discussion. Joining her will be Sharon Short, executive director of the Antioch Writers' Workshop and author of "My One Square Inch of Alaska" and Greg Anderson, associate professor of History at The Ohio State University and author of "The Athenian Experiment: Building an Imagined Political Community in Ancient Attica, 508-490 B.C."
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Toibin’s work includes “House of Names, “Brooklyn,” “Nora Webster, “The Testament of Mary” and “The Blackwater Lightship.” His book, “Brooklyn,” was made into the Academy Award-nominated 2016 film by the same name.
Julie Buchanan, Dayton Metro Library’s Adult Programming Manager, says it’s hoped that the discussions will not only celebrate excellence in literature, but also foster communication and understanding in our community.
The Community Conversations series is part of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize’s outreach and education initiative, which is planned to include development of a repository of teaching materials for selected works, as well as annual fall conversations in partnership with area universities and the Dayton Metro Library.
Muse Machine hosts Summer Institute for Educators
Fifty teachers from 12 counties in southwest and central Ohio recently had the privilege of participating in a the Muse Machine’s Summer Institute for Educators.
The theme of this summer’s institute was “What Jazz Can Teach Us.” According to the organization’s director of development, Rosalie M. Catalano, the four day session featured renowned performing artists/educators from “Jazz at Lincoln Center” and “Jazz Power Initiative.”
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“The feedback we have received — even from those teachers who have attended these sessions for 30 years — has been extremely positive,” Catalano reports. “One especially interesting session focused on ‘Syncopated Leadership’ which emphasizes that teams with ‘collaborative rhythm’ are more successful.”
Catalano says the sessions, which also included some students, were both fun and informative.” We also touched on some very sensitive topics such as slavery, which cannot be omitted when covering the history of jazz in America,” she says.”But we also had fun dancing and singing.”
Native American music to be featured at music festival
The Ohio Valley Indigenous Music Festival is a family-friendly event featuring award-winning Native American flute music and singers along with free workshops and presentations. The festival will take place on Saturday Aug. 26 and Sunday, Aug. 27, at Patricia Allyn Park, 7266 N. Ohio 48 in Springboro.
The event was formerly held at SunWatch and known as the Sunwatch Native Flute Festival.
In addition to live music, vendors from throughout the country will sell Native American style flutes, arts and crafts. This year’s performers will include Painted Raven from Florida, Jonny Lipford (Iowa), South Dakotans Chief Golden Light Eagle and Friends, Floridian Brad Young, Heart Wind Trio (Indiana), and Ohioans Mark Camden Trio and Matthew Thoma.
Douglas Blue Feather, organizer of the event, is a well-known flute player who will also perform over the weekend. "To me the Native American flute is a very spiritual and healing instrument," he says. "Over the years, I have received countless emails from people telling me that they were going through a very difficult time in their lives … and my music was the only thing that got them through the day. To hear that is more rewarding than winning a trophy."
Blue Feather says when most people think about music in the Native American culture, they think of the drum, the singers, and the Native American flute which can be traced back over 2,000 years from petroglyphs of the ancient flute player, Kokopelli. “Today the instrument has become modernized, tuned to various keys, and is an instrument that is easy to learn and fun to play because it does not require any musical background or extensive training,” he says.
“Maudie” opens at The Neon
If you’re interested in folk art, you’ll want to see “Maudie,” the film that opened this weekend at The Neon movie theater in downtown Dayton. It’s a true story, based on the life of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis who painted happy scenes on whatever materials she could.
The film focuses on an unlikely romance — the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Although Maudie is hunched with crippled hands, she yearns to be an artist. The film follows Everett’s efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie’s love for him and her rise to fame as a folk painter.
Each week, arts writer Meredith Moss shares news about the people and events making arts news in our region. If you have information you’d like to have included, contact Meredith: MMoss@coxohio.com
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