The North Carolina Writers’ Network is accepting submissions for the 2013 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, which honors internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. The competition is open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication. The postmark deadline is Jan. 30, 2013.
Now that the world has survived fears about an apocalypse, it’s time to celebrate the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Here are some events in Durham and Chapel Hill that mark this annual milestone.
With the number of concerts, plays and other arts-related events, in any week there’s more than enough to do in Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The arts are essential to our civic life. Here are some developments that we at Entertainment & More took note of in 2012.
A look back at the year in entertainment in Durham absolutely must include the place that draws thousands upon thousands to Broadway shows, concerts and special events throughout the year. The Durham Performing Arts Center has exceeded expectations since it opened in the fall of 2008. It’s been going gangbusters ever since, and this past year was ranked No. 1 by Pollstar magazine for ticket sales, and the Carolina Theatre also joined the list, at the 88th spot worldwide.
The Kid is flying back to NECI on Jan. 1. The plane leaves at the terrifying hour of 6 a.m. (We’re not morning people.) So, a New Year’s breakfast won’t happen, but my little scholar will get at least one big, home-cooked breakfast while home for Christmas vacation.
The Durham Arts Council has created an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to help support 16 local artists have been selected to receive Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Grants in 2013.
“Green Eggs and Ham” is one of the best-selling English-language children's hardcover books of all time. It is also one of the first books I ever read aloud to my son when he was born a year and a half ago. Many who have read this Dr. Seuss classic know that the vocabulary of the text famously consists of only 50 different words. I believe those 50 words, with their simple, repetitive cadence, made an impression on my son’s earliest days of life and sparked the love for books he has today.
Durham author Alice J. Wisler (author of “Rain Song,” “Hatteras Girl” and other novels) has started the Sandy Hook Comfort Project to help grieving families in Newtown, Conn. Last week, several friends approached Wisler about sending copies of her new book “Getting Out of Bed in the Morning: Reflections of Comfort in Heartache” to families who lost children and loved ones in this month’s school shooting. Wisler’s book is her chronicle of loss: Her 4-year-old son Daniel died of cancer in 1997.
Collaboration is a generous act; two or more artists work together leaving their personal egos behind and create a new work of art that blends their ideas into a new depth. This collaboration was the brainchild of photographer and teacher Barbara Tyroler, who floated it to five of her colleagues whose work she deeply respects and who show regularly at Frank Gallery.
Vocalist Nnenna Freelon and bass player John Brown have a musical association that goes back a good 20 years. Brown was in Freelon’s first touring band, before he became the jazz studies director at Duke University. Through recordings and tours, Freelon and Brown have established separate bodies of work that are heard nationally and internationally.