Amy Hempel, D.A. Powell, Laura Kasischke, David Berman, and Kevin Young are all reading, presenting craft talks, and mingling at receptions here in Gainesville this weekend beginning tomorrow, Thursday. Here's the full schedule for the Florida Writers' Festival.
For sure, I'll show up on Friday night to hear Amy Hempel and D.A. Powell. The readings begin at 8pm at the Ustler Hall Atrium near the University of Florida stadium.
Well, me along with Karen McElmurray, Georgia Banks-Martin, Shobha Sharma, Kimmy Van Kooten, and Anne Martin Fletcher. Even if you haven't been able to make it to that day's Women Writing Retreat, come to this final, free, and open to the public event at Anastasia Books (81 King St). Seven pm.
I'm either reading fiction about a hot-flashing lesbian in relationship trouble or an essay about rolling in the mud of Payne's Prairie. But then there's that short, short piece about morphine and my mother. I promise, I'll have it figured out by Saturday night.
See these bluecurls. I bought one plant for $2 at a Native Plant Sale years ago. Each winter, I shake the seeds into my skirt and wander around flipping them over the ground. And right now, there are hundreds of bluecurls blooming in my yard.
So, and some of you can probably mouth this rant along with me, stop it, just stop it, with the drug and water-addicted yards. Gainesvillians - use the Native Plant Sale on Saturday, October 8th at Morningside Nature Center (8:30am-12:30pm) as an opportunity to buy and learn.
P.S - If you join (and you can do this on site) the Native Plant Society or Friends of Nature Parks you can show up on Friday night. Some vendors sell out before Saturday.
The poets Aliesa Zoecklein, Feral Wilcox, Corky Culver, and Samara Golabuk (collectively known as The Scribe Tribe) are some of the natural treasures of Gainesville which makes them a perfect fit for the Florida Museum of Natural History. On Sunday, October 2nd at 1:30pm, they'll weave spoken and sung poetry with instrumental music in celebration of Wild Music: Sounds and Song Life, an exhibit at the museum.
Aliesa's poems have been accepted into the journals Cream City Review, Cimarron Review, and Pleiades, where's there's a link to one of her poems available. Corky's collection The Natural Law of Water has a prominent place on my bookshelf, and in addition to her lyrical poetry, I've heard that Samara has quite the singing voice. Top this all off with Feral's genius as a wordsmith and musician and we're pretty much guaranteed one of those transportive, can't-hardly-believe-we-got-to-be-there afternoons.
So, Sunday, October 2nd, 1:30pm, at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The admission is free. I'm so looking forward to this.
