Greensboro Daily Photo

Donald Davis, Master Storyteller

Last night, Master Storyteller Donald Davis told stories at Friends Home West. For an hour, he transported the full house to yesteryear, when times were simpler and family and community meant everything. He told three stories, the kind that weave and twist around, and about 20 minutes later come back to around to tie everything together. The above photo is an action shot, catching him using hand gestures, eye contact, and different voices to portray events and characters in his past. The first story was about family, the circus, and kittens, and the the Octopus ride. The second was about family, church and longing to be old enough to sit with the 13 and up boys in the upper loft of the church. The third was about the 1960s version of online dating at Davison College why it didn't work, and how he ultimately found love, the old fashioned way. By the end of the three stories, we had traversed his childhood, teen years, and adulthood. 

At the end of the night, Mr. Davis encouraged everyone to think about those special memories from long ago, the ones that get tucked away and sometimes need a little prompting to resurrect.  He was supposed to present last month, but 11 inches of snow kept him housebound in Okracoke. Last night, the planets aligned and Mr. Davis, joined by his wife Trish, journeyed to Greensboro and made the evening special for oh so many of us. It is easy to see why he is considered a national treasure.

Happy Saturday!

Remembering O. Henry & Gift of the Magi

Today is the winter solstice, the day the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun. Today, sunrise is at 7:26 am and sunset is at 5:08 pm. In these times of extended darkness, reading is a great way to spend the evening. Let us remember that the writer O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)  was from Greensboro. There is a complex of three statues dedicated to the artist at the corner of Bellemeade and North Elm Street, right across from Tanger Center. It is a lovely place to visit. The above photo is of the open book sculpture. There is also a sculpture of O.Henry himself and a statue of his small dog. The book is 7' by 14'. It is open to the opening page of the short story, "The Gift of the Magi".

In "The Gift of the Magi," a young couple by gifts for each other by selling their greatest treasure. It reminds us, during the Christmas season, that love is more valuable than worldly possessions. The writing on the bottom left panel reads, " "Dell" said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."  What sacrifices have we made for each other this December? We can do great things without even needing to spend money. Let's all check out a copy of O.Henry short stories from the library, snuggle up, and have a good read.

Happy Thursday!

Greensboro Bound Literary Festival

The Greensboro Bound Literary Festival has come and gone, but oh what a wonderful festival it was and we look forward to having it return to Greensboro next spring. The festival is always a combination of North Carolina authors, as well as authors from across the United States. This year, there were 55 authors participating. Presenters were as local as the poet laureates from 14 Guilford County high schools.

The above photo features the three co-presenters from the "This Is Your Brain On Poetry" session at Scuppernong Books on Saturday afternoon. They are, from left to right, Filipino-American poet and author Janine Joseph (Stillwater, OK), Maureen Sherbondy (Raleigh, NC), and Crystal Simone Smith (Durham, NC). Topics of their writing often include issues related to social justice. We forgot to ask the trio how they came together for their session, but they seemed to be a perfect fit.

Finally, it is always fun to see the worker bees, behind the scene making our festivals run seamlessly. We saw Lynn Witherspoon working logistics, dashing around on a golf cart, probably going between the literary festival and the blues festival. 

Jaki Shelton Green, NC Poet Laureate

On Sunday afternoon, North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green read ten of her poems at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. We wanted to feature Jaki, now,  so you can mark your calendar for her reading at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro on April 2nd. If you like thought-provoking, free verse poetry,  the Scuppernong reading is one you won't want to miss. 

Jaki teaches documentary poetry at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. She writes of love, loss, race, emancipation, American history, and more. Some of her poems share slices of everyday life- especially life in the south. Some are written through the lens of a documentarian, inspired by factual records.  In the 1980s and 1990s, Jaki worked with people on death row. For a year she had inmates write using imagery related to their hands- the last time they held their child's hands, what their hands did, the work done with their hands, and more.  Jaki wrote about her grandmother's hands; reminding the audience, teachers learn what they teach. After that reading, we knew we had to share a photo featuring Jaki's own hands. 

Hearing our state's poet laureate read in person is so special. We look forward to the Scuppernong event and hope to see you there.

Happy Tuesday!