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Wordsmith's Café

May 2010

Summer Reading

Long, long ago in a land far away, I attended 12 years of private schools, from first to twelfth grades. Not quite raised by wolves, I was raised by nuns. Discipline, education and a journey to adulthood guided by alien creatures dressed in black. Think Darth Vader with rosary beads, a ruler and the personality of—well, of Darth Vader.

A Catholic education, at least in my time, was parochial and narrow in many ways, but always heavy on discipline and academics. You raised your hand to ask or answer a question, stood when called upon, said, “Yes, Sister. No, Sister”. Most of all you showed respect and were prepared to suffer consequences if you goofed off in class. Who knew about ADD and dyslexia in 1965?

Disciplinary problems were handled on the spot. There must have been a weight room in the convent, because even the most petite nun packed a wallop. So, I learned to be a model student (until college—another story); intimidated, towing the line and doing as I was told. I also learned to love reading.

An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and the nuns at St. Ursula and Maryvale were not going to allow the devil to take a hammer to our young brains over summer vacation. Each June, from about 7th grade on, we were given a list of at least 8 books to be read by September. Not just any books, but classics by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aldous Huxley, Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy, Stephen Crane, Emily Bronte, Ernest Hemingway and the like.

(I lived in Baltimore at the time, and the great southern authors were never on the list. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and the like. I suppose there were scenes and subject matter in these more modern classics that might have made a nun blush.)

“No, oh no! Don’t throw me in the briar patch!” This was heaven. An entire summer of reading under the trees, under the bed covers, on the porch, at the beach—and it was homework.

“Mom, let me stay up a little bit later. I have to finish this chapter—it’s homework.” “I can’t dry dishes right now. I’m reading. It’s homework.”

Of course there was always the occasional, “I don’t care if it is homework, get down here right now and set the table…eat dinner…wash the dishes. ” But it worked a good percentage of the time. My summer ideal will forever be those long, lazy days of plowing through my reading list. Getting lost in the Scottish moors, sailing the tall ships, floating down the Mississippi with Tom and Huck, experiencing the horrors of war or exploring the future.

My children went to public schools here in the South. They never brought home a summer reading list. Public schools don’t feel they “own” their students over the summer. What a shame….

What was your favorite summer book?

Wordsmithscafe@aol.com



POETRY FESIVAL

The Nazim Hikmet Poetry Festival is an annual celebration of poetry that brings together artists, the community, scholars and lovers of poetry. This year's festival will include:

Poetry Workshop (1 PM): A poetry workshop led by poet Chris Salerno and open to the public will enable aspiring poets sixteen and older to put pen to paper. Selected poems will appear on the Festival website. RSVP to contact@nazimhikmetpoetryfestival.org

Keynote Address (3 PM): The Festival is honored to host Dr. Mutlu Blasing Konuk of Brown University, who is a literary scholar and the leading translator of Nazim’s poems into English.

International Poetry Competition (4 PM): From North Carolina to Malta, 175 poets submitted over 500 poems to the poetry competition. The ten finalists will participate in a joint poetry reading: Kamal Ayyildiz, Mel Kenne, C.P. Mangel, George McKim, Scott Rudd, Anya Russian, Garrison Somers, Celisa Steele, Carolyn Beard Whitlow, and Loftin Wilson

Poetry Spotlight (5 PM): Readings by renowned North Carolina poets: Jeffery Beam, Joseph Donahue, and Jackie Shelton Green

The Festival is organized by the American Turkish Association of NC, hosted by the Town of Cary (Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Dept.) and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation and the Duke University Center for International Studies.

Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/BuketUS?v=app_2344061033&ref=profile#!/event.php?eid=114435668570117&index=1

Related flyers (we can provide copies for posting and distribution)
Workshop: http://www.baliandbaliworks.com/zip/nhpf10_workshop.pdf
Brochure: http://www.baliandbaliworks.com/zip/nhpf10_brochure_v2.pdf
Letter size poster: http://www.baliandbaliworks.com/zip/nhpf10_poster.pdf



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Know a local writer who deserves recognition? Are you recently published? Have you won a writing prize or award? Know of an upcoming writing event, contest or call for entries? Random thoughts? Any thoughts? Request for something new on the Wordsmith’s Café menu? Please email writing-related news and information to wordsmithscafe@aol.com