William Faulkner News

Author Kaye Park Hinckley announces that her new southern gothic, The Distance Between High and Low, is a finalist in the William Faulkner/William Wisdom Competition and the Tuscany Prize for Fiction.

Critically-acclaimed actors Andr Holland and Phylicia Rashad visit 92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center on Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 pm for a dramatic reading of Toni Morrison's new book, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations. The actors will read selections of the book curated by Morrison scholar and Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin, which 92Y has commissioned for the event.

The Cave Dwellers explores the adventures of some homeless people who are camping out on the stage of an abandoned theatre that is about to be pulled down for a housing project. Humor, grace, innocence and improvisation distinguish this Broadway classic. An enchanting story.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) continues its 2018/2019 season with the Chicago premiere of the contemporary opera "The Scarlet Ibis." Composed by Stefan Weisman with libretto by David Cote, "The Scarlet Ibis" was declared an "outstanding new chamber opera" by David Allen of The New York Times upon its debut at the 2015 Prototype Festival. Chicago Opera Theater presents the first full production of this operatic adaptation of James Hurst's 1960 short story (apart from its festival debut), featuring the artistry of stage director Elizabeth Margolius and conductor David Hanlon. The opera stars Annie Rosen (who also performed in COT's season-opening production of "Iolanta") as Brother and Jordan Rutter as Doodle. 

PART TWO - POET & WRITER - LORNA PEREZ

Hand-picked by Quentin Tarantino for inclusion in the movie and soundtrack to 'Django Unchained', for which he received a Grammy nomination for his song 'Too Old to Die Young', and racking up 139,643+ listeners/month at Spotify, 10m+ views to date on his YouTube channel and 500,000+ spins/month at Pandora, Brother Dege Legg remains one of the best-kept secrets in Louisiana.  The singer/songwriter/musician and writer (he received the heralded Louisiana Press Award in 2004 and 2008), is an heir to a long line of enigmatic characters birthed in slaughterhouse of the Deep South.  Legg's Robert Johnson-on-Thorazine-style slide work paired with his droning-rural psychedelia has brought the backwoods sounds of Louisiana (hurricanes, cows, cicadas) to life while remaining firmly rooted in the troubled and death-obsessed masters.  He released his fourth album, 'Farmer's Almanac', a sprawling, southern concept album that further explores the unique mysteries of small towns, in early summer on Psyouthern Records, and prior to the release he was on the road in Europe from April - June and just wrapped up a twenty date solo West Coast tour.   Dege has just embarked on an East Coast/Southern tour with a full band and will be performing in NYC on 9/30 at the Mercury Lounge.  The band features Dege (vocals, guitars); Greg Travasos (drums); Kent Beatty (bass); and Luke Vellion (guitars).

Country Music Hall of Fame member and Mississippi native Charley Pride, was honored with another industry accolade recently, celebrating his legendary career as a pioneering Country musician. Pride was inducted into the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame class of 2018, on August 25th in Meridian, Mississippi, along with four other recipients; singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, Photographer William Eggleston, Writer and editor Willie Morris, and Blues musician Howlin' Wolf. Pride also received a 'Walk of Fame' star as part of the ceremony.

Two short one-acts, "Wild Orchids" and "Rosary Hill" by Heather J. Violanti, will debut September 10 to 16 in a double bill presented by Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival. "Wild Orchids" is a film noir-esque, feminist, and fictionalized take on 1940's Hollywood, where a secretary has a chance encounter with William Faulkner that may change both their lives. In "Rosary Hill,' two gentle nuns tend to their garden in upstate New York but a closer look at the harsh Mother Superior reveals they may not be all that they seem. Both plays feature canny, nuanced female characters who have much more going on under the surface than meets the eye. Jennifer Sandella directs.

Vera Sola will release her debut album SHADES on November 9th. Today, the first track “Small Minds” has been shared via Flaunt. 'From the recording of the song I wanted the visuals to convey a sort of opulent decay,” said Vera. “The degradation that comes with the power of technology: of our bodies, of possibility for meaningful connection, of any jab at true romance. And the loneliness of all that—the extreme and singular loneliness that comes with physically being with someone while they're off in the cloud, in the 'net, all webbed up somewhere else.' SHADES is available for both digital and vinyl pre-order now.

The University Press of Kentucky has partnered with Kentucky Humanities on its new statewide literacy project, Kentucky Reads: All the King's Men. The program will use Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to guide a statewide conversation on contemporary populism and political discourse and their relationship to journalism. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Kentucky Humanities will host a series of community discussions and events centered on Warren's celebrated work and what it can teach us today.

For certain xenophobic East Coast opera lovers, the words 'St.Louis' and 'Opera' could seem like an oxymoron. However, this would be an invalid assumption.

This summer, Aubade Publishing is scheduled to release three books: 'Sadie in Love' (ISBN: 978-0984549412), a novel by Rochelle Distelheim; 'Paricutin: The Miracle of Daniel Pulido' (ISBN: 978-0984549436), a novel by Jerome John Dobson; and 'The Annotated Murder of One' (ISBN: 978-0984549450), a collection of poems by Jared Pearce.

The Tenement Museum's 2018 Gala held raised over $1 million, money that will be used to support the Museum's ambitious new strategic direction aimed at defining the Museum's role at a time when immigration is a front page issue.

Virginia-based band of brothers Sons of Bill will release their fourth album Oh God Ma'am on June 29th. Today they have shared their new single 'Believer / Pretender,' an opening salvo that encapsulates the approach the group takes on their latest record - blending their lyrical Americana roots with a polished, driving set of songs punctuated by crystalline guitar riffs and tasteful synth flourishes. The track is currently streaming via Brightest Young Things who declares the track to be '...an absolute stunner, a sweeping piece of '80s-tinged guitar rock that recalls the sounds of New Order, The War on Drugs, and even The Gin Blossoms, while still being unmistakably Sons of Bill.'

The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation has announced that Allston James' drama The Tree Talk is the recipient of the 2018 LT William Broyles Award presented annually for Distinguished Stage or Screen Play. James received the award earlier in 2015 for his play Suribachi, which won the British Theatre Challenge's Audience Appreciation Award later that year in London.

The 49th Annual Nashville Film Festival continues its expansion of film screenings with an international roster of twenty-eight Special Presentations, Animated Feature, Spectrum and Spectrum Q films including the world premiere of BENCHED, produced by Robert Deaton and George Flanigen, ON CHESIL BEACH, starring Saoirse Ronan, fresh off her award winning role in Lady Bird, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS, starring Timothée Chalamet, whose role in Call Me By Your Name was critically acclaimed, BRAMPTON'S OWN, starring Rose McIver, Spencer Grammer and Jean Smart, as well as the 50th anniversary screening of ROSEMARY'S BABY, starring Mia Farrow, and a special screening of JURASSIC PARK, starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, BD Wong and Samuel L. Jackson. Other leading talent include Daveed Diggs, Alexander McQueen, John C. McGinley and many more.

We Southerners take our literary history seriously, whether it's a book, a poem, a novel or a play - no matter the genre, we are proud to read about our way of life and the things that we believe make us so very special. Such is the case with Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias, which debuted in 1987 to near unanimous acclaim only to gain in popularity and adulation in the intervening three decades. Whether it's a feature film, a made-for-TV movie or live onstage, Harling's tale of six Louisiana women and their shared experiences captured in a series of snapshots from their lives is beloved and somewhat revered.

Perhaps it is coincidental that the collaboration between Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman has grown in popularity since its 1990 Off-Broadway debut as the rise of mass shootings in America has increased its grip on the American psyche.  Whether one has anything to do with the other matters little. It cannot be ignored that the nation has a preoccupation with violence and the ideal of the "American Dream."

Theatre Smith-Gilmour presents the world premiere of a new theatrical adaptation of the Victor Hugo classic, LES MISERABLES. The company returns to The Theatre Centre, 38 years after performing their first show, Just Married, with their most ambitious work to date. LES MISERABLES will run from March 16 to April 1, 2018 in the Franco Boni Theatre.

As a versatile artist whose styles encompass a wide range of musical genres, Philip Fortenberry is a performer with an equally expansive career. Philip is making a stop at the Marcus Center's Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall for one night only in The Hands of Liberace.