December Virtual Poetluck to Feature Young Writers

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) is proud to showcase young, aspiring literary talent at a virtual Poetluck on Thursday, December 17, at 6:30 pm CST. The featured reader will be Aaron East, who is currently the first-ever intern at Dairy Hollow. Additional readers include Lauren Ferebee, Drew Pirtle, Clover Danos, Olivia Cash, and Hannah Ash.

Aaron East is a 2019 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he majored in English and History. Originally hailing from Royse City, Texas, Aaron is now a graduate student of English at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. His research interests include Medieval literature and history, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Aaron will be reading “Epic Swords: Naming in the Song of Roland,” which, as its title would suggest, deals with the practice of translating proper names of swords in epic poetry.

Lauren Ferebee is an award-winning playwright/screenwriter whose work has been developed and produced across the US. Her fiction has also been published in Flash Fiction Online. She is a third-year MFA candidate in playwriting at the University of Arkansas. She will read from Pledge of Allegiance, about a girl living in a hurricane-prone town who dreams of starting her own country.

Drew Pirtle is a 16-year-old 10th grader that attends Gosnell High School in Mississippi County Arkansas. Drew has been a member of the O. C. Shivers Girls Club since she was seven years old. Drew has the amazing gift of memory, and the O. C. Shivers Girls Club gives her a place to thrive with poetry and orations.  Drew also plays the piano and violin. She has been studying Mandarin Chinese for the past seven years. Drew is the youngest daughter of Dr. Stephen Pirtle and Dr. Valencia Andrews-Pirtle. She will honor us with a recitation of Maya Angelou’s poem, “On the Pulse of Morning.” She chose that poem because of one sentence that says, “History despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be loved again”.  This is very appropriate during this time in our lives with the political turmoil, COVID-19 pandemic, and social strife.

Clover Danos grew up in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. She started writing stories at a young age, inspired by the natural beauty of the Ozarks, the creative atmosphere of her hometown, and many days spent reading at the fantastic local public library. She particularly enjoys writing about magic and monsters, but she also likes to dabble in many different genres including short stories, novel-length works, and some poetry. She's currently studying English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. Clover will be reading "Solinight the Cursed" which starts out as a poem about a downtrodden monster followed by prose, akin to a legend, retelling the life of the monster to give context to the poem.

Olivia Cash is currently a Master’s student in the English department at the University of Arkansas.  Olivia was raised on a family farm in Pindall, Arkansas which deeply informs her passion and interest for the environment and folk knowledge.  In her graduate work Cash is pursuing Southern Studies, with an eye turned towards trash and trauma in Southern spaces. She will be reading a poetry selection from an in-progress cycle of poetry about what happens after dark.

Hannah Ash is a second year MA student of medieval literature at the University of Arkansas. She will be reading, "The Space Between Allegory and Myth: How Tolkien Crafts a Modern Mythology for England."

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow will continue to host Poetluck virtually until it is safe for us to return to in-person readings.  Readings may be poems, prose, or songs, and writers are invited to share their work for up to ten minutes. A link to the virtual Poetluck and instructions for joining can be found below. Spectators may join a moderated watch party on Facebook Live at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow page: https://www.facebook.com/writerscolonyatdairyhollow.

Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow has made a lasting impact on the arts and literary communities providing uninterrupted residency time for writers of all genres, including culinary, composers, and artists, without discrimination. The WCDH has hosted over 1,500 writers from 48 states and 13 countries. To learn more, please visit www.writerscolony.org or call Michelle Hannon or Chad Gurley at (479) 253-7444.

Zoom Links

Topic: December Virtual Poetluck

Time: Dec 17, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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