Wendell Berry Reading on Thursday :: Participates in First Year Program for New Students

Distinguished author Wendell Berry will offer a public reading at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 20, in Guerry Auditorium on the Sewanee campus. Berry’s award-winning publications include more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and essays.

Berry’s visit to Sewanee takes place in conjunction with the College’s Finding Your Place (FYP) program and the associated freshman course to which he is contributing. FYP students, faculty and visiting contributors will be reflecting together on the theme  “Imaginative Education: Learning to Know a Place, Care for a Place.” Other participants in these FYP sessions include Mary Berry, executive director of the Berry Center in New Castle, Ky.; Leah Bayens, director of the Berry Farming Program at St. Catharine College; and Norman Wirzba, professor of theology, ecology and rural life at Duke University.

The seed of this visit was planted two years ago on Berry’s front porch during a visit there by Michael Thompson, a fellow at the Center for Religion and Environment at Sewanee. During this first conversation, Berry and his wife, Tanya, introduced Thompson to the Berry Center’s efforts, which is directed by their daughter, Mary. 

Mary Berry and Bayens came to Sewanee more than a year ago, when discussions of the potential of a deeper relationship between Sewanee and the Berry Center began. Robin Gottfried, Director of the Center for Religion and Environment at Sewanee, English professor John Gatta and Thompson visited St. Catharine College to learn how they integrated the work of the Berry Center into their program.

The Berry Center is working to transform America’s food and farm system into one that is healthy and sustainable for all people and the planet. The center is  putting Berry’s writings to work by advocating for farmers, land-conserving communities and healthy regional economies. It focuses on issues confronting small farming families in Kentucky and around the country. By collecting and archiving the papers of the Berry family, the center gives people the opportunity to study and work to learn from the past in order to shape the future. Issues of land use, farm policy and local food infrastructure are central to the center’s mission.

“We are hopeful that this symposium is the beginning of a consortium of sorts, linking us with the Berry’s work and other institutions who share in this ethos and contemplation of place by learning to listen to the land,” Thompson said. “Sewanee’s natural beauty and surroundings, along with the long and rich literary history on the mountain, provides a meaningful place to cultivate this effort and way of life which Wendell, Tanya, and now Mary and the Berry Center puts forth.”

Campus sponsors of these events include the Center for Religion and Environment, which has also played the leading role in planning and arrangements; the Collaborative for Southern Appalachian and Place-Based Studies; the University Lectures Committee; Rivendell Writers Colony; and Vice-Chancellor John McCardell and Bonnie McCardell.

Panel Talks About the Percys at Brinkwood

Sewanee School of Letters and Rivendell Writers’ Colony will present a panel discussion, “The Percys at Brinkwood and Beyond,” at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 29, in Gailor Auditorium. 

The panel will be led by Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books in Oxford, Miss. On the panel will be John Grammer, director of the Sewanee School of Letters; Wyatt Prunty, director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference; and Billy Percy, nephew of Walker Percy.

“We’re truly fortunate to have such an accomplished panel of Percy scholars and experts. Rivendell is proud to sponsor events which highlight the history and literary accomplishments of the Percy family,” said Carmen Thompson, director of Rivendell Writers’ Colony. 

Rivendell Writers’ Colony adjoins the historical Brinkwood property once owned by William Alexander Percy, and later his novelist cousin, Walker Percy.

“Brinkwood, Sewanee and Lost Cove played fairly small parts in the lives of William Alexander Percy and his cousin, Walker, but large parts in both their imaginations,” said Grammer. “Why was this? The panel should be a great chance to shed light on the question.” For more information go to <www.rivendellwriterscolony.org> or <letters.sewanee.edu/readings>.

Sewanee Arts Festival Begins Wednesday; Events Through Sept. 21

The University of the South is hosting a Sewanee Arts Festival, beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 11, and continuing through Saturday, Sept. 21. (Some exhibits will be open before and after these dates, but most talks and special events are scheduled during the festival period.) 

Events will include dance performances, photography exhibits, plays and readings and music—including a concert by the Blind Boys of Alabama. All events, except the Blind Boys of Alabama concert, are free of charge. 

The University Art Gallery opens the 2013–14 exhibition season with Pradip Malde’s “The Third Heaven, Photographs from Haiti, 2006-2012,” on view through Oct. 18. Malde will offer an artist’s talk in Convocation Hall at 4:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, followed by a light reception. 

Monica Bill Barnes & Company, a contemporary American dance company, will perform at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 11 and 12, at the Tennessee Williams Center. This event is part of the Performing Arts Series. Admission is free, but reservations are encouraged; send an email to <mcook@sewanee.edu>.

An exhibition of 16 photographs by William Eggleston will be on view from Thursday, Sept. 12, to Friday, Dec. 20, in the University Archives and Special Collections. Photos are from the collection of university regent Chris Hehmeyer. The exhibition is open 1–5 p.m. weekdays.

An exhibition of Charley Watkins’ paintings and photography, with special performances and readings, at IONA Art Sanctuary, Friday–Sunday, Sept. 13–15. Founded by Sewanee artist Ed Carlos to offer a place for writers and artists to share their creative work with each other and the community, IONA is located at 630 Garnertown Rd., Sewanee (off Hwy. 56-S from 41-A). Kiki Beavers and Kevin Cummings will read at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13. Linda Heck will offer music and readings. On Saturday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m., there will be readings by Pat Wiser, David Landon and College students who study theatre with Landon. 

Laura Lapins Willis will read from “Finding God in a Bag of Groceries” at 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15, at Rivendell Writers’ Colony. A reception will follow. Free admission, but reservations are requested by calling 598-5555.

There will be a reading by a cast of College students of “Requiem for August Moon,” a new play by Tennessee Williams Playwright Elyzabeth Wilder, at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Tennessee Williams Center.

Rodney Jones and Maurice Manning will have a poetry reading at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18, in Gailor Auditorium, as part of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference Reading Series. 

The third annual Sewanee Angel Festival will be 7–11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, in downtown Sewanee. Music will be by Towson Engsberg and Friends and the Stagger Moon Band. 

Saturday, Sept. 21, an exhibition by Watkins Art Institute students and St. Andrew’s-Sewanee graduates Ian Corvette and Kellen Mayfield will be on view at IONA Art Sanctuary from 1 to 3 p.m. 

A gallery walk and receptions on Saturday, Sept. 21, on the University of the South campus will feature three exhibitions of contemporary photography with a distinct food and drink pairing in each gallery: the Carlos Gallery at 4:30 p.m., Archives and Special Collections at 5:15 p.m. and the University Art Gallery at 6:15 p.m.

The Performing Arts Series presents the Blind Boys of Alabama, legends of gospel music whose collaborations have included Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, k.d. lang, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel and Asleep at the Wheel, at  7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, in Guerry Auditorium. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for non-Sewanee students.

Poetry & Tea at Rivendell

Leigh Ann Couch, award-winning poet and managing editor of the Sewanee Review, will read from her poetry as part of an afternoon tea and garden walk at 2 p.m., Saturday, July 27, at Rivendell Writers’ Colony in Sewanee.

“Leigh Ann’s poetry will be the perfect connection to our enjoyment of Rivendell and its outside spaces. We’re honored to have such an integral part of the Sewanee literary community as our guest,” said Carmen Thompson, director of Rivendell. 

Poet Alan Shapiro has said of Couch’s work, “The metaphorical richness of Leigh Anne Couch’s ‘Houses Fly Away’ is in service to and informed by a marvelous richness and complexity of mind and heart.”

Couch’s poems have appeared in the Western Humanities Review, Shenandoah, Salmagundi, Gulf Coast Review, Cincinnati Review, Carolina Quarterly and other journals. 

Her chapbook, “Green and Helpless,” was published by Finishing Line Press, and her first book, “Houses Fly Away, “was winner of the Zone 3 Press First Book Award. She lives in Sewanee with the writer Kevin Wilson and their sons, Griff and Patch. 

To reserve your place for the reading and tea, contact Thompson by email, <carmen@rivendellwriters​colony.org>, or call 598-5555 and leave a message. The cost is $25 per person, and seating is limited.

Rivendell Writers’ Colony is developing a nonprofit entity to inspire the imagination by providing educational opportunities for aspiring writers through programs, workshops and residencies. 

Go to <rivendellwriters​colony.org> for more information.