Dare Arts Council to Host Carolina Veterans Weekend in November
The Dare County Arts Council, in collaboration with the Dare County Veterans Advisory Council, is hosting a Carolina Veterans Weekend on November 15-17, 2013, for North Carolina Veterans and their families.
North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti
The weekend celebration will provide a unique opportunity for veterans to participate in the national Veterans Writing Project, along with special guest, Joseph Bathanti, N.C. Poet Laureate, on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17.
Veterans, their families and the general public will also enjoy an evening concert, featuring Molasses Creek and Jonny Waters & Company, on Friday, November 15, at 7:00 p.m., at the Roanoke Island Festival Park.
Business parters for Carolina Veterans Weekend include Don & Catharine Bryan, title sponsor for the concert at Roanoke Island Festival Park.
Dare County Arts Council, its volunteers and the Veterans Advisory Council, created Carolina Veterans Weekend to honor veterans after learning of N.C. Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti’s work with U.S. veterans and their families. “Having both the Veterans Writing Project team and Mr. Bathanti working with veterans in our region is exceptional,” Sawin explained. “We have received enthusiastic feedback from our local veterans’ organizations, and we are excited to offer this truly unique arts experience to our veterans and community.
The workshops are free, but space is limited. Applications are available at www.darearts.org. A copy of the application is also attached to this media release. The deadline for submitting applications is November 1. The writing workshops are supported in part by grants from the Outer Banks Community Foundation, the North Carolina Arts Council, and the Mystery Writers of America.
The writing workshop will be led by Ron Capps, founder and leader of the Veterans Writing Project on Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17 at UNC Coastal Studies Institute. The Veterans Writing Project is a national nonprofit organization that teaches veterans to express their military experiences through the written word. Joseph Bathanti has worked with veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and in communities across the United States.
“Every time I get in front of a group of veterans – and certainly members of their families as well – I’m astounded at their candor, their emotional intensity and courage, but also at how good, how clean and unadorned their writing is,” said Bathanti. “The stories they tell – through poems, memoirs and fiction – are not only valuable insight into what Faulkner so famously called ‘the human heart in conflict with itself,’ but they also constitute a significant contribution to the world of literature. What’s more, empirical data now exists demonstrating that writing about personal trauma is instrumental in surmounting that trauma.”
Tickets to the November 15 concert at Roanoke Island Festival Park are $12 in advance, and $18 at the door ($15 for veterans). Advance tickets can be purchased at Dare County Arts Council, 300 Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Manteo NC 27954.
Dare County Arts Council is nonprofit arts organization dedicated to supporting the arts in Dare County. The Dare County Board of Commissioners created the Veterans Advisory Council in respectful recognition of the service and sacrifice of all Dare County Veterans as represented in all the branches of United States military service.
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