The Long Shadows of Summer

It's a very eventful week at the bookshop!

  

Tonight (Tuesday, Aug 11th) is the fourth and final segment of the Marshall Auricular Hour's "Summer Series 2009", at the FBI's beautiful artspace on Main Street. Formerly a church, the acoustics in the room are sweetly resonant, perfect for the enjoyment of readings and music. 

Shadow of poet Keith Flynn, reading at the first Auricular Hour.

Last week's "Ballads and Counter-Ballads" drew quite a crowd, doubling the previous two week's respectable attendance numbers.   The evening's performance was a very interesting blend of traditional and non-traditional balladry.

Visiting experimental-folkstress Ilo Mar performing a "Counter-Ballad".

Tonight's Auricular Hour features local poet Erin O'Neal accompanied by local artist Jimmy O'Neal on crystal bowls, local songwriter Patti Waltz, and visiting writers Ester Amy Fischer and Dorothy Friedman.  Back here at Lapland Bookshop, we host a wine reception directly after the performances, where folks have a chance to meet and mingle with the artists, and purchase signed copies of their work.  More layers of cultural texture than you might expect to find in downtown Marshall on a Tuesday night!  

Poet Lee Ann Brown hosting Ballads and Counter-Ballads

This is the last weekly Auricular Hour before our friends Tony Torn and Lee Ann Brown, founders of the French Broad Institute of Time and the River (FBI), leave Marshall to return to the Big Apple with their little daughter Miranda for another school year.   Tony and Lee Ann, along with Joel Friedman of Zuma Coffee, invited us to collaborate on what became the "Auricular Hour" series, and they have generously donated many hours of their time this summer, as well as the use of their venue, to make the events a success.  Hope you can join us to give them a big send-off tonight!

Miranda enjoying a book during the Auricular Hour reception at Lapland.  Photo by Lee Walker.

Also, tomorrow night, the FBI is hosting a movie night featuring the filmmakers of Marshall.  If you're in the area, that is an event you won't want to miss!

And don't forget...this Friday night is the Town of Marshall's French Broad Friday "Dog Daze" event.  Suzanne Kline, author of "Cosmo's Great Adventures Series" is coming to the bookshop to sign copies of her picture book from 5:30 till 7pm -- and she's bringing the star of the series, Cosmo himself!  More about that in our next post....