The Resistance of Literature

The Resistance of Literature

Azar Nafisi. Photo by Tom Slocum

To understand the power of art, of literature, sometimes you have to have it taken away, to have it made forbidden, to lose access to it. Then you can understand its liberating essence, how it frees the mind, how it expresses ideas, how it gives you a voice.

Azar Nafisi has no problem at all understanding that. She has written about keeping art and literature alive in the face of oppression in her books Reading Lolita in Tehran and Things I’ve Been Silent About, which candidly discuss her life in Iran before, during, and after the revolution. As she talks about in this excerpt from this week’s Art Works podcast, literature has always held that place in her heart to face tyranny head on. [1:45}

The Writers’ Retreat Newsletter

http://www.writersretreat.com/

July 2010, Volume 10, No 3

My Writer's Well retreat in Georgia is now beginning to gain more momentum. It is a process learning the ropes and I am still learning.

I appreciate what you are doing to lend your expertise and knowledge to new retreats and support those that are already established.

I think the key is to maximize marketing strategies to drive writers to your retreat - be it the Web site, a newsletter, workshops, giveaways, whatever it takes that you are comfortable with to brand your name and make sure writers know you exist.

I am now going into my third year and have thankfully had writers now from as far away as Ghana, but it is still a process growing the retreat.

The good news is I am still in business!"

─Adilah Barnes, Georgia retreat

For more information, contact Adilah Barnes at TheWritersWell@yahoo.com or

The Writers’ Retreat in Sharpsburg, Georgia.

HIGH Museum of Modern Art a Friday Night Outting



HIGH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART in ATLANTA GA

HIGH Museum of Art I was invited out for FRIDAY JAZZ NIGHT- by Cynthia Williams, a member of the HIGH, who is a jazz enthusiast, and art supporter.

January's Friday Jazz performer is jazz organist, Ike Stubblefield. Friday Jazz is an evening of art & music every third Friday of the month, including live musical performances and extended hours with full gallery access.

Ike is currently performing worldwide while also working on his new album with various musicians, including drummers Sonny Emory, Jeff Sipe, Marcus Williams, Little John Roberts, J.Fly, and Yonrico Scott; Jeff Coffin; saxophonist Freddy V.; trumpeter Joey Sommerville; guitarists Grant Green Jr., Mike Seal, and Derek Scott; and bassists Oteil Burbridge and Felix Pastorius. The album is slated for an early 2011 release.

"Friends of The Writer's Well, reach out and support visiting artists."

 Celebrate Southern Folk Art by far this was my favorite exhibit.

The High is dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists, and is distinguished as the only major museum in North America to have a full-time curator specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art.

The nucleus of the folk art collection is the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, donated in 1996, and Judith Alexander's gift of 130 works by Atlanta artist Nellie Mae Rowe. Other notable works include those of Reverend Howard Finster, Bill Traylor, Thornton Dial, Ulysses Davis, Sam Doyle, William Hawkins, and Mattie Lou O'Kelley. The collection of more than 750 objects also boasts extraordinary examples by artists from beyond the South, such as Henry Darger, Martín Ramírez, and Joseph Yoakum.