Announcement of the 2008 Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow will be made in mid-May.

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On Sunday, May 18, fifteen Columbus State University students, with two professors, will depart Columbus for four weeks of arts immersion in New York City.  The group will visit McCullers' home in Nyack as well as other McCullers-related sites in the City.

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The McCullers Center in the News

On Sunday, July 22, on National Public Radio, the award-winning writer Augusten Burroughs (Running With Scissors, Dry) read a terrific essay on The Member of the Wedding.  If you'd like to read it or hear it, go here.

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The National Endowment for the Arts has chosen The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for its BIG READ program.  For some fine study materials on The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, go here.

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The McCullers Center was featured in a November 11, 2007 article in The Washington Post about literary homes in the South.  For a look at the piece, by Joe Samuel Starnes, go here.

PAST EVENTS:

April 18 – Lecture by Guitar Resident Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera.  Topic -- "The Music of Radiohead.”

 April 21 – Guitar Chamber Recital featuring the world premiere of "Lula's Prayer" for guitar ensemble, commissioned by the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians. 

Friday, April 25 -- CSU's Writing Center held its annual WHAMBAM POETRY SLAM at the Smith-McCullers House.

Friday, April 18 -- The fifteen students registered for CSU's annual New York Comparative Arts course met with Professors Hemard and Fussell to prepare for the trip. 

Thursday, April 17 -- The members of Beth Spencer's creative writing class held a reading at the Smith-McCullers House.

Sunday, April 13 -- The staff of CSU's literary magazine, The Arden, held their annual release party at the Smith-McCullers House.

Tuesday, April 8 -- Center Director Cathy Fussell delivered a lecture, "The Establishment and Work of the Carson McCullers Center" at Oak Hill on the Berry College campus in Rome, Georgia.  This event was a part of a series titled "Famous Tomes and Their Authors' Homes."

Friday, April 4 -- The Smith-McCullers House received more than 200 visitors, participants in the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's Columbus Ramble.  We extend great thanks to our buddies at Historic Columbus Foundation for including us in this important event.

Wednesday, April 2 – Poetry Readings by award-winning poet Michael Meyerhofer.

Friday, March 28 in the Studio Theatre at The RiverCenter -- Resident composer Nico Muhly discussed his creation of the film score for Joshua.  This event was held in collaboration with The Columbus Film Society.

Monday, March 31 in Legacy Hall at The RiverCenter -- Concert featuring Muhly's works, and World Premiere of the commissioned piece.  Performing were Lisa Oberlander-solo clarinet, Manuel Diaz-solo viola, Sergiu Schwartz-solo violin and Paul Vaillancourt with the percussion ensemble. 

Friday, March 21 at the Smith-McCullers House. International Medieval Poetry Reading. Students and Faculty read poetry in original language with English translations, medieval music and images. Sponsored by CSU’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Carson McCullers Center. Directed by Professor Jose Barroso-Castro.

March 13 -- Center Director Cathy Fussell gave a pre-curtain talk on Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

February 20, 2008 -- Poet Richard Garcia was featured at two events: an afternoon discussion at the Smith-McCullers House and an evening reading at International House.  This was a Georgia Poetry Circuit event.

Thursday, November 29, 2007, in the Simon Schwob Memorial Library on main campus -- A reading by Chris La Casse.  Born September 7, 1980, La Casse served as a staff sergeant in the Connecticut Army National Guard from 1999 to 2007. After deploying to Iraq from 2003 to 2004, he began writing a memoir of his overseas experience. Selections of his manuscript have been published and recorded for radio. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in American literature while he's also writing a novel and a second memoir based on adjusting to life after war.

Wednesday, November 14 -- Our first Georgia Poetry Circuit event for the 2007-2008 academic year was a reading by award-winning poet Margaret Gibson.  An afternoon talk at 4:00 PM in the Illges Gallery, Corn Center for the Visual Arts, CSU RiverPark Campus was followed by a public reading at 7:30 in the evening in International House Event Hall on CSU main campus. 

Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 PM -- The McCullers Center sponsored a very well attended reading by the 2007 Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow, Mylène Dressler.  The Columbus Public Library Auditorium.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 -- 12:30 PM -- CSU's Schwob Memorial Library and Carson McCullers Center co-sponsored a Lunch and Learn Lecture featuring Charles Shields, author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. 

On Tuesday evening, October 9, 7:00 PM,  Cathy Fussell  lead a public discussion at the Columbus Public Library.  The title of the program was "Scout Finch, Meet Frankie Addams," and the discussion was a comparison of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding.   This event was a part of the Columbus Public Library's BIG READ program.

Wednesday, October 3 -- The McCullers Center very much enjoyed hosting Columbus's Lemon Tree Garden Club for a program and lively discussion about McCullers.

September 28 and 29, 2007 -- The Carson McCullers Center participated in the Chattahoochee Writers Conference.  On Friday night of the Conference the Carson McCullers Center hosted a reception for the participants; on Saturday morning Cathy Fussell gave a presentation at the opening session of the Conference.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 -- The Carson McCullers hosted a poetry reading by poet James Hoch. 

Friday, September 14, 2007 -- The Carson McCullers Center hosted a reception for the 2007 Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow, Myléne Dressler.

August 9, 2007 -- The Columbus State University New Faculty Luncheon was held at the Smith-McCullers House.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 -- The McCullers Center hosted  members of the Flannery O'Connor NEH Institute.  Cathy Fussell gave a presentation titled "Carson and Flannery: Neighbors but not Friends" and led a lively discussion.

Sunday, June 17 -- A group of Columbus State University students arrived back home in Columbus after having spent a month in New York City where they participated in a program sponsored in part by the Carson McCullers Center.  Inspired by Carson McCullers' trip to New York in 1934, when she was seventeen years old, the New York Comparative Arts Program is in its fifth year.  This year students were enrolled in courses titled "Movements in the Arts" taught by Professor Erika Adams and "Travel Writing" taught by Professor Nick Norwood.

Thursday, April 19 -- A talk titled "Literary Influences on my Music" by Carson McCullers Resident Composer Dr. Brian Cherney.  12:30 till 1:30, Simon Schwob Memorial Library on main campus. 

Tuesday, April 17 -- The CSU Percussion Ensemble premieres the piece composed for them by Dr. Brian Cherney, Carson McCullers Resident Composer in Percussion.  The concert, featuring Dr. Paul Vaillancourt as soloist, is held in Legacy Hall of The RiverCenter.

Monday, April 16 -- Performance by Carson McCullers Resident Composer in Guitar, Atanas Ourkouzounov.  The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 7:30 PM. 

Thursday, April 12, 2007 -- World Premiere of music composed especially for CSU Guitar Ensemble by Carson McCullers Composer Resident Atanas Ourkouzounov, 7:30 PM, Legacy Hall, The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. 

Friday, April 6, 2007, 7:00 PM -- "A Visit with Don Quixote," an evening of readings, in Spanish, of selections from Don Quixote and from Spain's Golden Age of Poetry, with music and images.  Co-sponsored by the McCullers Center and Professor Jose Barrostro-Castro.  Free and open to the public.  Smith-McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue, Columbus.

Thursday, April 5, 2007 -- The Georgia Poetry Circuit brings award-winning poet J. Allyn Rosser to the McCullers Center.  At 4:00 in the afternoon Ms. Rosser conducts a workshop at the Smith-McCullers House; at 7:30 PM Ms. Rosser reads from her works, at the International House Auditorium on main CSU campus.  Both events are free and open to the public.

Sunday, February 18, 2007 --Carson's 90th Birthday Party Celebration at the Smith-McCullers House. The celebration featured a production of Lauren Rosen's stage adaptation of McCullers' short story "Wunderkind."  Plus cupcakes (lots of 'em), live music, an art show . . .

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 7:30 PM, International House on CSU campus -- Poet Scott Cairns reads from his poetry.  This was a Georgia Poetry Circuit event.  In addition, Dr. Cairns conducts a poetry workshop earlier in the same day -- 4:00 PM -- at the Smith-McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue.

January and February 2007 -- The Springer Opera House in Columbus helps us celebrate Carson's 90th birthday by staging The Member of the Wedding.  This marks the first time that The Springer has produced a full work of McCullers.  Exact dates of the production:  January 25-27; February 1-4; February 8-10.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 -- The Carson McCullers Center presents an evening of readings by Dr. Nick Norwood, professor of creative writing at CSU, and by Melanie Fallon, the McCullers Center's first Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow.  The event is held in the auditorium of the Columbus Public Library.  A reception follows, at 8:00 PM, at the Smith-McCullers House. 

Monday, November 6, 2006 -- Poet Arthur Sze reads from his works at the Coca Cola Space Science Center.  On Friday, November 10, at 2:00, Sze conducts a workshop at the Smith-McCullers House.  These events, sponsored by the Carson McCullers Center, are part of the Georgia Poetry Circuit. 

Thursday, October 26, 2006 -- Columbus State University's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor Society) holds induction ceremonies at the Smith-McCullers House.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 -- Members of Columbus High School's Carson McCullers Literary Society meet at the Smith-McCullers House.

Thursday, October 5, 2006 -- The Carson McCullers Center hosts a reception in honor of Melanie Fallon, the first Marguerite and Lamar Smith Writing Fellow.

Saturday, September 30, 2006 -- The Carson McCullers Center, in partnership with CSU's Get-A-Way Club, offers a trip to tour Flannery O'Connor's farm, Andalusia, as well as several other historic sites in Milledgeville. 

September 15, 2006 -- Columbus State University's chapter of AAUP (American Association of University Professors) hosts a reception for new faculty at the Smith-McCullers House.

August 10, 2006 -- The New Faculty Luncheon is held at the Smith-McCullers House.

July 23, 2006 -- CSU's Friends of Libraries meets at the Smith-McCullers House for an Ice Cream Social and presentations by Erma Banks, Chris Bloss, Reagan Grimsley, and Cathy Fussell.  The presenters speak about their individual experiences with the work of McCullers.

July 19, 2006 -- Members of Dr. Nancy Moore's Southern Literature course visit the Smith-McCullers House.

July 15, 2006  -- The Carson McCullers Center and the Columbus Public Library sponsor a reading and reception for new author J. Wes Yoder, on publication of his first book, Carry My Bones, and for Rick Bragg (It's All Over But The Shoutin', Ava's Man). 

May 20, 2006 -- Members of Columbus High School class of 1961 visit the Smith-McCullers House and present the Center with a 1933 COHISCAN, Columbus High School's yearbook, autographed by "Carson Smith."

May 2006 -- The Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians is extremely proud to announce the selection of MELANIE FALLON as the first Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellow.  This fall Melanie will reside in the Smith-McCullers House while she works on her latest writing project. 

April 13, 2006 -- Writer and radio show host Garrison Keillor visits the Smith-McCullers House.

April 9, 2006 -- The Arden, CSU's literary magazine, holds its annual release party at the Smith-McCullers House.

April 5, 2006 -- The McCullers Center sponsors a workshop and reading by poet Larissa Szporluk. This Georgia Poetry Circuit event and is free and open to the public.  The workshop is held at the Smith-McCullers House; the public reading is held in the Events Hall of CSU's Center for International Studies.

March 31, 2006 -- McCullers Center Director Cathy Fussell delivers a paper titled "The Work of the Carson McCullers Center" at the "Flannery O'Connor and Other Georgia Writers" conference at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia.

March 24, 2006 -- The Smith-McCullers House is the site of a reception for Professor Kang, a visiting scholar from Korea.

March 24,2006 in Legacy Hall at The RiverCenter -- A second performance of the commissioned piece. For more details about the Carson McCullers Composer Residency Program, go here.

March 21, 2006 -- Carson McCullers Composer Residency Week. In Legacy Hall at The RiverCenter -- World Premiere of commissioned piece composed by Carson McCullers Composer Resident Eric Moe.   The public is cordially invited to this free event.

March 16, 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center co-sponsors, with CSU’s History Department, Women’s History Month Speaker Dr. Alecia Long.  The title of Dr. Long’s talk is “An Unlikely Civil Rights Pioneer: Madam Willie Piazza v. The City of New Orleans, 1917.”  Prior to the public event at International Studies Hall, a reception is held at the Smith-McCullers House.

February 16, 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center co-sponsors, with the History Department, CSU’s Black History Month speaker, Dr. Gary Sprayberry.  The title of Dr. Sprayberry’s talk is “'Be Bop Promotes Communism': The Anti-Rock and Roll Crusade in Post-Brown Alabama and the 1956 Attack on Nat 'King' Cole."

February 9, 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center sponsors CSU’s Poetry Slam 2006.  Coordinated by Dr. Tyrone Jones, the slam features poet Marvin Heath from Atlanta.

January 27, 2006 – Dr. Neal McCrillis (International Studies) and Dr. Dan Ross (Language and Literature) host a reception for Mildred Miller Fort scholar Dr. Jeff Hill at the Smith-McCullers House. 

January 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts a poetry reading by award-winning poet Albert Goldbarth.  This is a Georgia Poetry Circuit event. 

February 2006 – Carson McCullers Center Director Cathy Fussell presents a paper titled “Rituals in the Sanctuary:  Food and Kitchen in Carson McCullers’ The Member of the Wedding” at University of Texas at San Antonio’s conference, Food Representation in Literature, Film, and the Other Arts.

January 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center collaborates with CSU’s Friends of Art and The Film Society of The Columbus Museum to produce “An Evening With Les Blank.”  Prior to the evening event on campus, the Smith-McCullers House serves as the location for a luncheon for filmmaker Les Blank, artist Butch Anthony, CSU art faculty, Film Society board members, and event sponsors.

January 2006 – The Carson McCullers Center publishes and distributes the third issue of its newsletter, THE FAUCET.

January 13, 2006 – Ace Atkins, a writer of Southern Noir mysteries and resident of Oxford, Mississippi, visits the Smith-McCullers House.

December 1, 2005 – Playwright William Missouri Downs, winner of CSU’s International Playwriting Competition, is a guest at the Smith-McCullers House.

November 16, 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts a public poetry reading by award-winning poet Robert Wrigley.  This is a Georgia Poetry Circuit event.

October 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center is the grateful recipient of two major gifts – one for $100,000 and one for $50,000 – which establish the Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship Endowment. 

November 2005 – The Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for Writers is established.

October 14, 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts an Open House for those attending COMO (convention of Georgia media specialists).

October 13, 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center sponsors poetry readings by award-winning poet Alice Friman.  The readings, especially for creative writing students and Sigma Tau Delta members, are held in the parlor of the Smith-McCullers House.

September 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center officially enrolls in the Georgia Poetry Circuit.

September 27, 2005 – Poet Alice Friman begins a three-week residency at the Smith-McCullers House.

September 25, 2005 – British writer David Rose visits the Smith-McCullers House.

September 22-15, 2005 – Carson McCullers Center Director Cathy Fussell presents a paper titled “Carson McCullers and the U.S. Army” at the Southern Women Writers Conference at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.

September 16, 2005 – Mr. John Zeigler of Charleston, South Carolina, donates to the Carson McCullers Center several previously unpublished photographs of Carson McCullers.

September 2005 – CSU’s French Immersion Club begins weekly meetings at the Smith-McCullers House.  Sigma Tau Delta begins monthly meetings at the Smith-McCullers House.  This brings to four the number of groups that meet regularly at the Smith-McCullers House.  In addition to the above mentioned, there are two writing groups that meet monthly at the house. In addition to the regular meetings, the Arden staff meets at the house occasionally, as do the English education majors and the creative writing classes.

August 11, 2005 – Dr. Marshall Bruce Gentry, Editor of The Flannery O’Connor Review, and Alice Friman, award-winning poet, visit the Smith-McCullers House.

Sept. 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center collaborates with Dr. Paul Vallaincourt of the Schwob School of Music to design and develop the Carson McCullers Composer Residency Program.  Dr. Eric Moe is the first commissioned composer.

May 3, 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center sponsors a Columbus production of The Acting Company’s Rebecca Gilman adaptation of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.  Held at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, the performance attracts an audience of approximately 1500.  The cast and crew of the production visit the Smith-McCullers House and take a driving tour of “Carson’s Columbus.”

April 23 – The Association of Georgia Poetry Writers visits the Smith-McCullers House.

April 22 – Award-winning Georgia writer Jo Allen Bradham visits the Smith-McCullers House.

April 2005 – The Carson McCullers Center publishes the second issue of its newsletter, The Faucet.

April 2005 – Carson McCullers Center Director Cathy Fussell begins work with administrators from other Southern writers’ homes to develop a “Southern Literary Trail.”

March 2005 – Sven Benediktusson, a devoted McCullers fan from Sweden, visits the Smith-McCullers House. 

March 2005 – In collaboration with CSU's Rankin Arts Center, the Carson McCullers Center hosts a workshop with and reception for award-winning writer Terry Kay.

February 10, 2005 – Carson McCullers Center Director Cathy Fussell speaks to Teen Writers Group at Columbus Public Library.

January 27 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts a reception for Karen Spears Zacharias on the publication of her book Heromama.

January – The Carson McCullers Center provides materials to Ford’s Theatre in Washington for the program for their production of The Member of the Wedding. 

December 12, 2004 – The Smith-McCullers House is featured on the very popular Historic Columbus Foundation Holiday Tour of Homes, this year titled “Wynnton Wonderland.”  Several hundred people visit the Smith-McCullers House.

December 2004 – The Carson McCullers Center begins publication of a newsletter, The Faucet.  Local educator Gail Powell wins the Why The Faucet? contest.

October 23, 2004 – The Muscogee Genealogical Society meets at the Smith-McCullers House.  Center Director Cathy Fussell presents a program on Carson McCullers’ genealogy.

October 12, 2004 – American Studies students from Shaw High School visit the Smith-McCullers House. 

September, 2004 – A creative writing group led by Kathy Honea begins monthly meetings at the Smith-McCullers House

September 2004 – Karen Spears Zacharias sojourns at the Smith-McCullers House.

September, 2004 – California filmmaker Roger Nygard (Trekkies) visits the Smith-McCullers House.

August 2004 – The Georgia Literary Festival, this year held in Columbus, features Columbus writers Augusta Evans Wilson, Shay Youngblood, and Carson McCullers.  The Carson McCullers Center hosts an Open House which brings several hundred people through the house.  Award-winning writer Shay Youngblood is a visitor to the Smith-McCullers House.

May 2004 -- The Smith-McCullers House is returned to its original colors with a new coat of exterior paint.

May 2004 – Oprah chooses The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for her book-of-the-month.

May 2004 – The Smith-McCullers House receives a new coat of exterior paint and a return to its original colors.

May 2004 – Sigma Tau Delta, Columbus State University’s English Honor Society, holds induction ceremonies at the Smith-McCullers.

May 2004 – The Arden, Columbus State University’s literary journal, holds it release party at the Smith-McCullers House.

May 2004 – CSU’s Department of Language and Literature holds its end-of-year picnic at the Smith-McCullers House.

May 2004 – Cathy Fussell’s Selected Authors class on McCullers celebrates the end of the semester with a covered dish supper at the house, each student bringing a dish mentioned in the work of McCullers.

May 2004 – Writer Karen Spears Zacharias sojourns at the Smith-McCullers House.

February 18, 2004 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts poet Chris Forhan for an afternoon workshop for students at the Smith-McCullers House and an evening reading for the public at CSU’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center.

December 30, 2003 – The Carson McCullers Center receives special guests Mr. John Zeigler of Charleston, South Carolina, and Dr. and Mrs. William Potter. 

October 24, 2003 -- The Carson McCullers Literary Society of Columbus High School holds a meeting in the Smith-McCullers House. 

October 10, 2003 -- The members of Columbus State University’s English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, held their induction ceremonies in the Smith-McCullers House.

October 8, 2003 -- The Carson McCullers Center hosts at the Smith-McCullers House a workshop for Columbus State University creative writing students.  Visiting artist is Marcus McPeek Villatoro.

September 24, 2003 -- Dr. James Brewbaker holds a workshop for Columbus State University English education majors at the Smith-McCullers House.

September 7, 2003 – The Carson McCullers Center hosts a public reading by Dr. Virginia Spencer Carr, biographer of Carson McCullers.

August 10, 2003 -- The Carson McCullers Center hosts at the Smith-McCullers House a reception for area high school English teachers and media specialists.

May 2003 -- The Board of Directors of the Columbus Film Society meets at the Smith-McCullers House.

April 14, 2003 -- The Carson McCullers Center hosts a public reading by poet Shawn Sturgeon, with a reception at the Smith-McCullers House.