Join us for a screening of BROOKLYN CASTLE

On Thursday, October 3, 6:30 p.m., the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University will screen Point Of View’s Brooklyn Castle (90 minutes) at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (450 East Thach Avenue). The screening is free and open to the public.

Brooklyn Castle tells the stories of five members of the chess team at a below-the-poverty-line inner city junior high school that has won more national championships than any other in the country. The film follows the challenges these kids face in their personal lives as well as on the chessboard, and is as much about the sting of their losses as it is about the anticipation of their victories. Ironically, the biggest obstacle thrust upon them arises not from other competitors but from recessionary budget cuts to all the extracurricular activities at their school. Brooklyn Castle shows how these kids’ dedication to chess magnifies their belief in what is possible for their lives. 

Mark Wilson, director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, will lead a discussion after the film. Refreshments will be served.

PBS’s POV is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. The screening is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Cristina Garcia Featured at Auburn Writers Conference

National Book Award finalist Cristina Garcia will be a featured keynote speaker at the fourth annual Auburn Writers Conference, “Artful Crossroads: Where the Arts Intersect,” on Friday, October 18, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. Her keynote will be free and open to the public. The conference, hosted by the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities and Department of English, offers instruction, practice, perspective, and community for both established and emerging writers. 

 Garcia is the author of seven novels, including: Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters, Monkey Hunting, A Handbook to Luck, The Lady Matador’s Hotel, and the recently published King of Cuba. García has edited two anthologies, Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature and Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and an NEA grant, among others.

 “Artful Crossroads” invites writers and readers to come together and talk not only about craft and publishing, but about the ways in which our words reflect other forms of art. For some, it will be the creation of characters who happen to be artists, for others, it might be the fusing of literature with another kind of artistic expression, such as music, visual art, or performance.

The 2013 Auburn Writers Conference is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, Department of English, Department of Music, Department of Theatre, School of Communication & Journalism, Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, the Southern Humanities Review, and the Auburn University Special Lectures Fund.

Register Now for the 4th Annual Auburn Writers Conference!

On Friday and Saturday, October 18-19, 2013, the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities and Department of English will host the fourth annual Auburn Writers Conference, “Artful Crossroads: Where the Arts Intersect.” The conference offers instruction, practice, perspective, and community for both established and emerging writers. 

“Artful Crossroads” invites writers and readers to come together and talk not only about craft and publishing, but about the ways in which our words reflect other forms of art. For some, it will be the creation of characters who happen to be artists, for others, it might be the fusing of literature with another kind of artistic expression, such as music, visual art, or performance.

The 2013 conference will feature keynote speakers Cristina Garcia, finalist for the National Book Award and author of the upcoming King of Cuba, and Taylor Mali, one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. Also featured: Chantel Acevedo, A. Manette Ansay, Emma Bolden, David and Jeanne Heidler, Skip Horack, Keetje Kuipers, Kevin Moffett, Michael Farris Smith, Susan B.A. Somers-Willett, and Kristin Tubb, among others. Visit the conference website for an updated list of writers and workshops.

Cristina Garcia

Taylor Mali

Registration fees are as follows: Full conference, $250; Friday or Saturday only, $150. Students may register at a rate of $20 per day ($35 per day including lunch).

The 2013 Auburn Writers Conference is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, Department of English, Department of Music, Department of Theatre, School of Communication & Journalism, Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, the Southern Humanities Review, and the Auburn University Special Lectures Fund.

For more information, please visit our conference website, follow the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities on Twitter (#AWC13) or join us on Facebook for updates. 

Sneak Preview of POV's THE WORLD BEFORE HER

On Thursday, September 5, 6:30 p.m., the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University will screen a sneak preview of Point Of View’s The World Before Her (60 minutes) at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (450 East Thach Avenue). The screening is free and open to the public.

The World Before Her is a tale of two Indias. In one, Ruhi Singh is a small-town girl competing in Bombay to win the Miss India pageant—a ticket to stardom in a country wild about beauty contests. In the other India, Prachi Trivedi is the young, militant leader of a fundamentalist Hindu camp for girls, where she preaches violent resistance to Western culture, Christianity and Islam. Moving between these divergent realities, the film creates a lively, provocative portrait of the world's largest democracy at a critical transitional moment—and of two women who hope to shape its future.

Joyce de Vries, Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Director of the Women’s Studies program, will lead a discussion before the film. Refreshments will be served.

PBS’s POV is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. The screening is sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University and the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.