“Gathering & Gabbing” will consider books by and about Zora Neale Hurston and her body of work.
This is a 100% virtual experience.
All sessions take place on 3rd Saturdays of designated months, beginning at 3:00 PM Eastern.
“Gathering & Gabbing” will consider books by and about Zora Neale Hurston and her body of work.
This is a 100% virtual experience.
All sessions take place on 3rd Saturdays of designated months, beginning at 3:00 PM Eastern.
Date: February 19, 2022, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Moderator:
Dr. Yolanda Franklin
Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University
Dr. Yolanda Franklin
Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University
Blood Vinyls (Anhinga Press) is Yolanda J. Franklin's debut poetry collection that Roxane Gay insists is a "must-must-must read." A four-time Fulbright Scholar Award Finalist (’20, ’19, ‘18 & ‘17), Franklin is also a Cave Canem, Callaloo and VONA Fellow. Her poems appear or are set to appear in Frontier Magazine, Sugar House Review, Southern Humanities Review, and The Langston Hughes Review. Franklin's poetry also appears in the recent anthology It Was Written: Poetry Inspired by Hip Hop. Also, she is a two-time recipient of the J.M. Shaw Academy of American Poets Award. Franklin is the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University for the 2021-22 academic school year.
Date: March 19, 2022, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Moderator:
N.Y. Nathiri
Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.)
N.Y. Nathiri
Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.)
N.Y. Nathiri has worked in the field of historic preservation for more than three decades, all of that time having been spent on behalf of her hometown, Eatonville, Florida, which Zora Neale Hurston popularized as “the oldest incorporated African American community in the United States.” She is a founding member and currently the executive director of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.), a historic preservation/cultural arts/community revitalization organization, best known for its sponsorship of the annual Zora Neale Hurston™ Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA!® Festival). Under her leadership, P.E.C. programs have received national recognition, including the ZORA!® Festival’s being named “One of 25 Cultural Tourism Success Stories” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and being the recipient of the “Regional Destination Award in the Humanities” from the Cultural Olympiad (Atlanta, 1996). She has also led the organization’s grants efforts, which cumulatively, have seen P.E.C receive funding totaling several millions dollars.
Nathiri holds an undergraduate degree in history from Ithaca College (New York) and a Master of Science degree in library science from Syracuse University. She is the compiler and editor of the award-winning volume, ZORA! Zora Neale Hurston: A Woman and Her Community (Sentinel Communications, 1991). She is also the recipient of several honors including being named “Hero of Preservation” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Mary Call Darby Collins Award presented by the Florida Secretary of State “In recognition of dedication and volunteer action that has forever changed the course of historic preservation in Florida.” In addition, she is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Rollins College.
Currently, she serves as Vice President for Cultural Heritage Tourism on the Board of Directors for the Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance, Inc. (HBTSA), a multi-state heritage preservation and economic development initiative.
Date: May 21, 2022, 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Moderator:
Ms. Alvenia Derban
Educator – Writer – Actress Director
Ms. Alvenia Derban
Educator - Writer - Actress Director
Ms. Derban has over twenty years teaching experience with the last seven at the collegiate level.
She is a published author of three fictional novels: In Between the Cracks (short stories), Slipping On Concrete (novel), and Unnecessary Monsters (novel). Other written works are featured on her website www.aederban.com.
Derban is also a celebrated regional actress with Stage Aurora Theatrical Company. She has appeared in Dreamgirls, Amen Corner, God’s Trombones, The Colored Museum, A Raisin in the Sun, Steel Magnolias, Frat House, Harlem of the South, and The Me Nobody Knows.
She is currently the coordinator for C.A.S.T. the Edward Waters College Drama Club.
Ms. Derban has directed live production scenes from For Colored Girls and original pieces dedicated to Black History Month celebrations: The Colored Museum; Sweat! The Musical.
Film credits include:
What You Won't Do (writer/director) https://youtu.be/6V7qGyWyxPA
Journey of Us (producer) https://youtu.be/kpf8MEOlVY8
If You Like Pina Coladas (director) https://youtu.be/KzWBrHXuWmI
Father’s Day (writer/producer/director) https://youtu.be/Mf8ryb-1Qe8
Missed Memo (podcast) https://youtu.be/mryW0ykB6j4
Ms. Derban is a native New Yorker but now makes her home in Jacksonville, Fl.