WILSON, N.C. — Barton College will welcome author Zelda Lockhart as the featured speaker for the annual Joyce T. Boone Southern Authors Series. The lecture will be held on Monday, Sept. 17, in The Sam and Marjorie Ragan Writing Center at 7:30 p.m. The program is open to the public at no charge, and the community is invited to attend.
Lockhart is the author of three novels. “Fifth Born II: The Hundredth Turtle” (2010), a Lambda Literary Festival Award Finalist, is the subject of a traveling panel discussion on African Americans and HIV/AIDS in African American Literature. “Cold Running Creek” (2007), a work of historical fiction, won an Honor Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was the 2008-2009 Community Read for incoming students at North Carolina A&T State University. “Fifth Born” (2002), a Barnes & Noble Discovery selection, won a finalist award for debut fiction from the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Foundation. Her poetry and essays have appeared in anthologies, journals, and magazines.
Lockhart earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Norfolk State University, a Master of Arts degree in English from Old Dominion University, and a certificate in writing, directing, and editing film from the New York Film Academy. The 2010 Piedmont Laureate for Literature in her region of the state, she lives in Hillsborough, teaches Creative Writing at North Carolina State University, and continues to lecture and facilitate a variety of workshops that empower adults and children to self-define through writing. Lockhart also is proprietor and publisher at LaVenson Press.
Novelist Dorothy Allison says of Lockhart, “She gives us an unflinching view of the human spirit surviving adversity, confronting despair with stubbornness and wry humor, and achieving levels of insight that display a genuine sense of compassion.” Author Randall Kenan comments that “Fifth Born II has a down-home feel with a Rhythm and Blues and Soul soundtrack and with a bit of Hip-hop thrown in. The story breathes fire, but it does not scorch.”
The Joyce T. Boone Endowed Lectureship for Southern Authors was established in memory of the late Joyce Thornton Boone by her husband, Doug Boone. This endowed lectureship supports special programs featuring visiting Southern writers.
Boone graduated from Atlantic Christian College with degrees in business administration (1978) and nursing (1988). An enthusiastic advocate for students and alumni of Barton College, Boone believed in the mission of the small, private, liberal arts college. She served on both the Barton College Board of Trustees and the Barton Alumni Council. Boone was president-elect of the Barton College Alumni Council when she passed away in October 2004.
For additional information about this program, please contact Dr. Rebecca Godwin, director of The Sam and Marjorie Ragan Writing Center and professor of English in the Department of English and Modern Languages, at 252-399-6364 or email: rlgodwin@barton.edu.
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Questions? Please contact Kathy Daughety, director of public relations, at 252-399-6529 or email: kdaughety@barton.edu.