Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103070019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Poetry, that is.
Gwendolyn Brooks' poetry nibbles at your heart, gnaws into your consciousness, eats at your soul and leaves you hungry for more. Sometimes her words are so bitter you want to spit them out, but you chew them slowly and swallow them and discover a new taste in poetry.
Brooks will read from her work Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Radford University's Preston Auditorium. She is sponsored by the Center for Academic Enrichment and RU's Special Projects Committee.
Brooks, best known for aggressive writing on urban black experience, won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for "Annie Allen," her second poetry collection. Her first collection, "A Street in Bronzeville," is drawn from the Chicago community where she was raised.
Brooks was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1988 and received the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America in 1989. She has written a novel, a book-length poem and a children's book. She's finishing her autobiography and a new volume of poetry.
Admission to the reading is free. The appearance caps RU's 1991 celebration of black history.
\ CELEBRATING WOMEN: Cranwell International Center is host today for International Women's Day. Events start at 10:30 a.m. with a coffee, and activities are planned all day. Highlights are a storytelling circle at 11 a.m., an international potluck at noon, a music and dance program at 1 p.m. and a discussion of childbearing and child rearing at 3:30 p.m.
Sponsors are the YMCA International Program, the Program on Women in World Development, Tech's Office of International Development and the Cranwell Center. The public may come for all or part of the day.
Free child care in Virginia Tech's Campus House, 413 Clay St. The Cranwell Center is at the end of Clay Street near the tennis courts. Questions? Call 231-6799.
\ DON'T WANT TO COOK TONIGHT? Don't worry. The Christiansburg Rescue Squad is coming to your aid! The squad is having its annual spaghetti dinner tonight, 5-7:30 p.m., at Christiansburg Middle School, serving up good food for a good cause.
If you're still not in the mood for cooking Saturday, check out the turkey and oyster dinner at Slusser's Chapel on Mount Tabor Road in Blacksburg. You get your choice of fried oysters or turkey, dressing and the trimmings.
Dinner will be served 5-7 p.m. and tickets will be available at the door - $6.50 for adults, $3.25 for children 6-12, free for kids under 6.
Now, if you can just find a good excuse for staying out of the kitchen Sunday. . . .
\ STONE STEW! They'll be serving it Sunday at Newbern's Wilderness Road Regional Museum.
Savory stew, bread and desserts - all homemade, of course - is the fare. Serving time is noon-4 p.m. Sunday, and the cost is $3 per person. Drinks are included.
Sunday is the 11th annual Founder's Day at the museum. Check out the historical documents and in the "Heritage Highlights of Montgomery County" exhibit.
Patricia Givens Johnson will sell and autograph her local histories. Her books include "James Patton and the Appalachian Colonists," "The U.S. Army Invades the New River Valley, May 1864," and "Techman of the '20s." "Christiansburg in the Heart of the Alleghenies," a popular local history written by Givens' mother, Lula Givens, also will be available.
If the weather is nice, visitors may tour the restored outbuildings on the grounds. Wilderness Road Regional Museum is in Pulaski County. From Interstate 81, take Exit 32 and follow the brown signs.
\ LAST CHANCE: Playmakers & Company's "Vanities" ends Saturday. Curtain time today and Saturday is 8 p.m. in Blacksburg Presbyterian Church's auditorium.
The Jack Heifner comedy is directed by Sandy Wiedegreen of the community theater. The cast includes veteran Playmaker Nora Hansen and newcomers Laura Bernado and Elaine Fields. Fields has worked in opera and in summer stock theater. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for senior citizens and children. Tickets are available at the door.
by CNB