. . . to Raleigh dramatist Ian Finley, who has been named the 2012 Piedmont Laureate for the Triangle and adjacent counties:
“Working primarily with Burning Coal Theatre Company, he has brought more than 70 different stories from the area’s history to life on stage through collaborations with Oakwood Cemetery, the Mordecai House, Raleigh City Museum, the Town of Cary and other organizations by focusing on the realization that relevant, effective drama is necessarily connected to place. . . . Co-sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Alamance County Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission and United Arts of Raleigh & Wake County, the Piedmont Laureate program’s mission is to “promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region.”
And to Lookout Books of Wilmington, whose first book – Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman – “is one of three collections named a finalist for The Story Prize. In Edith’s company are literary lions Don DeLillo for The Angel Esmeralda and Steven Millhauser for We Others. The Story Prize’s annual event will take place at the New School’s Tishman Auditorium in New York City at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21. That night, the finalists will read from and discuss their work onstage, and Julie Lindsey (Founder of The Story Prize) will announce which of these three deserving authors gets the top prize.”
Congratulations all around!