Hark! The Herald Angels Sing…

Okay, are you now thinking that I have completely lost it? Convinced that I decided to wander in a time and space that is far removed from basic reality.  Lost my ability to decipher the order of months and the significance of annual celebrations and observances. Becoming an eccentric, an aberrant personality and searcher for the nearest desert to wrap a cloth over my head and walk, and walk, and walk…in circles? (Years ago, a dear friend laughingly predicted that in my old age, I would eventually wind up that way: desert, blanket, circles. I know; too much information.)

So, let’s look at what you know.

aaduna continues to exist within a different sphere that was created to support, enrich, and advance those interested in literary genres and the visual arts on a global scale with a particular  preference for dynamic, multicultural content.  aaduna tends to manifest its own sense of creativity that may defy and challenge what is expected, what is the accepted paradigm. So, let’s return to where we started.

Celestial beings, real or imagined, do herald and sing in celebration of aaduna’s history since 2010, and its revered publication and performance pathways that provide opportunity to emerging, established and new artists.  The annual fundraiser brings that stance to heavenly heights with its featured readers. Enter…

Karen Faris and Charles Seabe Banks.

Karen Faris, (photo credit:  Lisa Brennan)

There is one key word to describe Faris and that descriptive word is fierce. aaduna published her poetic work because it was (and continues to be) strong, focused, determined, and challenging.  Her public readings are sparked by passion, by immediacy.  She is intergalactic in her thinking and understands the complexities and nuanced thinking of yet undiscovered interplanetary species.   

Are you intrigued about who this creative woman is that I conveniently shrouded in mysterious, stellar ambiance? 

Hark!

Come to the May 24^th annual fundraiser and see how Karen brings the Harlem Renaissance spirits to another dimension. Here is something else that you already know.

There are some people who hold fast to and believe in earth angels.  Those are the grounded “beings,” who in unselfish and confident ways, embolden and enrich the lives of others by not only what they do but also how they do it. And artists do that through their creativity and world view.

Charles SeaBe Banks (photo provided)

Charles Banks exemplifies that earth angel concept through the subtleties and richness of his work.  I first heard “SeaBe” read at the 2017 opening season of Rochester poets, and did not know then that he was also a visual artist. His artwork will grace the spring 2018 issue of aaduna. And interestingly, with that knowledge of his artistic leanings, I re-visited and fermented a richer understanding as to how he mixes and strokes his words into significant realizations painted across the landscape of life.

Faris and Banks.

They will join other poets and writers Howard Nelson, Vanessa Johnson, Doug Curry and musicians Joe Whiting and Terry Quill.

Hark!

The angels will sing.

Do not miss aaduna’s “Festive Party with Words and Music!” It is the 4^th annual affair.  

Thursday, May 24^th, Carriage House Theater, Cayuga Museum, 203 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY. Doors open at 6PM; live music kicks-off at 6:15. Readings start at 7 PM…two rounds of readings…intermission/reception…Q&A…artist books and CDs available for purchase. Cash bar serving wine, beer, soft drinks, and snacks.   

Advance fundraiser tickets $20/person thru PayPal. At the door, $25/person, cash only.

aaduna, Inc. is a non-profit corporation registered and established in New York State in 2010 and a 501 (c)3 tax-exempt organization.  It publishes the thrice yearly online journal, aaduna and hosts the annual fundraisers.

This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.