Lisa Zerkle

Grant News: 4X4CLT Series Funded by Arts and Science Council

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We’re thrilled to announce Charlotte Lit was awarded a Cultural Vision Grant from the Arts and Science Council in support of our quarterly 4X4CLT poetry and art poster series.

This grant, provided in part by the NC Arts Council, funds six editions of the series beginning with September’s release and ending in December 2019. The Cultural Vision Grants aim to build strong communities and demonstrate innovative, relevant and transformative cultural expression. 4X4CLT was also selected because the series activates nontraditional performance or exhibition spaces close to where people live. This vote of confidence in Charlotte Lit’s programming allows us to continue to bring high-caliber poets to Charlotte for free readings and affordable master classes, in addition to shining a light on some of this area’s many exceptional local artists and their work.

Upcoming 4X4CLT Events

The September 4X4CLT kicks off over Labor Day weekend featuring poet Cecily Parks, author of O’Nights and Field, Folly, Snow. Parks will read from her work at the release party on Friday, August 31, from 6 to 8 pm at SOCO Gallery. Local artists Ruth Ava Lyons and Linda Foard Roberts will also be on hand for the celebration which is free and open to the public. September 4X4CLT posters with poems and art from these three women will be displayed at over 70 venues in and around Charlotte. On Saturday September 1, Parks will teach a master class in poetry at Charlotte Lit.

Looking ahead, December’s 4X4CLT features Maurice Manning who will read at the release party on Friday, November 30, at Resident Culture Brewing in Plaza Midwood, and teach a master class at Charlotte Lit on Saturday December 1. Manning teaches at Transylvania University in Kentucky and is on faculty at Warren Wilson’s MFA program. He is the author of six books, the latest, One Man’s Dark, published in 2017. In 2010 his book The Common Man was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Manning’s poem “Orchard at the Bottom of the Hill” recently appeared in Time.