December 13, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Coleman
434-982-2983
spcoleman@virginia.edu
Benefit for the Center for the Book
Barbara Kingsolver and John McCutcheon
to appear together on stage for first time!
Barbara Kingsolver and John McCutcheon will appear on stage together for the first time on March 26 at 4 pm in a benefit for the Virginia Foundation Center for the Book. Tickets for Words and Music with Barbara Kingsolver and John McCutcheon can be purchased beginning December 15 at Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater Box Office, 434-979-1333 or www.theparamount.net. Cost is $100, $75, $49, and $39.
Proceeds from the benefit will support the VFH Center for the Book and its book and literacy programs, which include the Virginia Festival of the Book, Motheread® and Fatheread®, Letters About Literature, and the Virginia Arts of the Book Center.
Barbara Kingsolver’s first book, The Bean Trees, was published in 1988, followed by several works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Poisonwood Bible earned accolades at home and abroad, including the National Book Prize of South Africa. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer and PEN/Faulkner awards, and was an Oprah's Book Club selection. In 2000, Barbara was awarded the National Humanities Medal, our nation's highest honor for service through the humanities.
John McCutcheon’s 24 recordings have garnered numerous honors, including five Grammy nominations. He is a music producer, songwriter, author, teacher, and is in wide demand internationally as a concert performer. His newest CD, Mightier Than the Sword, includes the track “Our Flag Was Still There,” co-written with Kingsolver, and based on her essay first published in her book of essays, Small Wonder. Each of the fourteen tracks on the CD were co-written or inspired by writers such as Lee Smith, Wendell Berry, Rita Dove, Carmen Agra Deedy, Dead Man Walking’s Sr. Helen Prejean, Woody Guthrie, Pablo Neruda, and José Martí. The benefit also will be a reunion for McCutcheon and the CD’s musicians, who will be playing together for the first time since the recording.
“We are thrilled to have Barbara and John, who are long-time friends, supporting our work so generously,” said Susan Coleman, director of the Center for the Book. “This will be a once-in-a-lifetime event that will entertain book and music lovers and will have a lasting impact on our programs.”
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