27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose & Poetry

by Jack Claiborne (Introduction), Rye Barcott (Contribution by), Dannye Romine Powell (Contribution by)

Overview

"27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose & Poetry" is the latest in Eno Publisher's popular series of local anthologies. The book showcases the literary life of North Carolina's most populous city by featuring the works of more than two dozen hometown writers. The result is a mosaic of perspectives about life in Charlotte in a variety of genres- journalism, history, fiction, poetry, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780983247593
Publisher:	Eno Publishers
Publication date:	09/10/2014
Pages:	219
Sales rank:	1,134,605
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Preface 15

Introduction Jack Claiborne 17

Views From Before

A Capital City David Goldfield 27

Fourth Ward in the Gay Nineties Dannye Romine Powell 33

My Mother's Eyes Joyce Jim Lavenc 41

The Girls Mary Kratt 46

A Taste of Equality Amy Rogers 56

Street Scenes

A Cup of Grace & Comfort Fannie Flono 63

A Wild Ride Peter St. Onge 67

"Charlotte Convention" David Radavich 76

Charlotte Noir Cathy Pickens 78

When Charlotte turned Upside Down Rick Rothacker 90

Friends & Family

A Sense of Plate Mark de Castrique 97

Fred Kirby: Charlotte's Singing Cowboy Ann Wicker 105

Welcome Home, Brother Sharon Raynor 110

Headed Home (Adapted from Losing My Sister) Judy Goldman 117

In the Neighborhood

Veterans Park Rye Barcott 129

"New Southern Blues" Janaka B. Lewis 132

College Downs Aimee Parkison 134

The Starter House Sandra Y. Govan 144

Eastland's Child Amy Hallman 156

Rooted Virginia Brown 164

Views in Fiction

Dear, Deer Abby Tamar Myers 177

Vladimir and Michael Ailen Arreaza 186

Loraylee Anna Jean Mayhew 190

A Place Called Home

One Road, Many Names Irania Macías Patterson 199

"Fall Festival" Grace C. Ocasio 100

How Do I Get There from Sharon Amity? Mignon F. Ballard 208

A Place of Grandeur and Light Elisha T. "Mother" Minter 212

Making It a Better Place Robert Inman 216

Editorial Reviews

If you ve forgotten or perhaps never knew just how much Charlotte has transformed itself in recent years, 27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose & Poetry offers a keen literary reminder.



This new collection, a mix of history, essays, fiction and poems, is the sixth volume in a successful series from Eno Publishers. Each book portrays a city through the perspectives of 27 local writers.



Hillsborough-based Eno Publishers launched the 27 Views series in 2010 with 27 Views of Hillsborough. When that book proved a hit, the press continued the series with Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Asheville and now Charlotte. Two more 27 Views collections, on Greensboro and coastal Carolina, are in the works.



Much of Charlotte s story is about progress, and Jack Claiborne, a retired Charlotte Observer associate editor, provides a fine primer on the subject with his introduction. Charlotte, he writes, has striven to catch the next wave in hopes of becoming the first, the biggest, the best, the tallest, the most admired, or whatever other superlative was available.



Since progress often means supplanting old with new, it s not surprising that several pieces celebrate defunct landmarks, such as Eastland Mall and the Coffee Cup, the diner where black and white, rich and poor, enjoyed their collards and fried chicken while sitting shoulder to shoulder.



The egalitarianism of it all took me by surprise and gave me an appreciation that I otherwise didn t have for the buttoned-down city of bankers I had just moved to, Observer Associate Editor Fannie Flono writes.



In an essay titled A Sense of Place, novelist Mark de Castrique describes a family farm dating to the 1700s that was about to be replaced by a parking lot for airport travelers. Fewer than eight miles from downtown Charlotte, he writes, the Bigham farm had survived a revolution, a civil war, a depression, but not prosperity. --Pam Kelley, Charlotte Observer

From the Publisher