Join River City Writers from 1-2:30 PM on Saturday, April 8th in Room B at the Southeast Regional Library, 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd. as Darlyn Kuhn, Tricia Booker, and Melissa Gopp-Warner discuss “How to Write a Memoir Without Losing Your Family,” and a strategy called “Change the Names and Make Stuff Up.”
Last Sunday Sessions – Spoken Word Poetry with Taryn “LoveReigns” Wharwood
| In reverence and celebration of Spoken Word Poetry, Women’s History Month, and uplifting community leaders, JaxbyJax is honored to host Taryn “LoveReigns” Wharwood! Taryn “LoveReigns” Wharwood is a poet, writer, author, emcee, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and curator. Taryn is The Program Manager for The Performers Academy of Jacksonville and currently conducts weekly writing workshops for adults in recovery, at-risk youth in drug rehabilitation centers, youth in foster care and in juvenile detention centers via Hope at Hand, Inc. In addition, she is the CEO of IAmLoveReigns Enterprises LLC, providing online business solutions for small to medium sized businesses, artists, and entertainers. She is also the host of The Random Thoughts of Reign Podcast which she began during the pandemic as a way to connect the world with creators during quarantine. LoveReigns is the founder of Artis(Tree) Live, The Closet Jax & Co-Founder of The Cypher Open Mic Poetry & Soul, to date, the longest running open mic in Jacksonville history. Her words, her aura, her spirit all scream love and when you meet her, you truly feel why Love truly does Reign. During this Last Sunday Session, expect personal expression, vocalizing your authentic self, and celebrating community as we continue the 2023 JaxbyJax programming with the literary art of Spoken Word Poetry. The Last Sunday Sessions are held at Cork Arts District, from 12-3 on the last Sunday of each month. Workshop genres include storytelling, memoir writing, screenwriting, spoken word poetry, lyricism, songwriting, fiction, poetry, and playwriting. The workshop breakdown is: 12-1: The hosted genre workshop, given by a community leader with expert knowledge in the highlighted genre with learning focused on that genre. 1-2: A writing circle based on the monthly genre, hosted by Erica Saffer, to engage in the content of the workshop and express creative connections. 2-3: An open mic hour to share in our words, ideas, and creative efforts. Work can be produced in the workshop or pre-composed for sharing. Enter the south facing building of the Cork Arts District on the Rosselle Street entrance. Parking in lot beside building or along street. Follow the posters to the entrance and the classroom. Eventbrite Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/last-sunday-sessions-taryn-lovereigns-wharwood-spoken-word-poetry-tickets-573358228897 Livestream Link: https://vimeo.com/event/2866903 Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/MpeV2N8x Hoping to see you in-person or online for the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Last Sunday Sessions in Spoken Word Poetry with Taryn “LoveReigns” Wharwood! This event is FREE to the public and can be accessed via livestream. The JaxbyJax Literary Arts Last Sunday Sessions are brought to you by a generous grant given in part by Alternate ROOTS, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundations, and the Ford Foundation. |
Back in Central Florida!
The next Beacon Salon Speaker Series, hosted by Beacon College in Leesburg, features Darlyn Finch Kuhn who’ll share that it’s life’s difficult moments that shape our character, become fuel for self-expression, and ultimately inspire artistic expression in others.
Sharing excerpts from her poetry and prose, Kuhn will show the benefits of paying close attention to pain, sharing the universal through the specific, and being vulnerable enough to collaborate with others through ekphrastic art. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. And you’ll enjoy a free boxed meal.
Registration REQUIRED: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/dfk/event/853117/?fbclid=IwAR3A7LHl_FH6ER9gX_eYntNZjK5Y5XyCC_tA0qm53Nqf2fwNex1PYQZjo9Q
Silenced in Eden
Jacksonville author Jo Lloyd Johnson writes:
| Silenced in Eden is my story, and maybe it is your story. CDC states that 1 in 4 girls experience Childhood Sexual Assault. *Fast Facts: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse |Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC I am the unlucky 1 in 4. I was born into a fundamentalist Christian commune in California. The world was introduced to me as black and white. Everything was right or wrong; good or bad. And I was bad. When a child is told that they are born sinful and worthy of Hell, they tend to not like themselves. If that child is abused, they tend to hate themselves. When that child hits puberty and is told that their value is determined by never being touched, they believe they have no value. I am that child. I spent most of my life trying to earn worth. But when I became a mother, I could not look at my child as I looked at myself. She was perfect. She was worthy. Slowly, she changed my black and white world into a world of vibrant colors. Silenced in Eden is my journey into a new world-one without patriarchy, dissociation, self-hatred, and sexual shame. As I began to question my indoctrination, I uncovered the details of my childhood sexual abuse and how it played a role in my view of myself and the world around me. The book describes my faith deconstruction and journey to healing. |
Click here to learn more and order Silenced in Eden.