Agenda - 10-04-2011 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 ~~~~ AUTHOR SCOTT HULER SELECTED 2011 PIEDMONT LAUREATE Renowned Raleigh writer Scott Huler has been selected as the region's 2D11 Piedmont Laureate. The Piedmont Laureate program is dedicated to building a literary bridge for residents to come together and celebrate the art of writing. Co-sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Alamance County Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, Johnston County Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission and United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County, the program's mission is to "promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region." The program focuses on a different literary form each year (poetry in 2009, novels in 2010, and creative non- fiction for 2011). In author Bland Simpson's letter of support for Mr. Huler's laureate application, he wrote, "Scott Huler is well-known and respected in the journalistic and non-fiction writing profession and he is certainly well thought of and appreciated in our part of the world. I believe he is an excellent choice for the position of Piedmont Laureate...." For being named the Piedmont Laureate, Mr. Huler will receive an honorarium of $7,OOQ and serve for one year. His duties will include presenting public readings and workshops, participating at select public functions and creating at least one original activity to expand appreciation of literature. A schedule of the Laureate's 2D11 activities will be posted in January on the sponsoring agency websites and on the Piedmont Laureate website at www.piedmontlaureate.com. Mr. Huler was born in 1959 in Cleveland and graduated from Washington University in 1981. He was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa because of the breadth of his studies, and that breadth has been a signature of his writing work. He has written on everything from the death penalty to bikini waxing and from NASCAR racing to the stealth bomber for such newspapers as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, and such magazines as Backpacker, Fortune and Child. Mr. Huler's award-winning radio work has been heard on "All Things Considered" and "Day to Day' on National Public Radio and on "Marketplace" and "Splendid Table" on American Public Media. He has been a staff writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Raleigh News & Observer, and a staff reporter and producer for Nashville Public Radio. He was the founding and managing editor of the Nashville City Paper. He has taught at such colleges as Berry College and UNC-Chapel Hill and has served as guest host on "The State of Things" on WUNC-FM.