Agenda - 10-07-2014 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 3, 2014 Contact: Martha Shannon, 919/968 -2011 Author of Short Fiction Carrie Knowles Selected as 2014 Piedmont Laureate Raleigh author, writing coach, arts advocate and organizer Carrie Knowles has been selected as the region's 2014 Piedmont Laureate. During 2014, Ms. Knowles will appear at various workshops, reading programs and speaking engagements throughout Alamance, Durham, Orange and Wake counties. 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 Alamance County Arts Council, City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Durham 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, creative non - fiction in 2011, drama /screenwriting in 2012, children's literature in 2013 and short fiction in 2014. The literary form for 2015 will be speculative fiction. As Piedmont Laureate, Ms. Knowles will receive an honorarium and serve until December 31St, 2014. Her duties will include presenting public readings and workshops, participating at select public functions and creating at least one original activity to expand appreciation of short fiction. A schedule of the Laureate's 2014 activities will be posted in March on the Piedmont Laureate website at Ms. Knowles has been a freelance writer, arts advocate and organizer for 45 years. She has published dozens of short stories and three books: a memoir titled "The Last Childhood: A Family Story of Alzheimer's" (Three Rivers Press, 2000) and two novels, "Lillian's Garden" and "Ashoan's Rug" (Roundfire Books, 2013). Noted as one of the top books of 2013 by The Salisbury Post, "Ashoan's Rug" is a novel created from a series of 10 linked short stories. Ms. Knowles' short stories have won numerous awards, including the Village Advocate Fiction Contest, the Blumenthal Writers & Readers Series, the North Carolina Writer's Network Fiction Syndication and Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Competition. She was named twice as a finalist in other Glimmer Train competitions, was a finalist in the Doris Betts Fiction Contest, and received an honorable mention in the National Literary Awards. Ms. Knowles founded the Free Range Studio in Raleigh, providing office space to a wide range of writers and other creative people as well as coaching writers and