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Literary Festival to be a celebration of written and spoken words

Regional Automotive Center students in the Toyota T-TEN program.

Tidewater Community College’s 18th annual Literary Festival reflects the theme “A Celebration of Written and Spoken Words” with keynote speaker Zelda Lockhart, author, expressive arts therapist and teacher.

Zelda Lockhart
Zelda Lockhart

The week-long festival from April 1-4 features Lockhart on April 4 at 12:30 p.m. at the Portsmouth Campus Student Center.

Events are free and open to the public.

Lockhart, a former English instructor at the college’s Portsmouth Campus, is a registered expressive arts consultant and educator. Her latest book, “The Soul of the Full-Length Manuscript,” invites you to take the “stuff” that makes a mess of your life and use it productively.

Lockhart is director of Her Story Garden Studios, which inspires black women to self-define, heal and liberate through the literary arts.

Luisa Igloria
Luisa Igloria

Luisa Igloria

 April 1 at 12:30 p.m., Black Box Theater, Chesapeake Academic Building

The professor of creative writing and English at Old Dominion University is the author of 14 books of poetry and four chapbooks. Igloria has received various national and international literary awards, and her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals including New England Review; The North American Review; PRISM International (Canada); and The Asian Pacific American Journal.

 

Jon Pineda
Jon Pineda

Jon Pineda

April 2 at 12:30 p.m. at the Virginia Beach Campus, Joint-Use Library, 2nd Floor

The poet, memoirist and novelist won the Crab Orchard Award Series in Poetry Open Competition for his first book, “Birthmark.” His other collections include “The Translator’s Diary,” winner of the Green Rose Prize, and “Little Anodynes,” winner of the 2016 Library of Virginia Literary Award for poetry.

Pineda’s honors and awards include a Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. Currently, he teaches creative writing at the College of William and Mary.

Jesse Saperstein
Jesse Saperstein

Jesse Saperstein

April 3 at 12:30 p.m. – Norfolk Campus Student Center, 5th Floor

Jesse Saperstein is the author of the best-selling memoir “Atypical: Life with Asperger’s in 20 1/3 Chapters,” published in 2010. Saperstein strives to put a face on Asperger’s syndrome to make his readers laugh, empathize and better understand what it means to see the world through the prism of autism.

Diagnosed with the mild form of autism at 14, Saperstein struggled with many of the hallmark challenges of the condition, from social awkwardness and self-doubt to extreme difficulty in dealing with change and managing emotions. Saperstein shares his unique perspective on topics such as overcoming bullying, finding purpose and strength, coping with compulsions and making peace with ritualistic obsessions.