Literature

Featuring readings by Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians novelist Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians poet, Mary Leauna Christensen, followed by a panel with scholars Mae Miller Claxton (Western Carolina University) and Kirstin Squint (East Carolina University) and an audience Q&A. Sponsored by Cherokee Central Schools, a North Carolina Humanities Community Engagement […]

The Mitford Museum's third annual literary lab will once again focus on inspiring, encouraging, and empowering writers as we work to increase interest in reading and the literary arts. It […]

In her surviving letters, Jane Austen mentions music occasionally among news of friends, neighbors and family. We know that she played the piano and sang, apparently practicing regularly when she could. The memories of relations who were still young when she died – especially her niece Caroline – give us an idea of the place […]

Jane Austen and other women who enjoyed music, and who aspired to even a modest level of musical accomplishment, needed some training. What kind of musical education could women in the Regency era expect to receive? What does it indicate that Marianne Dashwood plays concertos, why is Mary Bennet interested in thoroughbass, and how would […]

The Lexington Book Festival is for readers of ALL ages and for writers who love creating stories for and about children, tweens, teens, and young adults. Plan to spend the day with us on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at Arts Davidson County.

In Austen’s novels, we encounter music in a variety of forms and scenes with the pianoforte at their center. While Austen doesn’t mention keyboard pieces by their titles, she alludes to one style in particular that 18th-century music in its popular and utilitarian manifestation: the “air.” An air can designate a variety of styles and […]