[event rescheduled for Wednesday, February 17]
by Bianca Spriggs
“There is a beauty here in the unyielding way. Our people…have decided we shall survive. We will live on†— Kalamu ya Salaam, Tomorrow’s Toussaints
On January 12, the most violent earthquake to rock the Caribbean in two centuries struck Haiti, crippling an already socio-economically struggling nation. More than 150,000 bodies have been recovered from the rubble with thousands more feared buried. While the media continue to provide statistics and images of the devastating effects of the quake, their focus is already waning. That’s why I’m inviting you out on Wednesday, Feb. 10, as the Kentucky writing community gathers for a benefit event called “(Still) Here for Haiti.”
The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning is providing space for this literary fundraiser on Wednesday, February 10, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. As the coordinator of the event, I invite you to join us as KY authors read in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters.
We will be asking for a $20 donation from audience members, all of which will be go to Doctors Without Borders for its Haiti relief efforts. Each $20 donor will receive a handmade copy of the (attached) “Here for Haiti” print designed by John Lackey of Homegrown Press. We will also donate proceeds from any book sales that night to Doctors Without Borders.
Our readers are:
Gurney Norman
Ed McClanahan
Nikky Finney
Crystal Wilkinson
Richard Taylor
Lynnell Major Edwards
Erik Reece
Frank X Walker
Neil Chethik
Jeremy Paden
David Cazden
Leatha Kendrick
George Ella Lyon
Jan Isenhour
Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
Matthew Haughton
I cannot begin to express how much your presence and time would add to this event. We would love to have a packed house.
Thank you in advance for your consideration, and in the words of a Haitian proverb, “Many hands make the load lighter.â€
