Mark Lamb

Here in the ’Boro, this June is shaping up as a time to celebrate story in all its forms, including on the stage, in an award-winning novel and through poetry. It’s a busy month, so let’s get straight to the details:

This month’s Poetry in the Boro will be at Murfreesboro Little Theatre on Sunday evening, June 10. The event will offer a slight twist on the usual program when storyteller Mark Lamb takes the stage after featured poet Joshua Moore. An hour of open mic will follow.

Joshua Moore

Joshua Moore is a Nashville poet, second-year Vanderbilt MFA candidate and the host and producer of Nashville Public Radio’s Versify podcast—a show in which poets turn people’s personal stories into poems. Winner of the 2018 Academy of American Poets University Prize, he’s also the Poetry and Comics editor for the Nashville Review.

Mark Lamb is a New York City choreographer, performer and GrandSLAM Champion of The Moth storytelling series. His story “A Boy and His Dolly” was sanctioned by Dolly Parton herself to benefit her literacy program the Imagination Library. Originally from Sturgis, Kentucky, and never far from his Southern roots, Mark will be in Murfreesboro as a headliner and storytelling coach for United We Style, a June 21 performance event.

Doors open and open mic sign-ups begin at 6:30 p.m., June 10. Featured artists start at 7 p.m. MLT is located at 702 Ewing Blvd. Find full details on this free event on the Poetry in the Boro Facebook page.

Writing Workshops:

While storyteller Mark Lamb is in town for United We Style, he’ll also be offering two workshops, both focused on helping participants explore ways to tell their stories authentically through writing, improvisation and performance exercises:

Thursday, June 14, 6:30–8:30 p.m. – “Writing and Performing Your Personal Monologue,” a workshop for youth ages 11–16. Lamb and Murfreesboro Poet Laureate Kory Wells will help participants interested in performance or poetry confidently claim their unique stories for use in theatre, spoken word, school presentations, and other purposes. The workshop, to be held at Patterson Park, is free, but pre-registration is required by contacting Susan Hicks at shicks@murfreesborotn.gov or 615-893-7439, ext. 6104.

Monday, June 18, 7–9 p.m. – “Tell, the First Steps to Finding Your Story.” This workshop, held at Murfreesboro Little Theatre, will help participants find new paths into sharing stories that could be useful for everything from corporate presentations to sharing a story at a dinner party or perhaps entering a storytelling competition. Fee is $20 at the door (cash, check or card); no pre-registration required. Find more details on Facebook.

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Wednesday, June 6, at 6 p.m., the Murfreesboro Barnes & Noble monthly book club meeting will discuss Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and a National Book Award finalist, this novel explores the importance of art and beauty in a post-apocalyptic world. (Read my review here) This event is free and open to the public.

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Arts Laureates Show:

June 26 through Aug. 3, Murfreesboro’s Inaugural Arts Laureates will hold an exhibit of their work in the Rotunda of Murfreesboro City Hall . Entitled “The Other Side: Contrasts in Our Community,” the exhibit will include photography by Jessica Nelson, painting by Ginny Togrye and poetry by Kory Wells. The exhibit will also include a collage of work by community artists of all ages who participated in outreach projects conducted by the laureates this past year. The exhibit reception will be Thursday evening, June 28. See Facebook for exact time and other details.

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The title of the Murfreesboro Arts Laureates show, “The Other Side,” is a nod to the well-known poem “The Bridge Builder,” written around 1900 by native Murfreesboro daughter Will Allen Dromgoole, a prolific author and columnist for the Nashville Banner.

The Bridge Builder
by Will Allen Dromgoole

An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”