Food, Memories, and Writing: Connecting Food & People

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I'm participating in Charlotte's Community Read for 2024. The "Food, Memories, and Writing" workshops are going well and I'm having a blast. The first event was held at Visart Video and the participants ate it up--excuse the pun. 

We talked about Buttermilk Graffiti, the showcase book for the event, and how chef Edward Lee appreciated the layers of food history with each dish he tasted. He made me appreciate how different cuisines-like  Peruvian food in Patterson, NJ, or Nigerian food in Houston, TX, has become a part of the American landscape. 

We quickly settled into tasting, smelling, and savoring food prepared by Visart Cafe.

As attendees recorded their associations with the food and drink, I challenged them to write like Lee and capture specific details. Then improvising on George Ella Lyon's "I am From Poem,'' everyone remembered, freely associated, and wrote. There were no right answers--each person's creation was their own.

The results were delicious. One participant remembered the spiky okra plants in her grandmother's garden; another wrote about Bourbon in his home state of Kentucky. Watermelon chunks, olives, and triangles of toasted cheese sandwiches (along with small cups of tomato soup--of course) generated a bowlful of memories. 

A woman of Mexican heritage remembered how grilled cheese sandwiches and apple pie and ice cream seemed exotic to her as a child. Growing up, she envied this all-American food instead of the tortillas that her mother made from scratch every day. One woman brought little containers of tapioca pudding because it had been a Pennsylvania childhood favorite. Prompted by the way Lee found the history of different dishes, she was surprised to discover that tapioca had South American heritage.

One of my hosts, Mason Bissett, the adult services librarian at the Independence Branch, enjoyed watching strangers come together and--over the camaraderie of shared food--felt safe enough to share personal stories. I was impressed with the result: haikus, rhyming, and free verse poetry complete with personification, interesting points of view, and mood-inspiring words. 

Mason was glad that each person left with the realization that they could express their voice through writing. And even though they might not have thought of themselves as writers, for ninety minutes on a Saturday morning, this diverse group dug into a soup pot of memories and found delectable morsels that they served to the rest of us.

Edward Lee would have been proud. 

I didn't collect their papers so I can't share their work here. But Elliott Kurta, one of my talented teen book reviewers, agreed to share two of his poems with you. 

FOOD INSPIRED POETRY

Watermelon Children

by Elliott Kurta

 

I am from heat

My tendrils spiral into the soil, sipping its moisture

Fat on dew, I am swollen with the spirit of summer.

 

You slaughtered me in the kitchen

Cracked my green skull into pieces.

You sucked pulp and marrow from the rinds,

Spilled my seeds across the marble countertop.

Hands sticky with sin

You cleansed yourself with chlorine and sunblock

Took fireflies hostage so they couldn’t share what they’d seen.

Greedy children.

 

But I shall have my revenge

For I have lodged a dark afterthought inside your body

Planted a seed in the folds of your stomach.

Green with youth and chlorophyll

You shall know what it is like to be full with the spirit of summer.

                                                🍉🍉🍉

 

Ode to Olives

by Elliott Kurta

Athena’s promise

Briny as the Aegean Sea

Swollen crabapples.

 

A Note on this Haiku

            According to an ancient Greek legend, the citizens of Greece were once in conflict over what to name their newest city. Athena, goddess of wisdom and combat, and Poseidon, god of the seas, both wanted to be the city’s namesake. Poseidon offered the people a well of salt water as a gift, but as it was so salty, they were unable to drink from the well or water their crops with it. Athena gifted the city an olive tree, explaining that the wood could be used to build ships, the oil could be used in lamps and to heal wounds, and the olives could be eaten. Athena won the competition, and the people named their city “Athens” in her honor.

                                                                                🫒🫒🫒

Elliott at work.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Do you wish you could have been there for all the fun? It's not too late to sign up in these Charlotte branches. Here is the schedule:

North County. March 18, 12:30-2. Register here.

Matthews. March 26, 6:30-7:45. Register here.

Main at The Market @7th Street. March 27, 10:30-12. Register here.

FOR EDUCATORS & LIBRARIANS

You can adopt this activity for use in your home, classroom, or library. Keep it simple. Pick non-messy foods that kids can pop into their mouths. If you want a copy of the "I Am From" poem which I adapted, please email me. 

Congratulations to Heather Skinner who won Underwater World from last week's blog.

COMMUNITY READ + FREE WRITING WORKSHOP

 If you live in or near Charlotte, NC, I hope you will join me for a fun, free writing event in cooperation with Charlotte Mecklenburg's Community Read program. The book, Buttermilk Graffiti by Chef Edward Lee, chronicles Lee's culinary adventures as he tastes a variety of foods throughout the country. But unlike other foodies who talk about food with restaurant owners, Lee discusses the history and ethnic background behind each type of food or drink he samples. The book is more than about enjoying West Virginia pepperoni rolls that coal miners used to pack for lunch, participating in Ramadan in Dearborn, Michigan, or smoking a Cuban cigar in Miami. It is about the generations who have imbued their food with memory and identity. Listening to Lee's book was like savoring word candy. His descriptions are original, unexpected, and thought-provoking. 

In conjunction with this book, I am giving a workshop, "Food, Memories, & Writing," in four library locations in March.  Participants will sample food, record their memories associated with each one, and create two poems inspired by the food or drink that elicit strong emotions.  

Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Find the branch closest to you. I hope to see you there!

                                                    ****

March 2 from 11-12:30 at Visart Video. Co-sponsored by the Independence branch.

March 18 from 12:30-2 at the North County branch. Click here to register.

March 26 from 6:30-7:45 at the Matthews branch. Click here to register.

March 27 from 10:00-11:30 at the Market @7th Street. Sponsored by the Main branch. Click here to register.  

Two Tech Toys and One Book

It has been quite awhile since I have posted about a technology tool that I have found useful. In the last ten days I've used two that I want to share with you.


During a recent class at Central Piedmont Community College on "Crafting Characters that Connect" I brought Joyce Hostetter into the classroom via this wonderful tool, a Microsoft RoundTable camera.

Photograph courtesy Saad Khan

The students enjoyed interacting with Joyce as she answered questions about character development, staying focused as a writer, and receiving critiques. 

Photograph courtesy Saad Khan

A week later, I spent time researching for Half-Truths in the Carolina Room at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library. Hours sped by as I looked through the Charlotte News (Charlotte's afternoon paper) and the State of Zion (the weekly newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church) from 1950 on this machine:

A teenager walked by and asked me what it was. Microfilm machines aren't new technology, but they're helpful for reading old newspapers and magazines to gain an understanding of a time period. Unfortunately, they don't have "search" functions and this type of research feels very similar to sifting through sand to find treasure. 


But the real treasure that I found was this book:

The Charlotte City Directory for 1950 provided such interesting details as the names of the jailer and sheriff  as well as a list of area dentists. I found a listing for the Coca-Cola company that will play a small role in my book. Each page was packed with information.

Not only were people listed with their phone numbers, but there were also street listings that included an assortment of information. A small icon of a telephone indicated whether or not an individual had a phone,  a "r" showed that the person lived in the rear of the building, occupations such as maid, cook, lawyer, or company president were listed, and a c with a circle around it stood for "colored."


Technology carries us forward providing many new educational possibilities. But history provides a great many lessons too. 

A Good Cartoon is Worth a Thousand Words

On Wednesday there was an article in the Charlotte Observer about two men who work with the 48-story Duke Energy Center in downtown Charlotte. They are setting up light displays that will coordinate with a variety of holidays and special events.

I thought this was a very appropriate cartoon in today’s paper by Kevin Siers.

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SOS for PLCMC

If you live in or near Charlotte, NC then you know that public libraries are in huge financial trouble. I recently received this email:

What is to become of libraries
if funding is cut by 50%?
Get the facts. Show your support.
Join the conversation.

Last week, Director of Libraries Charles Brown presented three scenarios to the Library Board of Trustees that outlined ways Charlotte Mecklenburg Library could potentially deal with an expected $17 million (50%) budget cut from Mecklenburg County. Learn more and find out how you can help at one of these community meetings:

• Wed., April 21 at 6:30 p.m.
  CPCC North campus: 11930 Verhoeff Drive, Huntersville
• Mon., April 26 at 7 p.m.
  CPCC Levine campus: 2800 Campus Ridge Road, Matthews
• Wed., April 28 at 11:30 a.m.
  Main Library: 310 North Tryon Street, Charlotte
• Thurs., April 29 at 6:30 p.m.
  Myers Park Baptist Church: 1900 Queens Road, Charlotte
• Mon., May 3 at 6:30 p.m.
  CPCC Cato campus: 8120 Grier Road Charlotte

Additional community information sessions will be scheduled soon so that citizens from across the County who are interested in the future of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library can learn more at www.plcmc.org. 


The county has already fired over 100 staff and cut hours at many branches.I can't imagine a community without libraries. Can you?


If you value the many services which public libraries provide and you live in the area, come out and show your support. 

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History Happened Here

In honor of Black History Month the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library is hosting a series of documentaries highlighting local African American history. The four films were produced by WBTV reporter Steve Crump; click here to see the schedule (scroll down to films).

Today I saw the first movie, Lessons from the Lunch Counter, which recounts the Greensboro lunch counter sit-in fifty years ago. The non-violent protests began with four African American students from A&T College and were followed by similar sit-ins at several lunch counters in Charlotte. From there, the movement spread to other southern cities.



This photograph was taken of several Johnson C. Smith students demanding service at a Woolworth's lunch counter. In Charlotte, store owners responded to the situation by closing the lunch counters all together. With falling sales, five months later the sore managers re-opened the counters and served the black community. Although it might have been a decision forced by economics, it proved to be instrumental in leading to the desegregation of other public facilities and the eventual end of Jim Crow laws.

The documentary interviewed protesters as well as area historians. A professor commented that one of the reasons the lunch counter desegregation was so significant was that it was taboo for people of different races to eat together. Sharing a meal implied equality and common respect. People I have interviewed for my novel have confirmed this truth. They have recounted how the black help ate with separate utensils, plates, and glassware; sometimes outside the house itself.

As Crump said when he introduced this film, if you live in Charlotte, N.C., this is part of the story in our own backyard.

Not too far down the interstate, this photograph was taken in Durham, NC in 1940. Notice the signs for "White" and "Colored."



Fifty years ago, dedicated college students impacted history in ways they could never have foreseen.

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