Newspaper Page Text
4A
SEPTEMBER 23, 199 Y
Writer overcomes adversity
through creative endeavors
Eileen Rivers
GUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
i AUGUSTA
r years of awards, the Au
a Arts Council acknowledges
entemporary black writer, not
for her ability to use complex
ery to capture the feelings of
characters, but also for mas-
Priully taking the experience of a
{fimg African-American couple,
“crossing over,” making it
&, important, and emotionally
satisfying for all of her readers.
»s Above allelse I wanted to make
:&q a fun experience for every
fme,” explained author Rowena
@Poker. “As fun of an experience
Wit was to write.”
~Obviouslyher attempt was suc
'%_sful. Last weekend, as part of
SE?rts in the Heart of Augusta
stival, she was awarded first
sgee in the Porter Fleming Writ
»Competition for fiction.
I*fhough she tries to make her
wgiting fun, the topics dealt with
‘f*Rer stories are often just the
pposite. In “A Red Vine Runs
[@tfough It” Booker explores the
culties in a relationship be
ween Magda and her “loser” boy
tiend of the moment Roberto,
Yho is often emotionally cold and
thysically abusive. Bookertrans
orms Magda into an ice statue,
symbolizing the character’s
trapped soul,” controlled by a
nan she allows to have “certain
yowers” over her. But the author
nanages to avoid cliche by delv
ng into Roberto’s past, forcing
hereadertounderstand the emo
jonal angst behind his abusive
rehavior.
| “lwanted to make sure that this
lid not turninto the stereotypical
Local volunteers
‘honored by
Eckerd Salute to
‘Women Program
b
i In an effort to salute extraordi
‘nary women volunteers. Eckerd
«Corporation is honoring one
'womenin each of its communities
'throughits award winning Eckerd
ISalute to Women Program. To
day, Eckerd announced the nearly
2,900 local honorees who will be
arecognized for their dedication to
_2hands on volunteerism.
3 Thefollowing women were nomi
s nated by local Eckerd drug stores
ain your area:
3 Julie Moretz-Augusta
: Ruth Crawford-Augusta
« Loretta Howard-Augusta
4 "o acknowledge their achieve
-3 mentsin theircommunity, Eckerd
j:will present each local honoree
swith an award and a specially
3 designed gift pack.
¥ “Theirtireless volunteer efforts
“have made our communities a
.':better place to live,” said Mary
» Beth Fox, Director of Community
“Relations for Eckerd. “The Eckerd
: Salute to Women program is our
wway to encourage their
¥ volunteerism and say thank you
:for taking time to help others.”
i Eckerd launched a search for
I extraordinary volunteers June 15,
%1999 in all Eckerd stores across
v'the county. From thousands of
' nominations received during the
:I, four week period, each Eckerd
" store chose one woman to serve
'ras its local honoree.
| From the 2,900 local honoree,
100 women will be chosen by an
r independent judging organization
| as The Eckerd 100. Each Eckerd
1100 will receive a SI,OOO grant in
« Her name to the nonprofit organi
ion of her choice, an invitation
“Sto attend a symposium on volun
nteer and women's issues in At
anta, Georgia. October 8-10 and a
nalized Web site. The Eckerd
" 00 will be announced September
\ o
? ‘Eckerd is the third largest drug
v, chain by store count. For
'*more information, visit Eckerd’s
}‘:Wob site at www.eckerd.com.
A"
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AWARD WINNING WRITER Rowena Booker reads from her award
winning short story “A Red Vine Runs Through It,” during the Sixth
Annual Porter Fleming Competition Winner’s Recital. Ms. Booker
was one of several writers honored during the Arts in the Hearts
of Augusta Festival this past weekend. Photo by Eileen Rivers
male bashing story,” Booker ex
plained. “That happens with so
many African-American female
writers.”
Using the metaphor of a goblet,
she shows the reader how Roberto
was abused by his mother, and
raised to objectify women.
“The goblet was the most com
plex imagery used in the story,”
the author commented. “I wasn’t
sure if everyone would pick up on
that. I'm pleasantly surprised
when people do.”
In the end Magda allows her
soul to be “chipped away,” and
becomes another prized posses
sion of her boyfriend, like the
many “goblets” he collected be
fore her.
Booker’s struggle to make it to
Fall Quarter
begins
Tuesday
September 28th
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the top of her craft started off
bumpy but, unlike her charac
ters, has a much more positive
ending. She grew up surrounded
by literature (her mother was also
a writer), and originally started
writing to vent some of her child
hood frustrations.
“When I wrote as a child it was
more like a form of therapy,” she
explained. “I would write in my
journals about things I was upset
about with mymother or mybroth
ers.”
But quickly her life changed.
When she found herself living in
Los Angeles, trying to raise four
young children, her “therapeutic”
writings transformed from jour
nal entries to short stories. In ‘93
she went out on a limb, leaving a
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bad marriage to return home to
Chicago, work at Columbia Col
lege, and go to school at night.
She admitsthere weretimes when
she thought she wasn’t going to
succeed.
“Two years ago I felt like I was
spreading myselftoo thin,” Booker
said. “My kids’ grades were suf
feringand I feltlike Iwasn’t spend
ing as much time with them as I
should have. I almost quit school.”
But she persevered and in June
of 98 she received a bachelor’s
degree in English with a fiction
writing concentration. A month
later she published her first piece
called “The Awakening,” that de
picts her early life as a single
mother, struggling to succeed with
all the odds seemingly against her.
Currently she lives in Columbia,
South Carolina and works at
Benedict Collegeinthedepartment
of English, Foreign Languages and
Mass Communications.
“I really feel like God has pushed
meinthisdirection,and hasshown
me where I'm supposed to go,”
said a confident Booker. “This is
only the beginning.”
But despite her confidence,
Bookerisstillamodesttalent and
admits that when she entered the
competition she expected to get a
rejection letter.
“I was as surprised as anyone
else when I saw a letter of con
gratulationsinstead ofthe typical
‘thanksbut nothanks’lettersthat
I often get,” she commented. “I
have received many of those, and
don’t consider any one of them a
failure.”
The award-winning author is
currently working on a screen
play about her experiences during
the reeent Los Angeles riots.
Opera star reaches out
to Augusta’s children
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Only in his 20’s, Kirk Walker
has already started climbing to
the top of his profession. Using
his powerfully resonatingbaritone
voice, he reaches people of all
ages, races and lifestyles, becom
ing the epitome of both personal
and artistic progress in America.
His constant presence in some of
the most noted operas of our time
puts him in the same class as
Simon Estes, Leontine Price and
Kathleen Battle, serving to break
down the traditional image of the
white opera singer.
“Beingan African-American op
era singer has been a struggle at
some points,” commented Walker.
“Its not always that something
negative is said to me. Some
timesits just a feeling or look that
comes over the room.”
But so far he hasn’t let that
become an obstacle. His positive
attitude, charismatic flare for
drama, and natural acting ability
have skyrocketed his career.
But the arias and artistic ex
pressions of opera have not al
ways been present in his life, and
for much of his adolescence his
future seemed to be hanging in
the balance.
When he was a teenager, his
mother became extremely ill and
had to stop working, forcing his
family to move from a comfort
able middle class lifestyle in Co
lumbus, Ohio, to an apartment in
the projects. It wasn’t long before
he started resenting his new life,
and doing things that landed him
in trouble.
“I was acting a lot out of anger,
I felt like I had nothing else going
for me,” Walker explained.
Soon that behavior landed him
44 r R .
N 4 g
N
Opera singer Kirk Walker
presented a one-man show
recently to the students at the
Immaculate Conception
school. Photo by Charles Jones
in jail, where he went through
the Scared Straight program.-
Duringthat time he realized that
prison was not the place he wanted
to be, and decided to focus on
college, instead of crime.
He spent much ofhishigh school
career sharpening his football
skills, in hopesofreceiving a schol
arship. He got involved in opera
almost by accident. Afterfootball
practice a chorus teacher at his
high school overheard him sing
inginthe shower and encouraged
him to join the school choir.
“At first I had absolutely no
interest in chorus,” Walker jok
ingly remembered. “But my cho
rus teacher kept after me so I
decided to give it a try.”
Eventually he did get a scholar
ship, but instead of running yards
and catching passes, heauditioned
with an opera,and ended upspend-
Ang the next four years of his life
See OPERA STAR, page 15A -
i N AR
7
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