About

Deep Carnivale is produced by The Artists and Writers Group, Inc.

Members of the festival planning committee are: David Audet, Gary Burge, Silvia Curbelo, Lisa Ciurro, T. Hampton Dohrman, Ronny Elliott, Bill Elmendorf, Jim Graves, Janet Henderson, Lori Karpay, Carolyn Kossar, Charlotte Lee, Peggy Lee, Susan McClung, Michael A. Murphy, Chip Neville, Kathleen Ochshorn, John Reimer, Judy Tampa.

About the Name "Deep Carnivale"

The title for the festival comes from a short story by Canadian writer, Bill Gaston.

In his short story, The Kite Trick, the main character uses the phrase often. An important part of the story lies in the character's definition of the phrase and will not be given here.

However, we wish to both thank and offer best wishes to Neverne Covington for bring the story to the attention of the festival and to this day, her wedding day. Neverne, the festival staff, artists and writers all wish you and Don great happiness. And while we can only promise this wedding gift, we hope to have Bill Gaston attend next year's festival. Deep Carnivale!

Guest Column St. Petersburg Times-City Times-Friday. August 31, 2007

New Role for Artists and Writers Group

Dear Tampa Bay Communities,

The Artists and Writers Group, Inc., has recently reorganized from its previous incarnation in the 1970's-80's, when it was known for unique events, including the Artists and Writers balls in Ybor City. The Group is now developing partnerships with interested organizations to provide stimulating opportunities for our community to express and share its creativity. Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words scheduled for Saturday, September 8th, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in Ybor City is an example of this effort. This new literary festival will bring Florida authors, writers and poets together to share a celebration of literature and writing with the Tampa Bay community.

One goal of the festival is to excite our children and young adults about the pleasures of reading and using the written and spoken word creatively in its many wonderful and diverse forms. Another goal is to illuminate the numerous talented writers living in our community, and a third goal is to provide a new opportunity to emerging authors to develop their audience.

This free, family-friendly street festival will take place in the National Historic District of Ybor City, from the corner of 9th Avenue along the brick-covered 14th Street (Republica de Cuba) to Palm Avenue. This venue was chosen for its proximity to Hillsborough Community College and the historical landmarks of El Pasaje, Ybor Square and the Cuban Club. The lovely, tree-lined HCC patio, the Ybor Room, and the Cuban Club will be excellent venues for the readings and performances.

Approximately 70 poets, fiction writers, and songwriters as well as visual artists are presenting work. They represent a diverse range of writing styles, ages, experience, and cultural backgrounds. There will be three sound stages for readings, spoken word, original singer/songwriter performances and short plays. Arts and writing activities for children and adults of all ages will add to the celebratory quality of the day. An Exquisite Corpse, an art concept from the 1920's, will transform the arches of the El Pasaje building into 20 'stanzas' of an original poem that will come to light for the first time on September 8th, written and illustrated by twenty artists/writers.

The Artists and Writers Group, with enthusiastic support from Hillsborough Community College-Ybor and campus president, Dr. Sylvia Carley, the Ybor City Development Corporation, the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative and the Cuban Club, anticipate this literature festival to develop into a historic district-wide, three day event. Other sponsors include Tampa Review, The University of Tampa Press, Ybor City Saturday Market and Grown Man Brand.

With authors, artists, book sellers and community organizations involved and programming designed to appeal from the youngest to the most sophisticated, and with community support, this inaugural event is well on its way to becoming a flagship event for Ybor City and Tampa Bay.

Sincerely,
David Audet
Director
Artists and Writers Group, Inc.