When: 10:00 am - 2:30 pm Saturday, September 20, 2008
Where: Main Stage Theatre, Performing Arts building, Hillsborough Community College - Ybor, Palm Avenue and 14th Street
Admission: Free And Open To The Public
On Saturday, September 20th at 10:00 am, Hillsborough Community College and the Artists and Writers Group will host the Deep Carnivale Literacy Symposium: Challenges and Champions, an interactive series of panels and discussions about the state of literacy in Hillsborough County. The event is in preparation for Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words, Tampa’s premier literary festival on Saturday, September 27th, also in Ybor City.
The event will be held at the HCC Main Stage Theatre in the Performing Arts building, corner of Palm Ave and 14th Street.
| 10:00 - 11:30 am |
Literacy Challenges in Hillsborough CountyA panel of experts discusses the state of literacy in Hillsborough County, from pre-schoolers to adults. Moderator: Brendan McLaughlin (ABC Action News anchor, Flashpoint host) |
| 11:30 am - 1:00 pm |
Networking lunchEnjoy a box lunch available for purchase and discuss the morning panel with your peers. |
| 1:00 - 2:30 pm |
Literacy Champions Discuss Real-World Literacy-Boosting TechniquesPassionate supporters of creative literacy-enhancing activities and programs share some of their favorite ways to address literacy issues. Moderator: Lynne Hansen (Author, young adult fiction) |
Ann Butterfield - HCC Literacy Program
Mike Cornelius - Community and Family Liaison, Children's Future Hillsborough
Lynne Hansen - SAT vocabulary novelist, author of Sunshine State Standards-based teacher kits (moderator)
Mary Mulhern - Tampa City Council Member, District 2
Susan Oliver - Chief Librarian, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Chloe Romeo - Reading teacher, Hillsborough County Public Schools
Sara Romeo – Executive Director, CEO, Tampa Crossroads, Inc.
Sheila Sorkin - Children’s Future Hillsborough, Project Director
Lizz Straight - Poet, prison educator, Poetry Is...programmer
Thelma Young - Author, storyteller
James Welsh - University of South Florida, Visual Literacy, head counselor of Tampa Theatre’s Let’s Make Movies filmmaking summer camp
Editor David Warner of Creative Loafing said some kind and encouraging words on page 26 of the August 26, 2009, issue. Partial quote, "At a moment when ignorance is being aggressively defended, Deep Carnivale still respects our intelligence. Imagine that."
Esther Martinez, in a story at The Florida Book Review" says she knows "Deep Carnivale will be 'A Celebration of Words' and not a Bourbon Street bacchanal."
"But logophile that I am, I reason I’ll get drunk on language. With over 70 writers and artists scheduled [for the 2008 Carnivale] to perform or read from their works, my beaded necklaces will be strung with verse. I imagine haiku shooters..."
"It is just before 10am when I arrive at the corner of Palm Avenue and 14th Street—Deep Carnivale ground zero. About a dozen vendor tables are lined up around the Hillsborough Community College courtyard where a band of teenagers [Next Exit] are setting up their instruments.
"The vendor tables sell books by local writers, HCC publications and baked goods. I grab a Cuban favorite, papa rellena, a potato stuffed with savory ground beef. Belly satisfied, I cross the street and enter the historic Circulo Cubano. A nearly 100 year old neo-classical building of ionic columns and marble staircases, it served as the Cuban Social Club and remains the oldest building of its kind in the country."
"When I look back over 2008, my visit to the second edition of Deep Carnivale was a
highlight. You and your staff did a great job and I loved being part of it, again.
I am sure there will be bigger festivals to come. But maybe not better!!!"
– Darrell House,
children's book author and 2008 Deep Carnivale presenter.