Join us Saturday, April 6 at 1pm at Cleveland Public Library Main for Literary Cleveland's "The Gift of Darkness," a free staged reading of original creative works on the topic of awe as it relates to the solar eclipse.
During an eclipse, the moon obscures the sun, casting the earth in darkness but revealing new insights in the process. The poems, monologues, and short dramatic pieces that make up this performance reflect on the eclipse, awe, and what can be revealed, both literally and metaphorically, in darkness.
The words in this staged reading have been crafted by 20 local writers and will be performed by professional actors under the direction of poet, playwright, and former Literary Cleveland Executive Director Christine Howey. Individually, the unique voices of the writers bring to life light and darkness, humor and horror, love and loss, the heavens and the earth.
As Mary Oliver wrote in her poem "The Uses of Sorrow":
Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.
Contributing writers include:Cathy Barber, Kate Barlow, Liz Breazeale, Aja Dandridge, Sarah Halko, Ann O'Mara Heyward, Meredith Holmes, Kat Karney, Diane Kendig, Lara Lillibridge, Ray McNiece, Mimi Plevin-Foust, Geoffrey Polk, Story Rhinehart, Vincent L. Robinson, Deborah Taddeo, Laura Maylene Walter, Rebecca Waud, and Timothy Wutrich.
This program is presented as part of the 2024 Cleveland Humanities Festival in collaboration with the Cleveland Public Library and the CWRU Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.
