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BOOK SMART

An inside look at the upcoming star-studded and celebrated Arts & Letters Live

Kendall Morgan
kendall Morgan
Jan 15, 2013 | 12:25 pm

With the assistance of what she calls a “great team,” Arts & Letters Live director of programming Carolyn Bess has solidified the reputation of Dallas’ premiere performing arts series during her 10-year tenure.

As the scope of Arts & Letters Live has grown, the link between its featured authors and performers and the Dallas Museum of Art’s collections and exhibitions has become stronger, broadening its appeal far beyond the bastion of bookworms who snap up tickets every year.

The 2013 program, which kicks off January 17, is particularly eclectic, offering something for everyone from literary politicos to collectors of artistic pop-up books to fans of such crowd-pleasing authors as Margaret Atwood, George Saunders and David Sedaris. Bess shared a sneak peek at what else to expect in this exciting series.

CultureMap: There seems to be a very careful balance between all of the featured authors and performers this year. Do you schedule each season with this in mind, or is this one unusual in its “something for everyone” approach?


Carolyn Bess: Every year we aim for there to be events that appeal to everyone’s taste and reading preferences — no matter whether you prefer literary fiction, nonfiction, memoir, humor, history, biography, poetry, short stories, art, music or dance.

Woven into all of Arts & Letters Live’s programs is an emphasis on and celebration of the creative process; these experiences allow people to hear the inside scoop from authors and performers about how they came to write a particular book or choreograph a new dance inspired by art.

CM: Who do you anticipate being the year’s hottest ticket and why? Is anything sold out already?

CB: Nothing is sold out yet, though tickets are selling well. Even though David Sedaris has done annual appearances with us for the past five years, he is still very much a hot ticket because he reads new and unpublished material every year.

He loves to test out his new essays in front of live audiences and make notes about what people find funny. We still have tickets available for David Sedaris. This year it is held at the Winspear Opera House.

Other hot tickets this year include Margaret Atwood and Temple Grandin. We’re exploring moving both events to larger venues downtown because we’ve almost surpassed our seating capacity at the DMA. Because they are still at four months away, we don’t want to turn away people who want to attend.

Atwood is a literary icon and an amazing speaker. Many people are interested in hearing Grandin, both for her insights into autism and her work with animals.

CM: Can you talk about how the series has evolved and continues to evolve?

CB: Arts & Letters Live is celebrating its 22nd year in 2013, and we’re so thankful that it has developed a loyal fan base in North Texas. In the early years, the core programs were the Distinguished Writers series and Texas Bound programs. Our founding producer emerita, Kay Cattarulla, co-founded Selected Shorts and got it on public radio when she worked for Symphony Space in New York City.

When she moved to Dallas in 1992 and fell in love with Texas literature, she gave the Selected Shorts model a Texas twist, and our Texas Bound series was born. It features Texas-connected actors reading short fiction by Texas-connected authors. She developed relationships with iconic actors and authors, such as Tommy Lee Jones, Kathy Bates, Doris Roberts, Marcia Gay Harden and many others. That series continues to be popular today, and we’re always finding and featuring new actors with Texas connections.

People won’t want to miss the February 11 Texas Bound event with actors Matt Bomer (who plays Neal Caffrey on the hit series White Collar) and Dallas native Stephen Tobolowsky, who has appeared in over 100 movies and 200 television shows (Glee, Groundhog Day, Seinfeld).

I also think it’s important to commission new work from writers inspired by art in the collections. This year, we’re commissioning two award-winning poets, Paul Muldoon and Nikky Finney, to each write a new poem in response to a work of art that strikes their fancy; they will read them as part of their event for Arts & Letters on April 3 in celebration of National Poetry Month.

I’ve also worked on expanding our programs featuring children’s and young adult authors and illustrators.

CM: What is the most surprising performance you’ve had in recent years?

CB: At radio icon Ira Glass’ event, I was surprised by the intricacy of the production process and the layers of information, stories and music he seams together in such a seemingly effortless way.

In terms of a performance, I was mesmerized when the Booker T. Washington Dance Repertory Company created an original suite of dances inspired by the “Matisse: Painter as Sculptor” exhibition. They worked for a month with artist-in-residence Jessica Lang, a dancer and choreographer; the depth of the students’ understanding of Matisse’s art and their beautiful expression and interpretation of it with their bodies was a night that will stand out in my memory for a long time.

Lastly, here’s the scoop on the most surprising thing that has happened at an Arts & Letters Live book signing: A female fan, who already had a geisha tattooed on her thigh, asked Arthur Golden, author of the bestselling novel, Memoirs of a Geisha, to autograph her thigh alongside the geisha. He blushed a bit but agreed to do it!

David Sedaris is a perennial favorite at Arts & Letters Live. He speaks April 23 at 7:30 pm.

David Sedaris
Photo by Anne Fishbein
David Sedaris is a perennial favorite at Arts & Letters Live. He speaks April 23 at 7:30 pm.
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City News Roundup

Latino Cultural Center hosts Dia de Los Muertos fest and more Dallas news

Teresa Gubbins
Oct 28, 2022 | 10:57 am
dia de los muertos
Photo courtesy of Dia de Los Muertos Festival/Facebook

Big Dia de Los Muertos event this weekend.

This roundup of Dallas news has scuffles, investigations, skulls, and tree plantings. Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

LULAC meltdown
There's a scuffle for control over the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization, which has two factions: Dallas and Washington, D.C. Members in D.C. are trying to oust Dallas-based Domingo Garcia, the national president who has been accused of violating LULAC's constitution. Dallas is retaliating by trying to terminate CEO Sindy Benavides and Northeast VP Ralina Cardona. LULAC has been in a "legal limbo" since its annual convention in July when they failed to elect a new president.

Hospital shooting
State Rep. Rafael Anchia is calling for an investigation into the shooting at Methodist Medical Center in Dallas where Nestor Hernandez, a violent felon who was on parole and wearing an ankle monitor, allegedly assaulted his girlfriend at the hospital, then shot and killed two nurses. The hospital is in Anchia's district. He's calling for an investigation into the State Board of Pardons and Parole who released Hernandez nearly two years early. Hernandez also violated his parole twice.

Anchia is not the only one: The Dallas Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the Dallas Police Department, is tracking down how and where Hernandez got a gun.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who's in charge of appointing members of the Parole Board and who oversees the Department of Corrections, has refused to answer questions about the incident.

Students plant trees
Students, faculty, and volunteers at San Jacinto Elementary School planted 96 trees around campus. The event was led by the Texas Trees Foundation and its Cool Schools program, launched in 2015, which works to plant trees at Dallas ISD schools to increase the local tree canopy to 30 percent. As of 2019, the average tree canopy around Dallas ISD schools was 7 percent, making for hotter play and learning areas.

During the planting, students and teachers teamed up with staff from Texas Trees Foundation to install previously potted trees around campus, while receiving guidance and education on the benefits of trees and urban forestry. As a Cool School Neighborhood Park, San Jacinto Elementary is set to receive a new outdoor classroom, custom playground, seating, and a walking trail which will be available to the public after school hours and on the weekends.

Dia de los Muertos Festival
The Latino Cultural Center is partnering with Cascabel Group, Candelaria & Co. and Hecho con Amor to present the annual Día de los Muertos Festival & Exhibition will take place on Saturday October 29 11 am-4 pm at the Latino Cultural Center, with live performances, food vendors, and arts & crafts stations including a "decorate your own sugar skull" booth. This event is free and open to the public.

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Concert news

Shania Twain rides into Dallas to reclaim her throne on upcoming world tour

Alex Bentley
Oct 28, 2022 | 10:20 am
Shania Twain
Photo by Louie Banks

Shania Twain will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on July 21, 2023 as part of her Queen of Me Tour.

Country music star Shania Twain is embarking on an expansive world tour dubbed the Queen of Me Tour, which will come to Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on July 21, 2023.

The Dallas date is the second-to-last of 44 North American concerts currently scheduled on the tour before Twain heads to Europe for five final shows. In addition to Dallas, she will also play in Houston on July 22.

This is Twain's first tour in nearly five years; she last played in Dallas in June 2018. She'll be joined on the tour by a variety of well-known current female stars; Arlington native Mickey Guyton will be her special guest in both Dallas and Houston.

The tour was announced in conjunction with the news of the upcoming release of her new album, also called Queen of Me, due out on February 3, 2023. Her first album since 2017, it is also the first with her new record label, Republic Nashville.

The sales of that album will add to her record of being the best-selling female artist in country music history, a record she's achieved despite releasing only five albums in her 30-year career.

Twain has remained a star all these years thanks to three massive albums - 1995's The Woman in Me, 1997's Come On Over, and 2002's Up! - each of which sold over 11 million copies in the U.S. alone. She also has seven No. 1 hits and eight more top 10 hits from those three albums.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale starting 10 am Friday, November 4 at LiveNation.com. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning 10 am Tuesday, November 1 until 10 pm Thursday, November 3 through the Citi Entertainment program.

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Vegan News

New Dallas vegan ghost kitchen debuts with irresistible comfort food

Teresa Gubbins
Oct 27, 2022 | 4:35 pm
primavega vegan chicken pot pie
Primavega

Vegan pot pie from Primavega.

A new ghost kitchen has debuted in Dallas, specializing in highly craveable comfort food: Called Primavega Restaurant, it's located at Commerce Fork Food, the big ghost kitchen facility near Trinity Groves at 921 E. Commerce St., where it's doing vegan renditions of ribs, tacos, biscuits & gravy, and more.

It being a ghost kitchen means it's takeout and delivery only. You can order online through their website.

Primavega is from Alan Farris, a lifelong cook who began experimenting with vegan recipes when he changed to a vegan diet about a decade ago.

"I've wanted to have a vegan restaurant for a long time, as a way to give back to the community," Farris says. "And I felt like there was a niche for this kind of cuisine that wasn't being filled."

This is especially true since the closure in August of Spiral Diner, which specialized in diner food like burgers and nachos.

"I designed the menu based on what I like to eat," Farris says. "It's comfort food but with a healthier emphasis: pasta, tacos, pizzas, as well as Asian food."

His menu includes:

  • biscuits & gravy
  • biscuits sandwiches with Beyond breakfast sausage and Just Egg
  • breakfast plate, with sausage, scrambled Just Egg, home fries, and a biscuit
  • tacos filled with seasoned chopped walnut and portobello mushroom, topped with potato-carrot nacho cheese, salsa, sour cream, and shredded spinach
  • eggplant parmesan, with breaded and fried eggplant topped with Miyokos mozzarella, marinara, and cashew parmesan, served with a salad of cranberry, walnut, spinach, cashew parmesan and balsamic
  • Chicken pot pie, with chick'n, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, carrots, and green beans, topped with a giant biscuit

He does a homey entree plate with mashed potatoes & gravy and choice of green beans or corn on the cob, using meats by acclaimed Dallas-based Boneless Butcher, either steak or ribs.

He also does two versions of sushi, topped with seared, marinated eggplant or else seared, marinated trumpet mushrooms.

Prices start at $13 and top out at $22 for the steak dinner. He's open 11 am-8:30 on weekdays and late hours on weekends, until 11:30 pm.

Commerce is home at any one time to nearly two dozen concepts.

"It was a good way to start because the overhead is lower than opening your own place," Farris says. "But if all goes well, I hope to open a brick-and-mortar in early 2023."

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Partenope in downtown Dallas spins off acclaimed pizza & pasta to Richardson

Fun and fabulous Dallasites boogie to $9.4 million at 'fantasy disco' Two x Two Gala

7 spectacular surprises inside Chip and Joanna Gaines' new Fixer Upper castle in Waco

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