"Gathering Paradise" An Evening of Poetry and Song

03/14/08

Belton, Texas - On Friday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m., the public is invited to attend a special program entitled Gathering Paradise: An Evening of Poetry and Song, on the campus of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. This unique program brings together the original works and talents of poet Angela O'Donnell and singer/songwriters Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan.

The title of this program comes from a poem by Emily Dickinson "I Dwell in Possibility". In it she describes her life as an artist, where she dwells in the realm of the imagination, rather than the ordinary world most people live in.

Inherent in the work of these artists is a deep love of language and song, a passion for place, the desire to celebrate and preserve communities and ways of life that are quickly passing away. There is also a great love of storytelling with clear-eyed truth and without sentimentality.

Angela O'Donnell teaches English Literature, American Catholic Studies, and Creative Writing at Fordham University in New York City and works as a free lance literary editor for Fordham University Press.

In her recently published chapbook Mine, Angela tells some extraordinary stories of ordinary people's lives. Composed of poems based on the lives of people who live in the town where she grew up in the coal mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania her poems are full of universal joys and sorrows human beings share.

Since 2000, she has published more than 50 individual poems in journals including America, Christian Century, Christianity and Literature, The Cresset, The Comstock Review, New Texas, The Cresset, and Windhover. Her full-length collection of poems, Moving House, and her chapbook Waiting for Ecstasy are forthcoming from Word Press and Franciscan University Press respectively.

Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan live in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Seemingly oblivious to the limitations of what two musicians can create, Donna and Kelly set new boundaries of originality. This duo uses traditional instruments from their home in the Ozarks (mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar, harmonica and scrub board) as well as other exotic offerings (Moon guitar from Japan, African Mbira, and Tenor Ukulele) to create a kaleidoscope of musical color and texture.

The result is a yet-to-be-named hybrid music that simply compels people to stop and listen, to pause in their hectic lives and pay attention to something they've never heard before. Lyrically, their original material is packed with new ideas, social awareness and a level of intellect and consciousness that's seldom found in contemporary tunes.

Donna and Kelly are a favorite at many prestigious festivals and venues here and abroad, including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, Kansas.

This program is sponsored by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Honor's Program, and will be held in Hughes Recital Hall on the UMHB campus. Admission is FREE but seating is limited and advanced tickets are recommended. Tickets are available either at the Campus Activities Office located in the Mabee Student Center or the Office of Visual and Performing Arts in Presser Hall on the campus of UMHB.

For more information please call 295-5150 or 295-4678.

 

 

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