Aug. 16, 2022    You are invited to spend an evening with three local award-winning authors, enjoy delicious food, and, best of all, support TCCL’s Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service.

   As part of National Literacy Awareness Month, TCCL and the Tulsa Library Trust present “Chapters: A Casual Evening of Books, Bards and Bites” Sept. 8, 6 p.m. at Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 E. 93rd St. Individual tickets are $50 and can be purchased at the door the night of the event or in advance by by calling 918-549-7400.

   Supporters will enjoy a relaxing evening in the library with local food, wine and refreshments while listening to authors Connie Cronley, Traci Sorell, and Martha Kemm Landes discuss their books and writing process. Each author will present three talks to ensure everyone has an opportunity to enjoy each presentation.

   CONNIE CRONLEY has been writing professionally since high school, usually as a freelancer, and is the author of three books of essays and coauthor of the memoir of the late Edward Perkins, a career Foreign Service officer who was the United States’ first Black ambassador assigned to South Africa during apartheid. Her latest book is “A Life on Fire: Oklahoma’s Kate Barnard,” the biography of a fiery political social reformer who was the first woman elected to state office in Oklahoma at statehood in 1907 – almost 15 years before women won the right to vote in the United States. Cronley writes for local magazines, does a TV book review and commentaries for public radio. She was the former executive director of Iron Gate soup kitchen and former managing director of Tulsa Ballet Theater. She is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

   TRACI SORELL  is a Cherokee Nation citizen and award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for young people. Her first five books all received awards from the American Indian Library Association. Those titles are “We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know;” “Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer;” “At the Mountain’s Base;” “Indian No More;” and “We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,” Her nonfiction titles have also received two Sibert Honors, two Orbis Pictus Honors, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. In 2022, Traci shares two new titles, the fiction picture book “Powwow Day” and her first chapter book biography, “Wilma Mankiller,” focused on the life of the late Cherokee Nation Principal Chief. A former federal Indigenous law attorney and advocate, Traci lives with her family on her tribe’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. You can learn more about Traci and her work at www.tracisorell.com.

   MARTHA KEMM LANDES grew up in Tulsa and started her writing career at age 5 when she wrote her first song. She earned a bachelor of music education in vocal and instrumental music at the University of Oklahoma, and taught music in public schools in both Tulsa and Broken Arrow. During those 23 years, she wrote over 100 children’s songs for her students, one of which became the official state children’s song, “Oklahoma, My Native Land.” In addition to writing songs, she incorporated her love of storytelling by writing 10 full musicals featuring original songs, scripts and scores, performed at schools, churches or in community theaters. When she and her husband retired early, they moved to the high desert of Rio Rancho, N.M, where she began writing mystery novels, including the “Pity Mystery Romp” series, “Framed Fur Murder” and the “Out of the Box Mystery series.”

   Enjoy appetizers, wine and dessert from these community supporters:

  • Candy Castle Ice Cream & Soda Shoppe
  • Deco Deli
  • Great Harvest Bread Company
  • Meadowbrook Country Club
  • Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
  • Reasor’s
  • Sweet Devotion Cakery
  • Toni’s Flowers
  • Tulsa Hills Wine Cellar Spirits and Beer Cave

   The mission of the Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service is to promote literacy through adult basic and English language instruction. Volunteers are trained to teach adult learners who want to improve their reading and/or English skills. The volunteers attend a 10-hour training workshop and commit to work in the program for one year. Tutors are then matched with an adult learner and they work together at least once a week for one hour at a public place that is mutually convenient (usually a library.) Today, the program matches approximately 150 students with approximately 120 volunteer tutors.

   Authors’ books will be available for purchase from Magic City Books with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the literacy service. Call 918-549-7400 for more information or to make a reservation.

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