Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / March 20, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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Meredith Herald Vol. 2 No. 17 Meredith College, Raleigh, NC 27611 March 20,1987 Meredith welcomes Canadian writer David Adams Richards by Jo Hodges He has been called the “William Faulk ner of Canada.” His powerful novels fol low the drab lives of poverty-stricken fam ilies in eastern Canada. David Adams Richards is one of the most talented writers coming out of Canada in a long time. On February 23, Richards gave a reading, answered questions about his writing career, and was treated to lunch by the Colton English Club. Hailing from the maritime jxovince of New Brunswick, Canada^ Richards has published Tour novels, one collection of short stories, one play, and two screcin- plays. He read excerpte from two of his novels, including his most recent, Road to a Stilt House, “a story about spiritual poverty not economic poverty.” His literary voice is not unlike his read ing voice, direct, even toned but hard edged with bitter emotion. His characters are round, colorful. Complex. Richards’ writing parallels closely with poetry, with careful catalogings of minute sense per ceptions. He writes close to the surface— often too close—to the harsh reality of living in poverty and pain. A^r reading from his work, Richards talked about his new novel. “The new book is about a gal of fifteen. It follows her life and the lives of the women around her, her mother, her aunt, etc., for about ten years. It’s written in two pans. The fii^ one has been sent to the publisher already. It’s a stoiy of her growing up; her rebellion against her parents, ^school, and society, and how she tries to find herself.” Richards first took an interest in litera ture when he was 14 years old. He hadn't read a novel until theit. “I never read a book until I was 14. The first one I read was Oliver Twist by Dickens. I finally understood why someone would want to read a book without pictures. But when I read Oliver Twist, I knew I wanted to be a writer.” He continued to write, joining writing clubs and classes. He developed more strongly in the university he attended in Canada. His favorite is Tolstoy; his favorite book, V/ar and Peace. After reading and answering a few ques tions, Richards shuffled around quieUy, smoothipg the sides of his black hound- stooth jacket with his palms. He shook hands and smiled shyly when compli mented by a student or faculty member. “1 can truly say that I’m doing what I want to do. Having my first book published was unreal, really a dream. When I was young er, I felt like the most I could ever do would be to be successful by writing what I knew and what I felt honestiv and without preju dice. 1 feel pretty successful now, althou^, of course, there are more things I’d like to do, maybe another play. But that’s what 1 tell writers just starting ouL Keep writing. Keep it honest and don’t forget who you are and where you come from.” '..Tluw 9ch^ in* through College jne m Rfllen^ . ’• "4 One program'll either ejtber lihdciigradaati; IV al 'The boqosA wilder- jpuluate for depend^ u^i^)efiduii^'{K Jbwd prognun js'fsef panotsp tf dffiendtfnt FormDr^fi^MTDatioR, «nirColk|e F0updfttiQn'>lDe» Raltfigh, fiCr 276Q5 jot (4U 91^ .4771. , V ' : Area colleges and universities unite to feed Raleigh Feed Raleigh is an ainnual food drive sponsored by Raleigh area colleges and universities. Held in March each spring, the project is aimed at helping to relieve some of the hardships facing the needy of our city. We, as students, would like to show our concern for Raleigh’s needy and hungry. We believe that we can make a difference. inside Spotlight on Laura Walch Page 3 Students protest tests • ■ Page 3 Career notes Page 4 For your information: Facts about hunger and poverty Each year Americans throw away 1 out of every 5 lbs. of food produced (137 mil lion tons) — enough food for SO million people. Every minute 28 human beings die of starvation, 19 of whom are children under 5. Every 3 days, hunger claims as many lives as were lost at Hiroshima. 74% of America’s impoverished are women and children. 46.7% of all black children live below the poverty line in the United States. Every day the U.S. throws away enough usable food to fill a baseball stadium 12 feet deep. 1 out of every S children live in poverty and is unable to maintain a minimally adequate diet Federal food programs have been cut by more than 12 billion dollars since 1980, despite IS separate studies which con cluded that hunger is a serious problem in the US. In 1981, 15.4% of N.C. families lived below the poverty line; in 1982, 18.2%; 1983,21.5%! The US. Conference of Mayors declared hunger to be “probably the most prevalent and the most insidious problem” facing American cities. Feed Raleigh is a one-day event involv ing thousands of students and residents alike. In just one day. our first Feed Raleigh food drive last March resulted in the collection of ovef 30,000 cans of food for the hungiy. Students from N.C. Stat6^ Peace, Saint Mary’s, Meredith, Shaw Uni versity, and St Augustine’s all joined for ces to collect food from many Raleigh communities. This year will be our second Feed Raleigh; we hope to make this worthy event a Raleigh tradition. This project is special because it involves both the students and the community, working together to solve a tragic and unnecessary problem in our ^iety. Hun ger should not exist where there are people so willing to reach out and give. With the help of WRAL-FM and Domino’s Pizza, we hope to reach every person in the Triangle with this cause. It is our goal to inform the public of our con cerns, not only as Raleigh students, but as compassionate human beings. Feed Raleigh will be held on March 21, 1987 on the NCSU Parking Deck (near Reynold’s Colsieum) from 9:30-4:00. Those interested meet in fix)nt of Johnson Hall at 9:15 a.m. There will be a grocery cart in the cafeteria this week to put all canned goods coUected on campus. There iis competition between schools; therefore your participation will be greatly appre ciated. If you have any questions, call Libby Dew (7815) or Angie Biyant(7663).
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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March 20, 1987, edition 1
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