SMITHFIELD – The Johnston County Arts Council and Triangle East Writers will host award-winning Even As We Breathe author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from Qualla, North Carolina, in a two-day Native American Author Immersion Event in Smithfield, North Carolina.
The two-day event includes:
- A book discussion of Even As We Breathe on Friday, March 22 from 10 am to noon at the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield ($25 admission includes a copy of Even As We Breathe)
- A free public presentation, Cherokee Core Values, on Friday, March 22 from 5 pm to 7 pm at the Smithfield Recreation and Aquatics Center (SRAC)
- A writers’ workshop, The Art of Dialogue, from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday, March 23 at the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield ($50 fee includes lunch and a one-year membership in Triangle East Writers; $25 discount for current TEW members)
This event is sponsored by the Johnston County Arts Council and supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural Resources. Participants who register for the book discussion session may pick up their copy of Even As We Breathe from the Johnston County Arts Council, 1115 Outlet Center Drive, Smithfield. Registration for the event is online: Native American Immersion Event Registration.
“The book is a telling of a native boy’s summer filled with struggle, fear, jealousy, death, and love,” says Dr. Mindi Miller-Jentes, owner of Brio Wellness Center in Selma, who shares Native American roots with several other authors involved in Triangle East Writers, including Char Vinar and Jen Lowry, as well as Gettin’ Hive owners, the Locklear Family of Selma. Mindi recently released her own book, Pain to Peace: Setting the Songbird Free through Black-Eyed Susan Media. “Annette’s novel is set during the height of WWII in 1942 at the Grove Park Inn and Resort in Asheville. The inn had been converted by the US government as the concentration camp where they held Axis diplomats and their families.”
Evelyn Wool, artist, author, farmer, and owner of The Wool Family Farm in Pine Level, who serves as the president of Triangle East Writers, also found Even As We Breathe compelling, with beautiful imagery, mystery, and suspense. “This is a brilliant literary work to be savored, studied, and treasured. I cannot wait for Annette’s visit,” she says.
Triangle East Writers’ Communications Chair, Qarol Price, who writes a monthly Character Education column for Johnston Now magazine, is encouraging community book club members, Johnston County Community College students, local students who are familiar with the county public schools’ Character Education program, and the general public to attend.
Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and resides in Qualla, North Carolina with her husband Evan and sons Ross and Charlie. She holds degrees from Yale University and the College of William and Mary. Her novel, Even As We Breathe, was released by the University Press of Kentucky in 2020 and was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020.
Elizabeth Blair of NPR called it “a novel of intimacy and poignancy but also an exploration of how war and racism affect people’s daily lives.”
In 2021, The book was honored with the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.
Clapsaddle is a former high school teacher, former co-editor of the Journal of Cherokee Studies and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and as President of the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network.
For more information, contact Darlene Williford, Executive Director of the Johnston County Arts Council: info@jcartscouncil.org or (919) 934-9166 x228.
