High Tea Scheduled for 2011 Missouri Literary Festival

For Immediate ReleaseJune 2, 2011 Contact: William “Bucky” Bowman, Missouri Literary Festival chair, (417) 865-0450

Since Ozarks Romance Authors is a non-profit group for the benefit of Missouri writers and a member of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, we wanted to share information with our readers about this event coming up during the Missouri Literary Festival. Sounds like fun! High Tea with author Janis Cooke Newman planned Sept. 24 During 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War

The public is invited to a unique author event – High Tea with Janis Cooke Newman, author of “Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln,” from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday, September 24, 2011, at the Creamery Arts Center, 411 N. Sherman Parkway, in Springfield, Missouri.

The event is part of the September 23-25, 2011, Missouri Literary Festival, which has three days of stirring programs and author events devoted to the American Civil War to commemorate the war’s sesquicentennial.

Tickets to the high tea are $25 per person and are available by calling festival chairman William Bowman at (417) 865-0450. A limited number of tickets is available. Tickets to the tea also provide general admission for all three days of the festival, a $15 value.

Newman’s “Mary” is told from the perspective of Mary Todd Lincoln, whom the author calls one of the most misunderstood women in American history. “Mary” is a story filled with love and war, sex and séances, assassination, infidelity, madness and politics. The book was honored as the USA Today’s Best Historical Fiction of the Year in 2006.

Newman is one of a host of national and regional authors of Civil War-related books who will talk and read from their books during the Sept. 23-25 literary festival at the Creamery in Springfield.

Events will run 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23; 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25. Tickets are $15 for the three-day event unless attendee has purchased a ticket for the Saturday High Tea.

Activities will include dozens of authors including headliners such as historian William C. Davis, author of numerous Civil War books including “The Battle of Bull Run;” Jeff Shaara, author of “Gods and Generals;” historian Adam Arenson, of “The Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and the Cultural Civil War;” David Wilson Atwood, of “Where The Mockingbird Sang – A Novel of the Civil War,” and many more regional and national authors of Civil War titles.

Other activities will include storytellers, discussions of the common soldier, demonstrations of the common Civil War family tent, period photography, Civil War-era music, quilting, a medical display, cooking demonstration, a celebration of African-American Poetry, entertainment by Marideth Sisco and Blackberry Winter at a Saturday night Authors Gala, children’s games and make-and-take activities, book sales and much more.

For more details or ticket information, go to www.missouriliteraryfestival.org, or call William “Bucky” Bowman, Missouri Literary Festival chair, (417) 865-0450.

Ozarks Romance Authors Joins Springfield Regional Arts Council

Ozarks Romance Authors, a non-profit, multi-genre Missouri writers' group founded in 1987, has joined the Springfield Regional Arts Council. The Springfield Regional Arts Council (SRAC) connects people and the arts. It supports some of the most prominent visual, performing, literary and film/media arts organizations within 27 counties, the largest outreach of any in the state of Missouri.

The Arts Council launched Artsfest in Phelps Gove Park in 1980, and moved it to historic Walnut Street in 1990. In recent years, Artsfest on Walnut Street has attracted 35,000 people as a celebration of visual and performing art becoming the largest fine arts festival in Southwest Missouri.

In 1990, First Night Springfield launched to celebrate the performing arts on New Year’s Eve in a family-friendly atmosphere in downtown Springfield. This event attracts 5-7,000 people annually.

Since 1997, both festivals have been operated under a management contract with the Urban Districts Alliance and are the two largest fundraisers for the Arts Council.

In 2001, the Arts Council was given the opportunity to lead a Cultural Trust initiative, working with the Missouri Arts Council to build endowment for regional arts organizations. In October 2001, the Arts Council changed its name to the Springfield Regional Arts Council, with the goal of becoming a full-service Arts Council for the region. It also implemented the First Friday Art Walk.

In 2009, Springfield was recognized as the 2009 Creative Community by the Missouri Arts Council. The Arts Council also launched its third festival, the Missouri Literary Festival, to be held bi-annually as well as opened Fresh Gallery, a collective gallery of local fine art and fine craft in downtown Springfield. The SRAC accepted an agreement with the City of Springfield to restore an 1890s warehouse building in Jordan Valley Park. Plans were to renovate the building for use as an Arts and Culture Center, providing educational activities for the community. Staff officially moved into the partially renovated facility called The Creamery Arts Center in September 1, 2002. The official grand opening was held November 16-17, 2002. Currently, The Creamery houses the offices of the Arts Council, Springfield Symphony, Springfield Ballet, Springfield Regional Opera, Springfield Community Center, Care to Learn, as well as a board room, arts library, exhibition hall, film editing bays, shared costume and set design shops and shared costume and instrument storage.

The Arts Council partners with member organizations, the Springfield-Greene County Board, Springfield Community Center and Springfield Public Schools on various education programs that reach over 30,000 children a year. The Arts Council also supports the following programs by serving as their fiscal agent: Claymobile, First Friday Art Walk, Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield, Eclectic Endeavors and LemonDrop.

The SRAC has a 21-member board and has a full-time Executive Director, Finance Director, Programs/Exhibition Director and Executive Assitant/Facility Manager. In addition, there are several active volunteers who help with major events and projects. The SRAC has developed a solid internship program with local universities.

The SRAC's operations are funded through memberships, festival/event proceeds, grants, donations and a portion of the local hotel/motel tax.

The current mission of the SRAC is to transform lives and enrich our Community through the Arts.

Ozarks Romance Authors, a non-profit group for writers of all genres, was founded in 1987. The regional writers’ group holds its meetings the first Saturday of each month at The Library Station, 2535 N. Kansas Expressway, in Springfield, Missouri.

Join us for critique group at 10:00 a.m., lunch at noon, and our meeting/guest speaker at 1:00 p.m.

Visitors are welcome. Your first three visits are free.

If you have questions about the group, please email us at OzarksRomanceAuthors@gmail.com or call (417) 597-4716.

NOTE: When the first Saturday of the month falls on a holiday weekend, we often reschedule. If you’re thinking of visiting and it’s a holiday weekend, please email us to find out if we have rescheduled.