Special to The Weekly Vista
The Village on the Lakes Writers and Poets announces its guest for the Second Saturday Speaker Series, musician and author Dr. Curtis Harrell.
Harrell, a professor at Northwest Arkansas Community College, writes and teaches in northwest Arkansas, where he also busks with the banjo. He is an avid Scruggs-style Clawhammer banjo player and a hand-maker of Ozark gourd banjos using natural materials. Originally from Dyersburg, Tenn., Harrell is self-taught. He remembers his very first banjo was a 1974 $70 five-string Harmony.
He produced "Banjo Addiction," a two-set musical CD which included banjo players from all styles around the world.
Harrell placed second in the Advanced Traditional Banjo category at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest -- the largest one of its kind on the West Coast. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas and recently had poetry and plays published in "The Cave Region Review," "The Healing Muse," and "Riprap Journal," where one of his poems was nominated for inclusion in the Pushcart Anthology. Harrell is married, has two daughters and lives in Rogers.
The Second Saturday Speaker Series highlights a featured author who reads from their work and is followed by an open-mic session for those who want to read a four-minute excerpt of their own work. The Speaker Series and Open-Mic Night will be Oct. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Artist Retreat Center, 13467 Lookout Drive in Old Bella Vista.
Community on 09/28/2016