"This Is the Place Where I Live" to be Stage Oct. 7 at UNCA;
North Carolina Venerated in Poetry, Song and Dance 
As Part of UNCA's Fall Celebration

The Touring Theatre Ensemble of North Carolina will perform "This Is the Place Where I Live" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, as part of UNCA’s Fall Celebration. The production is co-sponsored by UNCA’s Creative Writing Program and the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement, with grants from the N.C. Humanities Council and the American Association of Retired Persons. The event is free and open to the public.

"This Is the Place Where I Live" brings the work of some of North Carolina’s most beloved poets to life through song, dance and recitation. Five performers and two musicians sing, shout, and strum their way through tales of love, loss, hurricanes and working the land. Director Brenda P. Schleunes artfully weaves the poems with music that highlights gospel, blues, spirituals and folk songs. The production features poetry selections from "Word and Witness: 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry," an anthology published by the North Carolina Poetry Society.

For more information about the production, call the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement at 828/251-6140 or UNCA’ Department of Literature and Language at 828/251-6411.

"This Is the Place Where I Live" is part of a four-day Fall Celebration at UNCA, which includes the formal installation of UNCA Chancellor James Mullen at 2 p.m. October 6 on the Ramsey Library terrace, and a reading and talk by Robert Pinsky, 39th Poet Laureate of the United States, at 8 p.m. October 5 in Lipinsky Auditorium. For a complete list of events, visit UNC Asheville's Web site or call UNCA's Public Information Office at 828/251-6526.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Richard Chess, UNCA Literature & Language Dept. Associate Professor, 828/251-6576
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant, 828/251-6526