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"The Ella Zoo," Violinist Marta Richardson, and the First Year at Scuppernong Books

by David Ford

Brian Lampkin of Scuppernong Books.

The Ella Zoo

Last month, Bibi Coyne released The Ella Zoo, and out came the Caterpella, the Koella Bear, a Girellaraffe, the Gazella, and many more. Bibi's fun, and heartwarming poetry collection captures the energy and character of her own animal-loving daughter Ella. The collection depicts a daughter's journey through childhood, and a parent's amazing observations along the way. The poems will engage readers of all ages as will Valentina Felce's expressive illustrations.

Bibi has worked primarily as an Art Director for most of her career, and you might recognize her as the proprietor of S2dio Supplies, a business venture for which she won the Winston-Salem Small Business Plan Competition a few years ago. The Ella Zoo is Bibi's first published book of poetry. 
 
Her daughter Ella is a freshman at R.J. Reynolds, and animals are only one of many interests including dance, music and visual arts.
 
Bibi will be reading from The Ella Zoo at Twin City Hive on Saturday, January 31st. The event runs from 2:00 to 3:30pm and will include an art activity and book signing. All Ages welcome. Illustrator Valentina Felce will be there as well. 
 

 
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Marta Richardson and Mystic Canticle
 

 
For years violinist and educator Marta Richardson longed to record her own CD, but full-time work, and family obligations forced her to put those dreams on hold. Then a series of events gave her a new sense of purpose. First, a close friend and fan of Marta's work who had always encouraged her to document her sound was diagnosed with stage four cancer. So Marta took a renewed sense of urgency into the recording studio. Then shortly after beginning the project, she came across the poetry of 16th century mystic, St. John of the Cross. After reading two stanzas and the remarkable imagery she found there, she instantly realized her recording would be a concept album based on his poetry. The new CD is titled Mystic Canticles. 

You can catch Marta live in the beautiful and intimate surroundings of Sechrest Art Gallery at High Point University. She'll be performing works from the new album for her friend, artist, and collaborator Mariyah Sultan February 6th from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. The exhibit Elemental Emulsions: Mariyah Sultan Paintings, meet and greet with Mariyah Sultan, and Mariyah's Artist Talk are free and open to the public.  And you can hear David's interview with Mariyah on Monday morning, February 2nd at 8:45am during TA.

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Scuppernong Books

The function of a bookstore is pretty straightforward - provide the reader with a book they seek. The reality is that an independent bookstore often transcends this definition. And that's certainly the case with Scuppernong Books in Greensboro. The bookstore has become a cultural hub, and in the past year the it has hosted 155 readings by locally and nationally renowned writers, 191 book clubs or community meetings, 24 music events, and 13 art events. Poet and writer Brian Lampkin is the owner of Scuppernong, and in a recent letter he wrote, "We believe that books and independent bookstores matter to people's lives. Sometimes they even change lives." Brian joined Bethany to elaborate on these sentiments.    

In celebration of Scuppernong's first year in business, they will be hosting a One Year Anniversary Party on Saturday February, 7th from 6 to 10pm. The band Little Mountain will be entertaining guests. there will book and drink specials, and reflections on the bookstore's first year. Check out the events scheduled for the next few months, find out more about the store's new membership program, the in-store cafe (featuring wine, coffee, and full meals), and read about staff picks on their website here.
 
 
 

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