The Power of the Written and Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's great effectiveness as a communicator grew from her skills with both the written and spoken word. She became an excellent writer in multiple genres: memoir, histories, journalism, novels, essays. She was also a world-class public speaker. Her training as an actress enabled a strong stage presence, while her passionate and articulate delivery followed naturally from her own creative messages.
Important aspects of the Written and Spoken Word:
- What is your life story?
- What stories do we need to hear?
- What makes a good novel, and does it matter?
- How can we truly understand the past?
- Where is the poetry in our lives?
- Is investigative reporting a dying art?
- How do we grow compelling public speakers?
- How can the pen best serve social and environmental justice?
Related Articles
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Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part Three
Franz Kafka
"'I will not utter my brother's name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it.'"
Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part Two
Franz Kafka
"About one month had already gone by since Gregor's transformation..."
Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part One
Franz Kafka
"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug."
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter Four
Read by Rick Kisner
Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner.
Written & Spoken Word
Alice in Wonderland - Chapter Four
The Rabbit Sends In a Little Bill
Alice is once again approached by the White Rabbit, but finds herself once again changed after having a drink.
Written & Spoken Word
Applications for 2024-25 UNCA Wilma Dykeman Writer-in-Residence Now Open
Utilities, property maintenance and Wi-Fi are all provided by UNC Asheville, as well as a stipend of $4,000.
This residency offers the recipient 2 consecutive months between Aug. 1 and Nov. 15, 2024, or between Jan. 15 and April 30, 2025.
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - November 18, 1938
November 18, 1938
"I really feel quite adult in many of my ideas and beliefs. I truly feel I have a firmer basic moral and spiritual stronghold than any of the girls."
Written & Spoken Word
John F Kennedy - Remarks at Amherst College honoring Robert Frost
Wealth Inequality and the Value of the Artist
"I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist."
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - October 27, 1938
October 27, 1938
"Saturday is the big Homecoming Celebration for the football team, and we play Minnesota, which will probably be the toughest game of the year..."
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - Introduction
Introduction
"I know that you're being taken good care of now, and if you will enjoy yourself, and not worry about filthy lucre, everything will be hunky dorey."
Written & Spoken Word
Changing the World One Poem at a Time!
How can we promote social justice through poetry?
Aeryalle Coward - Pamlico County High School - Bayboro NC
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter Three
As read by Rick Kisner
"...and an exasperated whale proposing to spring clean over the craft as in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mastheads."