The Laurette LePrevost Writers Symposium is hosted annually on both campuses of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. Each academic year, the community is invited to read a common novel or work of nonfiction along with students enrolled in English, humanities, and social science classes. This common reading experience climaxes with multiple personal appearances by the writer of this work on both campuses. For over thirty years, this event has provided a valuable learning experience for students along with a unique opportunity to meet a published author.
The Writers Symposium is a significant event for Caldwell County because it provides the citizens of Caldwell, Watauga, and surrounding counties the opportunity to hear writers discuss their own writing process relative to their published works, as well as to hear literary scholars discuss the significance of those works. Each symposium draws a core group of readers from the area and involves people who would not otherwise participate in such a cultural event.
Support for the Laurette LePrevost Writers Symposium is provided by the Foundation of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute.
For more information on CCC&TI’s Laurette LePrevost Writers Symposium, call Paula Rash at 828.726.2321, or email prash@cccti.edu.
Dickson Beattie “Doc” Hendley was a recent N.C. State graduate working as a bartender in Raleigh when he became inspired to do something about the severity of worldwide water shortages. He learned that at least 1 in 6 people worldwide lack access to safe water, and that preventable water-borne illnesses kill far more children (15 million) each year than HIV/AIDs and malaria combined. Using his connections and people skills, his first fundraiser in 2004 raised $6,000. In 2007, Hendley founded Wine to Water, which raises money and provides wells and water purification systems to hundreds of thousands of people in Third-World countries. Hendley spent a year in Darfur to repair, sanitize and build wells, for which he was named a “Top 10 CNN Hero” in 2009.
Today, Wine to Water has helped 338 communities across the world with 984 projects that have given 742,794 people access to clean water. Hendley lives in Boone with his wife and children.
Reading/Discussion
12:00 pm
Watauga Campus W372-112
Reading/Discussion
7:00 pm
J.E. Broyhill Civic Center
Reading/Discussion
12:00pm
Caldwell Campus Gym
All events are free and open to the public.
1988 - 1989
Maya Angelou
1989-1990
Wilma Dykeman
Jim Wayne Miller
1990-1991
Clyde Edgerton
Doris Betts
1991-1992
Ernest Gaines
Nikki Giovanni
1992-1993
Michael McFee
Robert Morgan
1993-1994
Gurney Norman
Ray Hicks
1994-1995
Alan Shapiro
Maureen Ryan Griffin
1995-1996
Fred Chappell
Jeff Daniel Marion
1996-1997
Donald Secreast
Kaye Gibbons
1997-1998
Bob Inman
Denise Giardina
1998-1999
Margaret Maron
Sharyn McCrumb
1999-2000
Billie Letts
2000-2001
Octavia Butler
Mary Doria Russell
2001-2002
Judith Ortiz Cofer
2002-2003
Donald Davis
Tony Peacock
2003-2004
Mark Mathabane
2004-2005
Billie Letts
2005-2006
Ron Rash
2006-2007
Timothy B. Tyson
2007-2008
Sharyn McCrumb
Dori Sanders
2008-2009
Clyde Edgerton
2009-2010
Ron Rash
2010-2011
Cathy Smith Bowers
Kathryn Stripling Byer
2011-2012
Silas House
2012-2013
Wiley Cash
2013-2014
Denise Kiernan
2014-2015
Jay Erskine Leutze
2015-2016
Conor Grennan
2016-2017
Susan Gregg Gilmore
2017-2018
Wiley Cash
2018-2019
Doc Hendley
