A! Magazine for the Arts

John Deaderick Lyle speaks about Indian Painting.

John Deaderick Lyle speaks about Indian Painting.

AAME Speaker Series encompasses poetry and art

October 26, 2016

The Arts Alliance Mountain Empire, in cooperation with William King Museum of Arts, announces two speakers in this year's AAME Speakers Series. The AAME Speakers Series features local and regional personalities sharing their expertise on topics that encourage the arts and enrich the general communities of our region. This series also provides a forum for member organizations of AAME to tell of their contributions to the Mountain Empire region.

Rita Quillen presents "A Visit with the Mad Farmer's Wife" Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., at the Bristol Public Library, Bristol, Virginia.

Quillen is an author and poet from Scott County, Virginia. Her novel, "Hiding Ezra," was a finalist in the 2005 DANA Awards competition, and a chapter of the novel is included in the scholarly study of Appalachian dialect published by the University of Kentucky Press entitled "Talking Appalachian."

She has released a poetry chapbook, "Something Solid To Anchor To." Her new full-length poetry collection, "The Mad Farmer's Wife," is due out in the fall of 2016. One of six semi-finalists for the 2012-14 Poet Laureate of Virginia, her poetry received a Pushcart nomination as well as a Best of the Net nomination in 2012. "Her Secret Dream," new and selected poems, was named the Outstanding Poetry Book of the Year by the Appalachian Writers Association in 2008. Previous works are poetry collections "October Dusk" and "Counting The Sums," as well as a book of essays "Looking for Native Ground: Contemporary Appalachian Poetry."

John Deaderick Lyle speaks about "Realms of Earth and Sky: Indian Painting from the 15th to the 19th Century" Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia.

Lyle taught Asian Art History at East Tennessee State University for decades. Earlier while teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia, he took courses in India and Southeast Asia, Buddhism, and Hindu iconography from Dr. Krishna Garola (from the India diplomatic corps). They traveled together extensively in North and Central India. At a different time, they went on a retreat to a Buddhist monastery run by Buddhist missionaries from Ceylon. Lyle has extensive ties to the Indian community, frequently attending services, holidays and weddings at the Hindu Temple in the Tri-Cities Area. He discusses the cultural and aesthetic differences between Mughal and Rajput Indian paintings on display at William King Museum of Art, an exhibition on loan from the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. Lyle says that his curry is pretty good but confesses that sometimes he cuts corners and just buys it in a jar already made.

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