Marjorie Hudson is a Road Scholar with the NC Humanities Council. She lectures on the following topics to library, community, and university groups throughout North Carolina. The talks are available free by contacting Carolyn Allen: callen@nchumanities.org
Hudson is also available for book talks, readings, literary festivals, and classroom lectures. Her standard fee is $500 – $750 per day.
George Moses Horton: Uncovering and Celebrating Black History
About every 30 years, some scholar “discovers” George Moses Horton, the first black man to publish a book while living as a slave. Usually, the new fame is short lived. Marjorie Hudson, whose farm is within five miles of Horton’s dwelling place in Chatham County, has determined his story is one which should not be forgotten. In this program, Hudson talks about her research methods and her discoveries in uncovering and celebrating the fascinating life and poetry of this accomplished man.
Virginia Dare in Fact and Fancy
Virginia Dare is a historical figure dimly remembered more than 400 years after her birth. She was the first English child born on American soil, part of the disastrous Lost Colony of Sir Walter Raleigh which disappeared into a shroud of mystery shortly after she was born. A close scrutiny of new research in archaeology and dendrochronology has revealed new theories that may result in a solution to the mystery before long. More than that, however, the tangle of legends, oral histories, Native American connections, and even pop culture that have built around Virginia Dare over four centuries are astonishing and entertaining. and even amusing. In this program, Marjorie Hudson explores new research and old legends, from the uncovering of the Kendall ring to her discovery of pop culture items on E-bay and her collection of “Virginia Dare” autographs from living persons named for a child shrouded in mystery.
Mosaic Writing: Using Fiction, Poetry, and Memoir in Creative Nonfiction*
Marjorie Hudson thought she was writing a history book when she took on the subject of Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony in the 2002 Searching for Virginia Dare: A Fool’s Errand, Instead, the haunting subject, full of missing children, grieving fathers, lost nations of Native Americans, and 400 years of legends, inspired her to draw on her fiction, poetry, and memoir writing skills to tell the story. In this program, Hudson reads from her book and talks about her decision-making process as a writer and researcher. She also discusses how to use text fragments and voice as tile and grout to make a mosaic that creates a satisfying whole picture.
*This program includes writing exercises if requested.
