Page 34 - October 2023 Issue.indd

A Literary Visit With boyfriends, or bosses who wrong them. The Caroline County Public Library
Besides the books she wrote, Sophie and Caroline County Council of Arts
Sophie Kerr Kerr was published in a plethora of will offer a small taste of works truly
women’s magazines, and received many worthy of more literary consideration,
The Caroline County Council of Arts

accolades modern critics have since and Brooke Schultz, a 2018 alumna of
in partnership with Caroline County
dismissed. Washington College, who has exten-
Public Library invite you to attend their
sively researched Sophie Kerr will be the
10th Literary event, “A Literary Visit On the Eastern Shore, Sophie Kerr is
guest speaker.
With Sophie Kerr” on November 4, 2023 best remembered for the endowment
at the Caroline County Country Club she left Washington College over 50 We thank our annual CCCA sponsors,
and Community Events Center, 24820 years ago, enabling the College to bring who help fund this and other cultural
Pealiquor Road, Denton, MD. to campus top writers and scholars, and events throughout the year. Special
providing the Sophie Kerr Prize to a thanks go to our additional sponsor of
There will be a Matinee Show noon -
graduating Washington College student this event David Dickieson, owner of
3:30 pm and an Evening Show 6 pm

each year. This prize is the largest under- the newly re-opened Caroline County
– 9:30 pm. The event will be catered by

graduate literary prize in the United Country Club and Community Events
the Chesapeake Culinary Arts Center,
States. In Denton, many of us drive by Center.
and there will be a wine and beer cash
the Sophie Kerr House on Fift h Avenue,
bar. Tickets cost $45.00 and may be
which has its own unique history.
purchased online at www.carolinearts.
org/events or in person at the Foundry,
401 Market Street, Denton, MD. Th ere
will be limited seating, so purchase your
tickets soon!
Sophie Kerr (1880-1965) may well be
one of the most popular writers of her
time that most people
have never heard of. A native of Denton,
she wrote 23 novels and over 500 short rebuilding lives by repairing homes
stories, as well as several plays. She has
several film credits, as well. Modern
critics, perhaps a little unfairly, dismiss Our Mission:
her works as escapist literature. In the CRCC’s mission is to enable
Dictionary of American Biography, low-income residents of
Philip Luther writes, "Kerr's writing Caroline County to stay in their
did not touch upon enduring themes homes safely by providing
that broaden, deepen, or sharpen a necessary repairs and
reader's sense of human experience." modifications they cannot
While many stories were published in afford. This work of repairing
women’s magazines, The Best of Satur- homes and installing ramps

day Evening Post Weekly Newslet- can revitalize communities and
ter says, “Her fiction focused on the connect neighbors one to
cultural divides between urban and rural another in the spirit of
communities as well as those separat- empathy and compassion that TOGETHER
ing men and women.” Though many of marks Caroline County.

her stories seem rather tame by today’s WE CAN
standards, during her time they were
scandalous! They included cheating
PO Box 534 • Denton, MD 21629
spouses, drunken wife abusers, women Make a Difference!
443-924-6863
balking at social norms and deserving
criticalrepairscc@gmail.com
greater recognition in the workplace DONATE
(keep in mind that some of this was writ-
ten before the days of Rosie the Riveter),
parents who mistreated or even disliked To make a donation, volunteer, or apply for assistance, visit our website
children, and even women giving birth
out of wedlock! Many of her heroines website: criticalrepairscc.com
subordinate and emasculate husbands,
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