Biker Chicks

 Mon 5/10
In the grand tradition of twosomes taming the open road (Thelma and Louise, Bill and Ted, Kermit and Fozzie), Rosella North and Eva Duvall are bound for the big screen. In 1941, the friends hopped a Harley and rode from Detroit to Venezuela, a ballsy move even by today's standards (and back then, dames didn't even wear pants!). North's juicy road journal recently surfaced, and Valley-based Hootinany Productions is spinning the story into a feature film. We're all invited along for the ride this Monday, May 10, when the Friends of Marty Robbins presents a reading of the screenplay. Providing personal insight into the excellent adventure, the journal -- as well as letters, postcards and photos from the journey -- will be on display.

"An evening of drama and adventure, with a touching love story and heart-wrenching twists," Rosella -- The Reading starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Glendale Public Library, 5959 West Brown in Glendale. See www.hootinanyproductions.com for more information. -- Jill Koch

Step Back in Time
Take a tour through Tempe's history

Sat 5/8
Tempe's historical significance traces farther back than Long Wong's and Edsel's Attic, although you'd never know it, walking along shiny, new and retro Mill Avenue. Take a walk off the beaten path on Saturday, May 8, for Tempe's Walk Through History, a tour that includes the birthplace of Carl Hayden, the Casa Loma Hotel and the Hayden Flour Mill. The free tour begins at 7:30 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, 101 East Sixth Street. Reservations are encouraged. Call 480-921-2300, extension 4. -- Joe Watson

The Good Times Roll . . .
Roll strikes for charity

Sat 5/8
In its effort to bring bowling out of the sports gutter, the Professional Bowlers Association would do well to take a page from the WellCare Foundation, which holds its Black Tie Bowling Ball Saturday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Brunswick Via Linda Lanes, 9027 East Via Linda in Scottsdale. While the black-tie affair -- $90 a person -- does encourage creativity, no mustard stains will be allowed. Proceeds benefit WellCare, which provides free holistic health care to women and their kids. Call 602-263-7619. -- Joe Watson

Viva la Literatura
Celebrate good tomes, come on

Sat 5/8
If the extent of your Mexican cultural awareness involves knocking back tequila shots on Cinco de Mayo and ogling Thalí:a posters, get yourself to the daylong Celebration of Latino Authors, and do it quickly. You're in serious need of broader horizons. First, participate in a two-hour writers' workshop with author Stella Pope Duarte (pictured) and poet Rita Maria Magdaleno. "It seems like many people feel they have a book that they want to write, need to write, should write," explains Anne Owens, adult programming librarian at Glendale Public Library. "So I think this will have broad appeal." (Don't worry -- Duarte has crafted some writing exercises to elicit the story you didn't know you had in you.) Next, sit in on readings and presentations by Duarte, Magdaleno, author Alfredo Va Jr. and journalist O. Ricardo Pimentel. Each speaker has an hour to entice listeners with their stories, after which participants can pick up a book or two (provided by Changing Hands and Bilingual Press) to be autographed.

Given the strong Hispanic presence in Phoenix, this sort of event has been a long time coming. "To me, this is a good sign that our stories are being accepted everywhere," says Duarte, who's been published bilingually worldwide and yet still describes herself as a Latina writer coming out of the barrio. "People are listening to the heart of who we are."

The Celebration of Latino Authors takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at Glendale's main Public Library, 5959 West Brown. The event is free. Call 623-930-3573 or visit www.glendaleaz.com/Library/Latino_Authors.cfm for details. -- Elizabeth Exline

Giving Voice
ASU's Digital Storytelling Festival rolls

Fri 5/7
Saying you support the local arts is a nice thing. Doing it is even better. And cultivating it? Well, you might be on your way to sainthood.

That's just what Stephanie Woodson, a theater professor at ASU, is doing with students from the Ira H. Hayes Memorial Applied Learning High School on the Gila River Indian reservation and a group of Valley foster kids for her "Place: Vision & Voice" project, part of ASU's Digital Storytelling Festival on Friday, May 7.

"I believe that the performing arts can give voice to the often voiceless," Woodson says. "So I am interested in how, when given the chance, young people will explore and express their own individuality as situated within their communities."

The artistic expression takes shape at ASU's Galvin Playhouse, at the intersection of 10th Street and Mill in Tempe, as Woodson and her students première two videos -- "A Window Into Family" and "Being Me: Through the Eyes of Youth in Foster Care" -- that the kids have been working on since 2002. The free festival begins at 7:30 p.m. See herbergercollege.asu.edu for information. -- Joe Watson