FAQs When do events take place?
Main events take place on Friday and Saturday, September 12 & 13.   Schedules of events are posted on the website as they are confirmed. 

What is this festival?
It’s a celebration of literature and literacy for lovers of books and reading everywhere. 

What events are included in the festival? 
A variety of readings, writing workshops, plays, seminars and other types of sessions devoted to writers, writing, and the writing life.  More and more programs are being geared toward children.

Are there any related events planned prior to September 12 & 13?
School activities at the grade school, middle school, and high school level are  in the works.  As events are confirmed, they will be posted on the schedule page. 

Where will the festival take place?
Events will be offered at a number of locations in and around Burnsville, including the new Burnsville Town Center; the Design Gallery; the Museum of Yancey County History and its Lloyd Bailey Annex; the Parkway Playhouse; Mayland Community College, local schools, and other venues.  Some activities will be large in scale and others intentionally small in order to encourage intimate conversations between authors and attendees. 

Who are the invited authors, dramatists, and storytellers?
Over 35 noted novelists, poets, dramatists, and storytellers have been invited.  In honoring our 2008 theme, many noted historians will also be joining our ranks.

Why did you schedule so many events happening at the same time?  And how am I to decide which to attend?
Yes, that is a problem.  Good luck figuring out which readings to attend.  Even those of us who planned this have a hard time figuring it out.  While we do have some large gatherings planned, it is our intent to have many small gatherings that offer a more personal exchange between authors, readers, and aspiring writers.

Who is behind this effort? 
The festival idea was born when a small group of local citizens and businesspersons spontaneously came together last fall around the goal of giving greater exposure to the art of writing and the joys of reading in an area already famed for its colony of artists in other media.  That group consisted of literacy advocate Mryna Stephens; Wendy Reid, owner of The Design Gallery; poet Britt Kaufmann; children’s book author Karen Miller; artist Ann Sabri; and health care consultant and aspiring writer Ruth Perschbacher Price and her husband, historical novelist Charles F. Price.

 In the months since, more individuals and organizations have caught the enthusiasm of the core group and have volunteered to take part in various ways. These include Together We Read, the Asheville-based organization whose mission is to develop in Western North Carolina a love of reading through the shared experience of well-chosen books; the Yancey County Literacy Council, offering no-charge literacy tutoring to adults and children in the region; and MAYread, Inc., a collaborative public/private organization serving as an advocate and clearinghouse for issues relating to inadequate literacy skills affecting the local economy, employment opportunities, entertainment choices, and quality of life.

      Also cooperating are the Toe River Arts Council, represented by Executive Director Denise Cook; the Yancey campus of Mayland Community College, represented by Dean Rita Earley; the Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Regional Library System, represented by Director Dr. Daniel Barron; Parkway Playhouse, represented by its new director Andrew Gall; the Rotary Club of Burnsville represented by incoming president Christopher Hughes.

I would like to recommend an author.  Is there still space? 
Participation in the festival is done by invitation.  If you would like to recommend an author you may email us, but please read our festival pecularities. 

How can I get more info and/or volunteer to help? 
You can send an e-mail to cmlitfest@gmail.com or write to the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Box 355, Burnsville, NC 28714.  A column about the festival can be found in the Yancey Common Times Journal and will be posted on this site.  You can also leave a message and the Literacy Council will have a member of the Steering Committee get back to you.