About Us

The theme for the 2008 Carolina Mountains Literary Festival is "The Beloved Community," a phrase made famous by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as expanded by the distinguished Georgia novelist and short story writer Anthony Grooms. Writers and artists, Grooms believes, can and should play a vital role in advancing understanding, reconciliation and redemption among the nation’s many racial, ethnic and cultural interests.

At last year's festival we examined the American Revolution, which began the process of defining America’s civil
rights and freedoms. In 2008 we will focus on the ways the country has been working to broaden that definition to
include Native Americans, African Americans, people with other distinctive cultures such as found in Appalachia,
women, and immigrants from all nations. This is an ideal which of course remains far from finished and cries out
continually for more positive action, especially from the writers and artists whose highest responsibility is to invoke a contemplation of truth in an effort to heal historic trauma and nurture the beloved community.

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	About Us
our mission
The Steering Committee contact us at cmlitfest@gmail.com Ruth Price - Scheduling Coordinator, Grantwriter & She Who Must Be Obeyed Dr. Daniel Barron - Library & School Liaison, Grantwriter & Keeper-of-Order During Meetings Wendy Reid - Community Liaison Myrna Stephens - Financial Overseer & Author Recruitment Karen Miller - Children's Literature Chair Anne Sabri - Accommodations Chair & Author Hospitality Britt Kaufmann - Publicity Chair & Webmaster Charles F. Price - Advisor Emeritus Amanda Martin - Food Tyrant Lucy Doll - Venue Coordinator Not Pictured: Sally Hakes (Fundraising Chair), Sylvia Archer ("Bookmobile Lady" and Minutes Keeper), and Mike Hoskins (Volunteer Wrangler)
Guidance for the 2008 Festival: The theme for the 2008 Carolina Mountains Literary Festival is "The Beloved Community," a phrase made famous by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as expanded by the distinguished Georgia novelist and short story writer Anthony Grooms. Writers and artists, Grooms believes, can and should play a vital role in advancing understanding, reconciliation and redemption among the nation’s many racial, ethnic and cultural interests. At last year's festival we examined the American Revolution, which began the process of defining America’s civil rights and freedoms. In 2008 we will focus on the ways the country has been working to broaden that definition to include Native Americans, African Americans, people with other distinctive cultures such as found in Appalachia, women, and immigrants from all nations. This is an ideal which of course remains far from finished and cries out continually for more positive action, especially from the writers and artists whose highest responsibility is to invoke a contemplation of truth in an effort to heal historic trauma and nurture the beloved community. . Our Mission: Our mission is to bring together authors with avid readers, novice writers, and fans. We do this in small, intimate settings. We do not see ourselves as an academic festival, though we seek to advance authors of literary quality. Nor are we a book fair in which the primary objective is to sell books. One of our goals is to raise awareness of works of literary significance from smaller presses. We do focus on regional writers, though not exclusively. And yes, we do like an occasional feather in our cap. But overall, our aspiration is to create a little literary community which is in dialog with readers, aspiring writers, and established authors about craft and ideas of sustaining merit. Another goal is to make sure our authors are having good time. In the best scenario, authors leave the festival feeling renewed and rededicated to their work. So frequently when an author writes in isolation, it is hard to believe that his/her work is making an impact on people and society. But situating authors and readers together in close quarters, as our festival does, it is possible for authors to hear stories of how their work has influenced people. It’s not just signing a book, it’s making a human connection. We hope the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival inspires people to read more, write more, and contribute positively to society through the literary arts.