Novelist Gail Godwin will be the Saturday night Keynote Speaker at the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival which takes place in Burnsville, NC on September 6-8,2018,
While author readings all day on Friday and Saturday are free, registration and a fee of $20 is required for the Saturday Keynote. Seats are filling, so preregister before August 31. cmlitfest.org
Godwin is the author of 14 novels, 2 short story collections, 3 works of non-fiction and 10 libretti. This best selling author is also a National Book Award Finalist for her novels, A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay and The Odd Woman. She is also known for A Father’s Melancholy Daughter, Flora , Unfinished Desires, and her 2017 novel, Grief Cottage. Ron Rash calls her, “one of our country’s greatest novelists.”
She spent her childhood in Asheville, NC and received her B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill. She also received a M.A. from the University of Iowa. Many of her novels are set in Asheville and North Carolina.
Godwin said,” …the characters I create are parts of myself and I send them little missions to find out what I don’t know yet.” She writes about people in vulnerable places who are carving out their lives. Basing many of her stories on themes or events from her own life, she writes about family, women’s roles in society, faith and religion. Several of her novels also include ghosts. Wiley Cash said, “No one writes… like Gail Godwin.”
The Carolina Mountains Literary Festival chose Gail Godwin for the Keynote talk as her works exemplify this year’s theme of Surface and Rise. All of this year’s authors wrote inspiring stories about people facing challenges and crises and the choices they made.
The Festival begins on Thursday night with a free performance by Kane Smego, National Poetry Slam Finalist and Hip Hop Artist. All day on Friday and Saturday, authors in children’s literature, fiction, memoir, non-fiction, poetry and young adult literature give free readings and discussions. There are 4 three-hour writing workshops which require registration and a fee of $30. Friday night is a Banquet with Michael W. Twitty, the 2018 James Beard Award Winner for Best Writer and Best Book. Registration and a fee of $35 (BYOB) is required for the banquet. Saturday on the Square step into the tent of the AmaZing Alphabetini and find the word that will bring you strength.
To learn more about the authors, to see the schedule and to register for required events go to cmlitfest.com. For Godwin only, you may register at the Burnsville Town Center. You may also mail a check which must be received by August 31 to CMLF, PO Box 355, Burnsville, NC 28714. Start planning your Festival days at cmlitfest.org