If you enjoy reading and learning about history, come to the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival on September 6-8, 2018 in Burnsville, NC. You will hear authors of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and memoir read and discuss events in US history.

Novelist Daren Wang tells a Civil War story about a runaway slave. The setting is based on a real town, the only secessionist town north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Abigail DeWitt also writes a based in truth novel set in WW II which is a story of loss and survival.

Brothers Like These is a group of Vietnam combat veterans who write poetry and prose about their experiences before, during and after the war as a way to heal, writing about trauma, community and brotherhood.  Lt. Col. (Ret) John Whitener was one of the many closeted gay men who served in Vietnam, setting up an optometry clinic as part of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. He also faced a war within himself regarding his faith and sexuality. Harriet Hill also writes about Vietnam, telling the story of H’Yoanh Buonya who escaped persecution in Vietnam and came to live in Raleigh, NC. Both of them will be at the Festival.

History writer, Daniel Pierce, looks at the 1940’s ‘road to nowhere’ in Hazel Creek which runs from Hwy 288 and ends abruptly in the Great Smokies National Park. He discusses the impact on the community of Proctor, NC and the tensions and conflicts which continue today. Byrant Simon writes about the 1991 tragic chicken processing plant fire in Hamlet, NC which resulted in 25 dead behind locked doors. He reveals the hidden costs of deregulation and  America’s obsession with ‘the cheap.’ He states that the fire is really about the beginning of the Wal-Mart world.

Over 25 authors writing in fiction, memoir, poetry, non-fiction and young adult  and children’s literature will delight readers of all interests.

To learn more about the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, read author bios, session descriptions and the schedule  or to register for required events, go to cmlitfest.org

Only the 4 three-hour writing workshops, the Friday night Banquet with Michael W. Twitty and the Saturday night Keynote with Gail Godwin require registration and a fee. Daytime sessions are free and open to the public.