The 13th Annual Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in Burnsville, NC will be on September 6-8, 2018. All day on Friday and Saturday over 25 authors will give free readings and discussions. There are also four 3-hour writing workshops in fiction, memoir, poetry and non-fiction. ( Pre-registration $30)
The Festival begins on Thursday night at 7 p.m. with National Poetry Slam Finalist, Hip Hop artist Kane Smego who topped the Spotify Viral 50 Billboard for his appearance on King Mez’s Grammy Award Winning album. This event is free.
Friday night is a locally sourced, catered banquet with speaker Michael W. Twitty. ( Pre-registration $35 BYOB) Each year a group of talented volunteers make Altered Book Centerpieces for the banquet table and for the Silent Auction which benefits the Festival’s funds. One of the Altered Book makers is Burnsville resident and North Buncombe High School Art teacher, Claire Simpson Jones. Ms. Jones decided to include her intermediate art students in this project. Isabella Annoreno-Spencer, Tucker Ball, Rylee Ervin Ballerine, Ethin Benson, Ashley Dillingham, Ignacio Martinez-Comacho, and Hannah Redd picked their own designs and used problem solving skills to turn their imaginations into 3-D creations. Ethin Benson said that he’d never heard of Altered Books and, at first, he found it frustrating. But, he “found the freedom to step outside of the basic boundaries of art and [was] able to be as creative as I wanted.” He also liked the collaborative process as he and his classmates encouraged each other to “be as creative as possible.” He adds that is was fun. Ethin will donate his Altered Book, “Warrior”, to the Silent Auction which will take place on Friday and Saturday in the Burnsville Town Center.
Saturday night is a Keynote Address with award winning novelist, Gail Godwin. (Preregistration $20) Godwin grew up and lived in Asheville for many years. Her books are often set in Asheville and Western North Carolina.
To learn more about the Festival and the authors and to register for required events, go to cmlitfest.org