Mountain of Words Write-A-thon, Nov. 2-8

From a press release:

Mountain of Words Write-A-thon, Nov. 2-8

What is a write-a-thon? It’s just like a walk-a-thon, except that folks sponsor you to sit in a chair and write while you exercise your imagination, not your legs. And this should be no problem for the writers who’ve agreed to do just that to help raise funds for local non-profit, Asheville Writers in the Schools and Community (AWITSC). These include former North Carolina Poet Laureate and Sylva-resident Kathryn Stipling Byer, recent inductee to the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame and Mebane-based Jaki Shelton Green, and winner of the North Carolina Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Literature, Music and Culture of North Carolina, Chapel Hill-ian Bland Simpson. Along with acclaimed and local novelists Tommy Hays and Allan Wolf, and 17 other impressive writers, they will be writing for AWITSC  the week of November 2-8—and hoping the public will sponsor them generously.

In addition, faculty from the Great Smokies Writing Program, Lenoir Rhyne Center for Graduate Studies, and the undergraduate writing programs of Warren Wilson College and the University of North Carolina will face each other in a “write off,” Saturday, November 8, 2:00-4:00 pm, at the West End Bakery in West Asheville. The team which raises the most funds for AWITSC will add a “solid gold” trophy to its school’s showcase.

“Every one deserves to know the power and pleasure of writing,” says Heather Newton, author of the award-winning novel, Under the Mercy Trees, Great Smokies Writing Program faculty member and AWITSC Board member. “Especially children and their families who have never felt their stories matter. AWITSC programs are all about creative, literate communities—and, as a published writer, I feel especially committed to make sure they get funding.”

Other writers taking part in Mountain of Words include Wiley Cash, Alexandra Duncan, Vicki Lane, Wayne Caldwell, Denise Kiernan, Ann Hite, Nathan Poole, Laura Hope Gill, Ali McGhee, Tamiko Ambrose Murray, Jonathon Santos, Meggen Lyon, Laura Boffa, and Janet Hurley.

Asheville Writers in the Schools and Community is a 501-c3 organization which places writers in long-term creative residencies in local public schools and community programs, and sponsors a regional youth spoken word competition, Asheville Wordslam. To sponsor a writer, visit mountainofwords.org. All contributions are tax deductible.