Press release from Yancey County Tourism:
BURNSVILLE, N.C. – The 11th annual Carolina Mountains Literary Festival brings a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a former poet laureate and numerous award-winning writers to downtown Burnsville, Sept. 8-10.
This year’s festival includes 28 authors and 50 free and ticketed events under the theme of “Journey Out. Journey In.”
“Each of the authors either tells a story about someone who has taken a trip of some kind or tells a story of self-discovery and exploration,” says Kathy Weisfeld, festival president.
Saturday evening’s keynote speaker is David George Haskell. His book The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. Haskell’s attendance is part of the N.C. Humanities Council’s Pulitzer NC program, which highlights the influence of Pulitzer Prize-winning works on our world.
“I keep Haskell’s book on my reading table and often refer to it when I come back from a walk,” Weisfeld says. “He makes science so accessible.”
Western North Carolina native Fred Chappell is the keynote speaker for Friday night’s banquet. Chappell — the author of a dozen books of verse, two story collections and eight novels — was the North Carolina poet laureate from 1997 to 2002.
The festival begins Thursday evening with a free concert and discussion by Doug and Darcy Orr. The authors and musicians will discuss their 2016 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award-winning book, Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia. Co-author Fiona Ritchie will participate via audio link from her home in Scotland.
Workshops, readings, lectures, discussions and signings will be held throughout the day Friday and Saturday. The festival is headquartered at Burnsville Town Center, and events take place throughout downtown.
Malaprop’s, an independent bookstore in Asheville, will sell books by participating authors at Burnsville Town Center from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a portion going to charity.
The majority of festival events are free. Four writing workshops, Friday’s banquet and Saturday’s keynote address require registration and a fee. For a full schedule of events and online registration, visit www.cmlitfest.org. For lodging info, visit www.ExploreBurnsville.com.
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