WCU hosts Spring Literary Festival, featuring poet Billy Collins, April 3-6

Press release:

The 15th annual Spring Literary Festival at Western Carolina University will feature author and former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins, called “the most popular poet in America” by The New York Times.

All events are free and open to the public. Directed by Pamela Duncan, associate professor in WCU’s Department of English, the festival has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to campus.

This year’s festival also features writers Stephen Clingman, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Robert Gipe, Michael Knight, Ray McManus, Carrie Mullins, Elena Passarello, Jamie Quatro, Sue Weaver-Dunlap and Paul Worley. Also featured will be photographer Roger May. Alumni and student writers will be included throughout the festival.

“I’ve heard nothing but great things about the festival,” said Knight, author of “The Typist,” named “Best Book of the Year” by The Huffington Post. “All the writers on the slate are world-class and it’s always a thrill to spend time in the company of such talented folks. I’m especially excited to introduce readers from the mountain South to the stories from the coastal South in my new book.”

Robert Gipe, typically described as an original Appalachian character and the author of the recent novel “Trampoline,” set in the coal country of eastern Kentucky, agreed. “Cullowhee has been for a while now the literary mecca of far Western North Carolina,” he said. “I can’t wait to get there. I hear just drinking the water will vivify your verbs and make your metaphors sing like birds.”

An award-winning essayist and assistant professor of creative writing at Oregon State University, Elena Passarello, is the author of “Animals Strike Curious Poses” and said she can see a learning opportunity in her visit.

“I’m so happy to be coming to this festival to talk about my book, which is all about famous animals in history,” Passarello said. “Hopefully, some of the festival participants can tell me more about the creatures they see scurrying around the southern mountains ― real or mythic.”

Monday, April 3
· Noon – Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poets Series featuring Pat Riviere-Seel, author of “Nothing Below But Air” and “The Serial Killer’s Daughter,” joined by WCU student poets Mary Coggins, Jade Shuler and Cathy Sky, and WCU alumnus Benjamin Cutler.
· 4 p.m. – Stephen Clingman, author of the memoir “Birthmark.”
· 7:30 p.m. – Elena Passarello, author of the essay collection “Animals Strike Curious Poses.”

Tuesday, April 4
· Noon – Poet and WCU English professor Paul Worley, author of “Chinese Landscapes,” with WCU student writers.
· 4 p.m. – Fiction writers Robert Gipe, author of “Trampoline: An Illustrated Novel,” and Carrie Mullins, author of “Night Garden,” with Appalachian photographer Roger May.
· 7:30 p.m. – Fiction writer Michael Knight, author of the story collection “Eveningland” and the novel “The Typist.”

Wednesday, April 5
· 4 p.m. – Fiction writer Jamie Quatro, author of the short story collection “I Want to Show You More.”
· 7 p.m. – Nonfiction writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of the memoir “Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines.”

Thursday, April 6
· 4 p.m. – Poets Sue Weaver-Dunlap, author of “Knead,” and Ray McManus, author of “Punch.”
· 7:30 p.m. – Poet Billy Collins, author of “The Rain in Portugal: Poems,” “Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems” and “Horoscopes for the Dead.”

Presentations will take place in the theater of A.K. Hinds University Center, with the exception of the reading by Collins, which will be held in the recital hall of the Coulter Building.

Also featured will be a related series of readings by WCU alumni and students at area public libraries, all beginning at 7 p.m.
· Wednesday, April 5, Jade Shuler at Marianna Black Library, Bryson City.
· Tuesday, April 18, Mary Coggins at Yancey County Library, Burnsville.
· Thursday, April 20, Benjamin Cutler at Jackson County Library, Sylva.
· Monday, May 8, Cathy Sky at Spruce Pine Library, Spruce Pine.

WCU sponsors include the Campus Learning Theme Committee, the Latina/o Speaker Series, College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Student Affairs, Department of English, Hunter Library, Office of Communications and Public Relations, Office of Research Administration, Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost, Office of Residential Living and the Visiting Writers Series.

Off-campus sponsors are City Lights Bookstore, Fontana Regional Library and the N.C. Poetry Society. The festival also receives support from the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

For more information about the festival, visit litfestival.org or contact WCU’s English department at 828-227-7264.