“How do we bring literature to the spaces where people already are?” asks Jacqui Castle, an author and Lit Local Mini Bookshops.
Tag: books
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Memoir explores parenting a child struggling with mental health issues
“There is so much pressure in our society for mothers to be perfect,” Batchelder remembers. “So when my daughter got depressed in high school, I wondered if it was my fault, what did I do wrong, what should I have done differently. Was I too much or not enough?”
Young adult novel-in-verse revisits Hurricane Florence
Emily Paige Wilson discusses her new novel-in-verse, “Four Months Past Florence.”
Maia Toll’s memoir recaps spiritual journey
Letting Magic In is a coming-of-age story about her connection to the Earth, her intuition and the unseen realm that may surround us all. “I wanted to show the slow ebb and flow of moving from one place to the other, questioning and doubting, stepping forward and back and forward and back.”
Nathan Ballingrud’s coming-of-age novel takes readers to Mars
Prior to the novel’s release, Ballingrud was known within the literary community as a short story writer. His previous works, 2013’s award-winning North American Lake Monsters: Stories and 2019’s Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, explore dark and supernatural themes.
Asheville woman writes a guide for terminally ill and their loved ones
“Dying is a big thing, and I want the details of it to be as easy as possible on my family as it can be,” Kae Mance, who has stage 4 breast cancer, says.
Daughter publishes book by pioneering physician father decades after his death
For most people, Dr. Charles S. Norburn‘s name may have been a footnote in history, if it was known at all. Yet his contributions to the region’s health care industry are considerable thanks to his 1946 purchase of 32 acres of property at 509 Biltmore Ave., which became the site of the Norburn Hospital & Clinic. […]
Local cyclist relives his 62-day ride in new book
In January, Wayne Aho self-published Journey of Discovery: A Narrative of Loss, Aging, Training and What’s Important: 62 Days on the TransAmerica Trail.
Literacy program engages doctors to promote kids reading
The goal is that reading with a child will become a routine and will foster a love of reading on its own.
Q&A with Erica Abrams Locklear, professor of English at UNCA
Update, Sept. 6, 2021: This piece was updated to reflect that Natasha Tretheway’s book Native Guard is a collection of poetry. Growing up in Leicester, Erica Abrams Locklear imagined becoming a pediatrician one day. She loved to read, though, and remembers enjoying Southern authors Jill McCorkle and Clyde Edgerton. But Abrams Locklear didn’t become aware […]
Smoky Mountains cemeteries embody region’s traditions
A new 700-page book, Cemeteries of the Smokies, published by the Great Smoky Mountains Association, serves as an exhaustive guide to graves in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Through photographs, oral histories and scholarship, the tome also sheds light on the unique world of Appalachian burial lore and traditions.
How to not die in the Smokies
When you think about the Great Smoky Mountains, your thoughts might not immediately jump to death and destruction. But that is exactly what adventure travel writer David Brill of Morgan County, Tenn., dives into with his new book, “Into the Mist: Tales of Death and Disaster, Mishaps and Misdeeds, Misfortune and Mayhem in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
Asheville Zine Festival showcases indie publications
The Asheville Zine Fest hopes to represent the full range of independent publications. Supported by DIY, book- and craft-minded donors Big Crafty, Horse and Hero and Downtown Books and News, the event will also include readings and vendors at The Grey Eagle
Smart bets: Blue Ridge Bookfest
A literary smorgasbord, the seventh annual Blue Ridge Bookfest will host a variety of sessions exploring the art and business of the written word.
Reading round up: 2014 in books
In the course of a year, Xpress writers talk to a lot of visual artists, dancers, musicians, actors, crafters and designers. We also get to check in with local authors about their latest projects, book launches, writing tips, and what it means to publish work in a town with a deep connection to literature. Area […]
Wayfaring Strangers traces the evolution of Appalachian music
When Fiona Ritchie (the presenter of NPR’s long-running program, “The Thistle and the Shamrock”) first came to North Carolina, “people heard my accent and they’d say, ‘Oh, I’m Scots-Irish,’” she remembers. “I was confused. I thought they meant one parent was Scottish and one was Irish. It took me a wee while to realize this […]
Get lit: Carolina Mountains Literary Festival returns to Burnsville
Unlike larger book festivals, the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival deliberately sets out to create a “festival of ideas.” As anyone who has attended a previous festival knows (the gathering is now in its ninth year), events are informal, and are more akin to conversations than presentations.
Building a mystery
Local author Sallie Bissell returns to her Mary Crow series Sallie Bissell describes herself as a “flatland Southerner,” and you can hear it in her voice. But this Nashville native who grew up reading Nancy Drew and the historical fiction of William O. Steele (now her touchstone for a good read), developed an ambition to […]
The funny side of the bar
Man v. Liver is a book by Asheville native and illustrator Neil Hinson and author Paul Friedrich that centers around a simply drawn figure called “man” and his Dean Martin-esque one liners. Hinson describes the book as “a 100-page collection of sayings that we wish we remembered saying at the bar.”
ABA Winter Institute 2015 will be held in Asheville
At last week’s annual bookseller event in Seattle, American Booksellers Association announced it will celebrate Winter Institute 2015 in WNC. Photo from ABA’s Facebook page.
Have a Comic Christmas: five great graphic novels for younger readers
Has this happened to you? You’re in the library or (worse) the bookstore, and your child approaches full of enthusiasm for a book that turns out to be a graphic novel. As a parent of an 8-year-old, I know I’ve been there, and I’ve talked to quite a few parents who seem gun-shy about spending money for something their son or daughter will read in less than an hour. Or which might contain inappropriate material.