This photo show a portion of the quilted wall hanging, inspired by the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival's theme "Coming Home." Nanette Fleischman created this quilted wall hanging which will be silent-auctioned during the festival, September 10 & 11 with proceeds going to support future literary festivals

Coming Home With Good Books

For the 5th year, Burnsville opens its doors to more than thirty authors and hundreds of book lovers during the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival.  Held this September  10 and 11, the festival’s theme “Coming Home” guides the many workshops, presentations and discussions.

Two featured writers, Tony Earley and Paul Cuadros, have been sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council.  Earley will discuss his novels Jim the Boy and Blue Star as a part of a region-wide study supported by Together We Read.  Additionally, Earley is this year’s Saturday banquet speaker.

The other featured writer is Paul Cuadros, author of A Home on the Field:  How One Champion Soccer Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America.  He will be discussing his book and the issue of immigration to North Carolina and the country.  Cuadros will describe how one town in North Carolina is coping with immigration, how and why immigrants have come, and the politics of immigration in the country.  His Friday morning keynote address is free and open to the public.

Local History

While the festival has always been partial to Appalachian culture and history, this year marks an unprecedented number of local historians.  Two separate panels will give festival attendees a chance to gain a brief overview and then follow up in-depth with each author in their individual sessions.

One such panel is made up of authors who have published pictorial histories through Arcadia Press.  One panelist, Michael C. Hardy, has written four books for that publisher including Remembering North Carolina’s Confederates.  Other members of the panel and their books are Janice Willis Barnett, Unicoi and Limestone Cove;  Christopher Blake, Linville Falls;  Judy Carson, Altapass;  and the duo of David Biddix and Chris Hollifield who have co-authored Bakersville  and Little Switzerland.  Each author will also present individual sessions on their books.

The other History Panel will also pique the interest of those curious about the area.  Panelists include Kristen and Stephanie Whitson who are co-authors of the historical non-fiction novel Red Hill: The Untold Story of the Whitson Brothers and the Murder of Kit Byrd. Originally instigated by an inquest into their own family history, their book expanded to explore the post-Civil War history and culture of Mitchell and Yancey Counties.  A favorite from the 2009 festival, Melungeon scholar Wayne Winkler will also return.  Rounding out the panel is Burnsville writer Colby Martin who has done extensive interviews with many Yancey County families.

Work on Your Own Writing

Four three-hour-long writing workshops will be offered as a part of this year’s festival.  As in the past, these are the only sessions that have a fee and require pre-registration. 

The Friday afternoon of the festival , Tommy Hays will lead a prose workshop called “If You’re Scared to Write about It, Write About It.”   During the same time slot, Joseph Bathanti will also offer “Turning Poetry into Fiction.”  Saturday morning Judy Goldman will lead a workshop on personal essay or memoir entitled “The Fine Brushstrokes of Your Own Life.”  And last, for the poets, Laura Hope-Gill will lead “The Simplest of Places” on Saturday afternoon.  More descriptions about the workshops are online.

My Dog Ate My Book!

To honor the dogs who always welcome us when we come home, this year’s promotional bookmark features one such canine.  Further, there will be a panel of dog-lovers including Brian Lee Knopp, whose book Mayhem in Mayberry features several alarming dog encounters;  Gina Farago, who studied wolf behavior extensively for her werewolf series; Bob Plott, who raises and writes about Plott hounds,  and Karen Chavez, columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times who has written the book Best Hikes With Dogs:  North Carolina.

In addition to Gina Farago’s individual session on her werewolf novels Ivy Cole and The Moon and Luna, local author and literary critic Elizabeth Baird Hardy will present a session on the Twilight series.  She will discuss  material from the two chapters she contributed to the recently released book Twilight and History .

For Kids

Inspiring everyone to read more and write more has always been a mission of the festival, and there is no better way to do that than getting children in the daily habit of reading for fun.  Local author Alan Gratz will be visiting the middle schools in conjunction with the festival this fall.  And hands-on activities for children of all ages will occur on the Town Square Saturday morning, followed by storytelling in the afternoon.

More Information

To see a complete list of authors and schedule visit the website  www.cmlitfest.org