It's that time, folks, for the stupendous, glorious, feast of words that is known in these parts as ON THE SAME PAGE LITERARY FESTIVAL. I will be at everything, seriously, everything, and I will enjoy all of it.
Hard to believe, but this whole thing gets done by a volunteer coordinating committee and the library and county arts organization. And, every year, I swear to god, it gets better. We work hard all through the year to make the whole thing possible and by the time this week arrives, I am so psyched I could just about pee myself. (I'll try not to.)
One of the very best things about the Festival is the quality of the authors we get to come here. NO DIVAS. No d-bags. No people who have to be babysat. Just generous and talented and plain delightful writers, one and all.
I mean who doesn't love Danny Wallace. C'mon? Who did not laugh their heinie off reading "Lookaway, Lookaway"? Is Wiley Cash a star, or what? Bob Inman? He's a prince. And Philip Gerard, well, ok, so I'm definitely prejudiced about him -- he was one of my first-rate teachers in the Goucher MFA program.
You will not find a better setting or a more intimate treat than On the Same Page. Here's a quick schedule of who's coming and when you can see them:
Wilton Barnhardt is the author of four novels, including the recent Lookaway, Lookaway, one of Slate’s and Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2013 and a New York Times, National Public Radio, and Indie Bound bestseller. Barnhardt is this year’s Farmers’ Market author and will be under the tent at the market at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
Continuing OTSP’s partnership with the Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild, Georgia Bonesteel will present a workshop on lap quilting on Saturday at 10:30 at Jefferson Station. Bonesteel is the creator and host of NC Center for Public Television’s “Lap Quilting” and along with her son, Paul, is producing a documentary “The Great American Quilt Revival.”
Kathryn Stripling Byer is the former poet laureate of North Carolina, and the first woman to hold this honor. Her most recent book, Descent, received both the SIBA award and the NC Book Award for poetry. She will be at the Library at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
Wiley Cash is the author of the best-selling A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy. He lives in Wilmington, NC, and teaches in Southern New Hampshire University’s MFA program. Cash appears at the Ashe Arts Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Georgann Eubanks is a writer, teacher and favorite of the Festival. She’ll host the Literary Trails Luncheon and, along with photographer and videographer Donna Campbell, will present this year’s Festival workshop for writers. She is the author of the Literary Trails of North Carolina series of books. The workshop is Wednesday 2-5:00 p.m. at the Library. Reservations required; space is limited. The Literary Trails Luncheon is at noon Thursday at the Library. Box lunches for a nominal charge and reservations required.
Philip Gerard is a teacher and the author of three novels and six books of nonfiction. He is a regular columnist for “Our State” magazine chronicling the Civil War in North Carolina. His most recent book is “Down the Wild Cape Fear: A River Journey Through the Heart of North Carolina.” Gerard will be featured on Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the Library.
Alan Hodge is the author of The North Carolina Quiz Book, which draws from his “Our State” magazine quiz columns about North Carolina. He is the Friends of the Ashe County Library’s Festival author for 2014 and will be at the Library on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.
Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Robert Inman is a former broadcast journalist who retired in 1996 to devote full time to fiction writing. He is the author of five novels; his latest is The Governor’s Lady. Inman will be at the Library on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
Daniel Wallace is best known for his novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the basis for the Tim Burton film and a Broadway play by the same name. His latest novel is 2013’s The Kings and Queens of Roam. Wallace will be at the Ashe Arts Center on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Major funding for the On the Same Page Literary Festival comes from Skyline Membership Corporation, the Friends of the Ashe County Public Library, the Ashe Arts Council, the Appalachian Regional Library, Ashe County Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Ashe County Farmers’ Market, the County of Ashe, the Town of West Jefferson, and the Page Turners – individuals who support On the Same Page Literary Festival.
###
For more information about the festival’s history, about Ashe County, and more, visit: www.onthesamepagefestival.org.
Hard to believe, but this whole thing gets done by a volunteer coordinating committee and the library and county arts organization. And, every year, I swear to god, it gets better. We work hard all through the year to make the whole thing possible and by the time this week arrives, I am so psyched I could just about pee myself. (I'll try not to.)
One of the very best things about the Festival is the quality of the authors we get to come here. NO DIVAS. No d-bags. No people who have to be babysat. Just generous and talented and plain delightful writers, one and all.
I mean who doesn't love Danny Wallace. C'mon? Who did not laugh their heinie off reading "Lookaway, Lookaway"? Is Wiley Cash a star, or what? Bob Inman? He's a prince. And Philip Gerard, well, ok, so I'm definitely prejudiced about him -- he was one of my first-rate teachers in the Goucher MFA program.
You will not find a better setting or a more intimate treat than On the Same Page. Here's a quick schedule of who's coming and when you can see them:
Wilton Barnhardt is the author of four novels, including the recent Lookaway, Lookaway, one of Slate’s and Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2013 and a New York Times, National Public Radio, and Indie Bound bestseller. Barnhardt is this year’s Farmers’ Market author and will be under the tent at the market at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
Continuing OTSP’s partnership with the Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild, Georgia Bonesteel will present a workshop on lap quilting on Saturday at 10:30 at Jefferson Station. Bonesteel is the creator and host of NC Center for Public Television’s “Lap Quilting” and along with her son, Paul, is producing a documentary “The Great American Quilt Revival.”
Kathryn Stripling Byer is the former poet laureate of North Carolina, and the first woman to hold this honor. Her most recent book, Descent, received both the SIBA award and the NC Book Award for poetry. She will be at the Library at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
Wiley Cash is the author of the best-selling A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy. He lives in Wilmington, NC, and teaches in Southern New Hampshire University’s MFA program. Cash appears at the Ashe Arts Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Georgann Eubanks is a writer, teacher and favorite of the Festival. She’ll host the Literary Trails Luncheon and, along with photographer and videographer Donna Campbell, will present this year’s Festival workshop for writers. She is the author of the Literary Trails of North Carolina series of books. The workshop is Wednesday 2-5:00 p.m. at the Library. Reservations required; space is limited. The Literary Trails Luncheon is at noon Thursday at the Library. Box lunches for a nominal charge and reservations required.
Philip Gerard is a teacher and the author of three novels and six books of nonfiction. He is a regular columnist for “Our State” magazine chronicling the Civil War in North Carolina. His most recent book is “Down the Wild Cape Fear: A River Journey Through the Heart of North Carolina.” Gerard will be featured on Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the Library.
Alan Hodge is the author of The North Carolina Quiz Book, which draws from his “Our State” magazine quiz columns about North Carolina. He is the Friends of the Ashe County Library’s Festival author for 2014 and will be at the Library on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.
Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Robert Inman is a former broadcast journalist who retired in 1996 to devote full time to fiction writing. He is the author of five novels; his latest is The Governor’s Lady. Inman will be at the Library on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
Daniel Wallace is best known for his novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, the basis for the Tim Burton film and a Broadway play by the same name. His latest novel is 2013’s The Kings and Queens of Roam. Wallace will be at the Ashe Arts Center on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Major funding for the On the Same Page Literary Festival comes from Skyline Membership Corporation, the Friends of the Ashe County Public Library, the Ashe Arts Council, the Appalachian Regional Library, Ashe County Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Ashe County Farmers’ Market, the County of Ashe, the Town of West Jefferson, and the Page Turners – individuals who support On the Same Page Literary Festival.
###
For more information about the festival’s history, about Ashe County, and more, visit: www.onthesamepagefestival.org.