May 14 Press Release

“Mountain Mosaic” is the guiding theme for the 4th annual

Carolina Mountains Literary Festival

Burnsville, NC, May 14, 2009 – The fifty authors gathering in Burnsville this September 11 and 12 have been selected around the 2009 theme Mountain Mosaic. "Almost all of us came from someplace else. Our ancestors left their homes and came to build a new land. Now that new land is our home," says Little Jim in Gloria Houston's children's book.

Rather than a melting pot, the people and authors are a Mountain Mosaic created by the many vibrant colors and heritages that make up Western North Carolina. Viewing this Mountain Mosaic up close, one can celebrate individual differences. Viewing it from afar, one can see how the individuality of each piece contributes to a more beautiful whole.

The weekend will be filled with simultaneous readings, workshops, book signings, panel discussions, performances, and Q&A sessions. The keynote panel, We All Come from Someplace Else, will be moderated by Gloria Houston and include noted Cherokee historian Robert Conley; children’s author Eleanora Tate; Melungeon scholar Wayne Winkler; and journalist Paul Cuadros. Each of these authors, even though they are in the region now, will address how being from Someplace Else influenced their writing. This panel, the focal point of the weekend, is on Friday morning and also features the commissioned choral piece by local composer Thom Koch.

The final event is the Saturday evening ticketed banquet with keynote talk by Ann Pancake. A native of West Virginia, Pancake’s novel Strange as this Weather Has Been is set in a town polluted by mountain top removal. She is an activist and critically acclaimed writer, having received the Weatherford Award for the best work of fiction about Appalachia published in 2007 given by the Appalachian Studies Association.

“One thing that makes our festival different from others is that we’re geared to readers first,” says planning committee member Britt Kaufmann. The festival is also unique since it is not held at an academic center, nor does it allow outside vendors to set up booths. Only Malaprop’s is on site to sell the authors’ books. “We do this to keep the emphasis on the ideas in the literature. If people do want to buy remembrances from the weekend, other than books, we’d like them to do it in our local shops. We want the festival to help our downtown.”

The mission of the festival is to bring together authors, readers of all ages, novice writers, listeners and learners in small, intimate settings. The goal is that the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival will inspire people to read more, write more, and contribute positively to society through the literary arts.

To see a complete list of authors and a schedule for the weekend visit cmlitfest.org.

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Contact:
Carolina Mountains Literary Festival
PO Box 355
Burnsville, NC 28714
(828) 682-4476
cmlitfest@gmail.com