2011 Virginia Festival of the Book

Part I: Appalachian Writers

Saturday, I went to Publishers' Day at Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. I always enjoy Publishers' Day. This year, I was one of the authors who'd be at the Cedar Creek Publishing table. Here's the part of the display:

You can see the stack of Ferradiddledumday books beneath my name. On the other side of the table is a placard about Stuck, which won't officially be available until March 28 (Stuck debuts at the Franklin County Library on March 29).

Whenever I'm at a writers' event, I check around to see if any other Appalachian Writers are there. I didn't have to look far. Lena Cantrell McNicholas, who'd participated in a program on Wednesday, was right at the Cedar Creek table. Her work appears in the Blue Ridge Anthology 2011,  just out from Cedar Creek; she and I both have work in the 2010 Anthology of Appalachian Writers.

Lena also had her  memoir, Patchwork: Pieces of Appalachia, with her. On the back is this blurb by Lee Smith:

[This book] takes us through Lena’s exciting life of love, adventure, devastating loss, high principles and new beginnings, finally back to her beloved southwest Virginia and the complexities of life alone—all of this told with severe honesty and sweet lyrical grace. Lena knows who she is and where she comes from, and she knows how to tell a good story, too. All you have to do is sit back and listen.

I look forward to reading my copy of Patchwork: Pieces of Appalachia. When I walked around the other displays, I soon saw the Appalachian Heritage table.

Editor George Brosi and I have crossed paths several times, but I hadn't seen him for a few years. Here he is with a copy of Ferradiddledumday. I look forward to reading my copy of Patchwork: Pieces of Appalachia. When I walked around the other displays, I soon saw the Appalachian Heritage table. 

And I came home with a copy of last summer's Appalachian Heritage, a fine magazine.

Tomorrow, I'll post some other pics from Publishers' Day.

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