Wheeling to Host Book Festival
The Ohio County Public Library will host the inaugural Upper Ohio Valley Book Festival on Saturday, November 8 from 9 AM until 4 PM. Five award-winning authors will speak at this free event. Authors will then lead workshops for those interested in writing and publishing in the areas of graphic novels, poetry, or non-fiction. Book vendors will also be on-site, offering participants a wide array of local and regional publications.
The organizers saw a need, especially in light of the unfortunate discon- tinuation of a similar festival in Charleston. “It is our hope to continue the legacy of the West Virginia Book Festival in some small way by promoting an interest in regional books, authors and publishing,” said festival organ- izer Cheryl Harshman. “The idea for this book festival grows from the Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission and its work to support, nurture, and promote all the Arts in the greater Wheeling area.”
New York Times best-selling novelist Sharyn McCrumb will be the key- note speaker and will take the main stage at 1 PM. She will be accompanied by singer and fiddle player Jack Hinshel- wood to present her internationally acclaimed "Words and Music" program, which brings together the ballads that are woven throughout McCrumb's novels with Hinshelwood performing the ballads as Sharyn reads and discusses her work.
“In her depiction of the southern Appalachians, Sharyn McCrumb is both accurate and sympathetic,” commented festi- val organizer Bonnie Thurston. “Few contemporary writers manage this delicate balance so well. Her ballad novels are classics, and her many awards for regional writing are well deserved. Hers is a presentation we are fortunate to have and not to be missed. She is one of the brightest and best of our Appalachian writers."
Other participating authors will be: Doug Van Gundy (poetry), Daniel Boyd (graphic novels), and Geoffrey Fuller and Daleen Berry (non-fiction). These authors will lead afternoon workshops focusing on their areas of expertise. Those in- terested in the attending the workshop sessions may reserve a seat by calling the library at 304-232-0244, sending an email through the “Contact Us” page at the library’s web site at www.ohiocountylibrary.org, or by visiting the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/uovbookfest.
The full schedule for the Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books follows:
9-10: Vendor hour
10-10:45: Poet Doug Van Gundy
Van Gundy’s poems are rooted in his West Virginia heritage while retaining a wide appeal. His work has been published in numerous regional literary maga- zines and has won prizes in both the Eve of Saint Agnes and Lullwater Review competitions. His poems have been included in the anthologies xconnect: Writers of the Information Age and Wild Sweet Notes: Fifty Years of West Virginia Po- etry. Doug holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from Goddard College in Vermont. In addition, Doug is a well-known musician and performs throughout the eastern US and Canada, teaching the traditional music of West Virginia on the fiddle and banjo. He is a member of the old-time string duo Born Old. Doug was exposed to a wide range of music through the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College. He studied fiddle with the late Mose Coffman of Greenbrier County through the National En- dowment for the Humanities folk arts apprenticeship program of the Augusta Heritage Center. Doug's playing focuses on the fiddle styles and repertoire particular to east-central West Virginia.
10:45-11:30 Graphic Novelist Daniel Boyd
Daniel Boyd is an acclaimed filmmaker with dozens of films, including Chillers and Strangest Dreams: Invasion of the Space Preachers to his credit. A media studies professor at West Vir- ginia State University since 1983, Boyd has also taught around the world including in Tanza- nia as a three-time Fulbright scholar. Producing nearly every genre of film, Boyd’s television work has earned three national Telly awards and two regional Emmy nominations. He has re- cently expanded into graphic novel creation with Chillers – The Graphic Novel (Transfuzion Publishing), which was the 2012 Shel Dorph nominee for Original Graphic Novel of the Year, and Ghastly nominee for Best Horror Anthology. Chillers 2 was released in 2013. His newest graphic novel, CARBON, was released in May 2014. CARBON is a new take on Man, Earth, and the God we know. Reflecting recent man-made human and environmental disasters, CARBON is sensationalism with “message,” and entertainment with “purpose.”
11:30-12:15 Nonfiction co-authors Geoffrey Fuller and Daleen Berry
In Pretty Little Killers, journalist Daleen Berry and investigator Geoffrey Fuller expand upon their New York Times best-selling ebook The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese to provide more information behind one of the most horrific and shocking murders of our time. Including over 100 pages of new material, Pretty Little Killers shares the latest theories and answers the questions that have left many people baffled. After killer Shelia Eddy pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison and Rachel Shoaf was sentenced to thirty years for second-degree murder, family, friends, investigators, and other key sources reveal the facts you would have learned if the case had gone to trial. In- cluding specific details drawn from Rachel’s confession, Pretty Little Killers looks at the crime through the eyes of the victim and kill- ers, providing intimate testimony from the pages of Rachel’s personal journal, Skylar’s diary and school papers, and court records.
California native Daleen Berry is the award-winning author of Sister of Silence, which is being used in several colleges and universities, including Johns Hopkins University. Most recently, she received the 2012 Pearl Buck Writing for Social Change award. She is a keynote speaker at conferences around the country, invited for her insight into attitudes about social issues and the empowerment of women and children. A freelance writer, her work has appeared most recently in The Daily Beast, XOJane, and The Huffington Post.
12:15-1: lunch break and vendor time
1-2:30: Sharyn McCrumb and musician Jack Hinshelwood
Sharyn McCrumb is an award-winning Southern writer, best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Tom Dooley, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, and She Walks These Hills. Her latest novel, Nora Bones- teel’s Christmas Past, was published last October by Abingdon Press. She has been awarded the Frances Hobson Award for Achievement in Southern Literature, a Library of Virginia Award for St. Dale, the Chaffin Award, the Plattner Award and three Best Appa- lachian Novel awards for Appalachian literature, and in 2008 she was named a Virginia Woman of History for Literature by the Library of Virginia.
Jack Hinshelwood is an accomplished musician who began playing Appala- chian and Bluegrass music on the guitar in 1972. He has won numerous mu- sic competitions including the guitar championship at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.
2:30-3:30: Writer Workshops Writing Poetry with Doug Van Gundy Writing in Pictures with Daniel Boyd Non-Fiction Writing with Geoffrey Fuller and Daleen Berry
3:30-4: vendor time
The festival will be held on the lower level of the Ohio County Public Library at 52-16th Street in Wheeling. All programs and workshops are free and open to the public. A light lunch will be available for purchase on-site. Publishers and writers wanting to reserve a table in the vendor area should contact the library as indicated above.
The event is co-sponsored by the Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission, through its History and Literature Committee. Other sponsors for the event include the West Virginia Library Commission and the Center for the Book, the Elbin Library at West Liberty University, the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, and pri- vate donors. The project is supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the pro- visions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in West Virginia by the State Librarian.