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Some of our greatest art has come in response to the pain of this world: war, accident, crime and punishment, physical and mental illness, racial and class-based inequities. As Asheville resident Nancy Sehested has written, “The deeply human questions of forgiveness, redemption, and mercy emerge from the ruins of broken lives...Pain is not the last word.”
On eight evenings from September to December, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy and the West Asheville Library will celebrate four memoirs of resilience and hope from the mountains of Western North Carolina. All events are free and will be at the West Asheville Library, except for the digital event on December 8. Through four author talks and four book discussions -- all beginning at 7:00 PM -- the following books and writers will be featured:
Thursday, September 8 at 7pm
Talk by Nancy Sehested about her memoir Marked for Life: A Prison Chaplain's Story.
Wednesday, September 15 at 7pm
Book discussion of Marked for Life, led by West Asheville Branch Librarian Sherry Roane.
Thursday, October 13 at 7pm
Vietnam veterans reading poems and prose from Brothers Like These: Vietnam War Veterans.
Wednesday, October 19 at 7pm
Book discussion of Brothers Like These, led by West Asheville Branch Librarian Sherry Roane.
Thursday, November 10 at 7pm
Talk by Meta Commerse about her memoir Womaning.
Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm
Book discussion of Womaning, led by West Asheville Branch Librarian Sherry Roane.
Thursday, December 8 via Zoom at 7pm
Talk by Tamara Puffer and Joyce Holladay about Forgetting the Former Things: Brain Injury's Invitation to Vulnerability and Faith. This meeting is online, please register for this Zoom event by emailing OutofPain@wilmadykemanlegacy.org.
Wednesday, December 14 at 7pm
Book discussion of Forgetting the Former Things, led by West Asheville Branch Librarian Sherry Roane.
About the Wilma Dykeman Legacy
The Wilma Dykeman Legacy is a tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 2012 to sustain and promote Wilma Dykeman’s values by sponsoring diverse workshops, events, and other programs. The core values of this extraordinary woman from Buncombe County included environmental integrity, social justice, and the power of the written and spoken word. For more information, visit www.wilmadykemanlegacy.org.