My Story 2023: Four Great WNC Memoirs at the West Asheville Library

Everyone has a story.  Many of us attempt to put our story in writing.  Some of us get published.  An even smaller number can take credit for having written something of lasting value.

On eight evenings from September to December at the West Asheville Library, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy will celebrate four memoirs of lasting value from the mountains of Western North Carolina.  Through four lectures and four book discussions, the following writers will be featured:

Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland

• Thursday, September 14 at 7 p.m.
• Author talk by Jeremy B. Jones, Associate Professor of Creative Nonfiction at Western Carolina University, featuring his memoir Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland
   
• Wednesday, September 20 at 7 p.m.
• Book discussion of Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland

Glove Shy: A Sister’s Reckoning

• Thursday, October 19 at 7 p.m.
• Author talk by Janet Hurley, owner of True Ink and cofounder of Asheville Writers in the Schools & Community (now Arteria Collective), featuring her memoir Glove Shy: A Sister’s Reckoning
   
• Wednesday, October 25 at 7 p.m.
• Book discussion of Glove Shy: A Sister’s Reckoning

Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia

• Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m.
• Author talk by Mary Othella Burnette, retired secondary English teacher, featuring her memoir Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia
   
• Wednesday, November 15 at 7 p.m.
• Book discussion of Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia

No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley

• Thursday, December 14 at 7 p.m.
• Author talk by Jo Ann Thomas Croom, retired Professor of Biology at Mars Hill University, featuring her memoir No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley
   
• Wednesday, December 20 at 7pm
• Book discussion of No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe River Valley

All of these programs are free and the public is invited to attend. If you can’t attend in person but would like to participate in the author talks on online, you can register for the Zoom meetings by emailing MyStory@wilmadykemanlegacy.org.

If you have any questions, please contact the West Asheville library.

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 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 wilmadykemanlegacy.org.