The Fifth Annual Blue Ridge Bookfest Honoree is Wiley Cash
Wiley Cash is from western North Carolina, a region that figures prominently in his fiction. His first novel, A Land More Kind Than Home (William Morrow/HarperCollins), was published in April, 2012.
Cash's book has been widely reviewed and well received. The New York Times Sunday Review of Books called it an "intensely felt and beautifully told story." Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine named it (One of) "Ten Titles to Pick Up Now," and the Atlanta Journal Constitution said that Wiley Cash is "a promising new voice to Southern fiction."
Mr. Cash holds a B.A. in Literature from the University of North Carolina-Asheville, an M.A. in English from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. It was there that he studied under author Ernest J. Gaines, "who taught me that by writing about home I could recreate that place no matter where I lived." Gaines is the author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in addition to 7 other novels.
As Wiley built his career he has been the recipient of many grants and fellowships. His stories have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Roanoke Review and The Carolina Quarterly. His essays on Southern literature have appeared in American Literary Realism, The South Carolina Review, and other publications. Mr. Cash teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Fiction and Nonfiction Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. He and his wife currently live in West Virginia.
His book is available from your local bookseller as well as Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Amazon, and iTunes. You can find out more about this great new author at his website, http://www.wileycash.com/index.htm.
Graphic Novel Team Contests
Blue Ridge Bookfest 2013 is excited to announce the introduction of the Henderson County High School Graphic Novel Team Contest . Judging will be conducted by Shirrel Rhoades a former publisher of Marvel Comics and consultant with DC Comics and Mad Magazine. As a publisher he bought graphic novels for the world's largest comic book company. Mr. Rhoades will also be a presenter at the 5th Annual Bookfest on May 17 and 18. Judging will take place at 2:15 PM.
One team of art students from each county high school have been invited to participate according to the contest application. Entrants are challenged to tell their story on one page with nine picture blocks. The presentation must be in black and white with a story as a parody of the following: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Hunger Games, Harry Potter Series.
All entries will be featured on the Bookfest website.
