[OPLINLIST] Spring Literary Arts Festival in Vinton County

[Erick C. Walker]

Second annual Spring Literary Arts Festival planned
 

The Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library and the Friends of the Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, Inc. will host the second annual Spring Literary Arts Festival (SLAF) April 21-23, 2006. The festival will occur in and around the library and at the Vinton County High School-both located in McArthur, Ohio.    

Remembering Community is the theme of this year's SLAF, and it will feature a full program including a Pulitzer Prize winning author, a New York Times' bestselling suspense novelist, and a Middle Eastern dance demonstration.

Library Director Clint Walker said that "There is no reason to believe that a small, rural community in Appalachia, such as Vinton County, can't offer the same kinds of literary programs found in large cities and academic communities."  

"Our library's aim," he added, "is to bring writers and presenters of regional, national and international acclaim to our community. We are excited to offer such a diverse program this year and believe, as with last year, there will certainly be something for everyone."

Friends of the Library President Douglas Kinder offered insight into this year's theme. "The theme has multiple meanings," he said. "It refers to a comparative exploration of the heritage of Appalachian Ohioans and the heritage of people elsewhere." 

"But primarily, the second SLAF celebrates the impact of communities in Vinton County or anywhere," Kinder explained.

The Library and the Friends of the Library held their inaugural event in April 2005, garnering praise from both participants and festival attendees for the program's diversity and quality. This year is also guaranteed to please as the SLAF will feature Robert Olen Butler, recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as New York Times' bestselling suspense novelist Jeffery Deaver, the author of The Bone Collector (made into a movie with the same title in 1999). Both Deaver and Butler will offer creative writing workshops during the festival.  

The program also includes two musical performances (The Local Girls of Athens, Ohio and The Kettering Banjo Society of Kettering, Ohio) and presentations on both the History of Country Music and Middle Eastern Dance. In addition, the weekend will feature a guided tour of Vinton County, community dinners, an art display, horse-drawn carriage rides, self-guided county tours and a reception honoring the winners of a writing contest sponsored by the Friends of the Library. 

All festival events, except the community dinners, will be free to the public. The festival is made possible, in part, by grants from the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.    

Remembering Community: A Spring Literary Arts Festival is sponsored by the Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library and the Friends of the Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, Inc., in McArthur, Ohio. The festival opens at noon on Friday, April 21, 2006 and the last event will commence at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, 2006. All events are free and open to the public; however, advance registration is requested. For more information and to register, contact the library at www.vintoncountypublic.lib.oh.us or by phone at 740-596-5691.


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