It’s that festive time of year again that makes you think about… books! That’s right the Dahlonega Literary Festival is coming up quick. This is the eighth year for the festival but the first year that it will be held in conjunction with the New Directions Conference.
The Literary Festival was started in 2004 by Kate Quigley McElliott to celebrate books, writers, literacy, storytelling, and literary performance art. In the past they have had plenty of authors and interesting subjects and this year will continue that theme. There will be many talented writers including Terry Kay, an award winning novelist from Hart County, Georgia, that will speak on an array of interesting subjects. Some topics include: Funnybones: The Use of Humor in Fiction and Non-fiction, Flights of Fancy: 21st Century Fantasy, and Truth is Sometimes Stranger than Fiction: Non-fiction for Everyone. Even the Holly Theater is getting in on the action by hosting An Evening with Mark Twain, where Kurt H. Sutton pleases audiences with Mark Twain’s hilarious witticisms, wisdom and love for music via the harmonica, guitar, and banjo.
The Dahlonega Literary Festival will be held on the historic Dahlonega square on November 12th and 13th. It is free and open to the public. The New Directions Conference, however, does require registration. The Conference will mainly focus on the change in the publishing world from print to digital publishing. The Conference will also have talented key note speakers including: Dr. Robert Williams, the founder of the Bentley Rare Book Gallery, Sonya Huber, an author of creative non-fiction, and Ahmad Meradji, President and CEO of BookLogix Publishing Services. The New Directions Conference will take place on November 10th and 11th on the North Georgia College and State University campus and on Dahlonega’s historic square.
So break out your books and come on down to the Dahlonega Literary Festival and New Directions Conference!