Like reading? Like writing? Like wine and conversation?
Well, you can like it all at the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival this month in Nelson.
You won’t be alone in liking the wordy and wine-y fun. Support for the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival in Nelson continues to arrive as the clock ticks down to the four-day event July 12 to 15 featuring local and nationally recognized authors and publishers, a B.C. wine-tasting evening, panels, a spoken word workshop and more.
The Festival has received support from the Vancouver Foundation, as well asthe Columbia-Kootenay Cultural Alliance through the Nelson and District Arts Council.
Other financial backing for the event has come from a range of national, provincial and local funders, and who can blame them? What beats mixing wine and literature?
The Elephant Mountain Literary Festival begins the evening of Thursday, July 12 with a gala wine-tasting evening, where six B.C. wines chosen by BC Wineguys will be matched to six local authors, who will give short readings.
Then on Friday night, July 13, after everyone has recovered, a spoken word cabaret will present Calgary’s Sheri-D Wilson, founder of the Banff Centre’s Spoken Word program, along with local spoken word artists and musicians.
Wilson will conduct a spoken word workshop at the Oxygen Art Centre on Saturday morning, July 14.
Saturday will showcase literary press editors from Toronto’s House of Anansi Press, Calgary’s Freehand Books, and B.C.’s Caitlin Press.
Also speaking during Saturday will be Canada’s new poet laureate Fred Wah, Newfoundland novelist Lisa Moore, and Vancouver nonfiction author John Vaillant.
Topping off Saturday there will be a gala reading by Wah, Moore and Vaillant; Wah’s part of the festivities will be his first hometown reading since assuming his new post.
If you’re intrigued and interested, you will find more information, including Festival passes and tickets to the July 12 wine-tasting evening at www.emlfestival.com, or by phoning 250-505-1114.
The Festival, perhaps the first in a tradition that will rival the memory of an elephant in its length, will conclude with an open brunch with the authors on Sunday morning. Yum!
