My Story 2024: 3 Great WNC Memoirs @ West Asheville Library

Buncombe County -- August 15, 2024: Buncombe County Government Community News: 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 three evenings from September to December at the West Asheville Library, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy will celebrate three memoirs of lasting value from the mountains of Western North Carolina. 

The following writers will be featured:

Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. – Jennifer McGaha

Author Talk by Jennifer McGaha, teacher at UNC Asheville and coordinator of the Great Smokies Writing Program, featuring her memoir Bushwhacking: How to Get Lost in the Woods and Write Your Way Out.

Publisher’s Weekly calls Bushwhacking “gutsy, entertaining, and heartening.” Jennifer’s next book, The Joy Document,  a collection of fifty essays celebrating midlife, is forthcoming from Broadleaf Books. Her work has also appeared in many magazines and literary journals.

A native of Appalachia, Jennifer lives in a wooded North Carolina hollow with her husband, two cats, three unruly dogs, ten relatively tame dairy goats, and an ever-changing number of chickens.

Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. – Ann Batchelder

Author Talk by Ann Batchelder, featuring her memoir Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth that Brought Them Together. 

Ann’s writing and interviews have appeared in several publications and podcasts, including Huff Post, The Rumpus, and Newsweek. After earning a BA from Kenyon College and an MSW from Simmons University, Ann worked as Director of Special Events at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Editor of Fiberarts Magazine, and Guest Curator for three major exhibitions at the Asheville Art Museum. She lives with her husband in Asheville, North Carolina.

Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. – Benjamin Gilmer

Author Talk by Benjamin Gilmer, M.D., featuring his memoir The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice. 

A “mesmerizing” (The New York Times Book Review) true story about a shocking crime and a mysterious illness that will forever change your notions of how we punish and how we heal—an expansion on one of the most popular This American Life episodes of all time. Atul Gawande, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Being Mortal called The Other Dr. Gilmer “A remarkable medical detective story–cum–memoir, grippingly told . . . I was drawn in by every part of it.”

Each of these talks will be at the West Asheville Library from 7-8 p.m. Anyone who would like to attend online should email MyStory@wilmadykemanlegacy.org for the Zoom link. These free programs are brought to you by the West Asheville Library and the Wilma Dykeman Legacy.

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.

Image: WNCTimes