Historic Downtown Lewisburg celebrates First Fridays after Five and the kick-off of the Lewisburg Literary Festival on Friday, Aug. 7! Join the summer fun in downtown Lewisburg – live music, literary events and tasty treats – all free to the public. Everyone is welcome!
Begin the evening with a visit to the Literary Town Square at the Greenbrier Valley Visitors Center, featuring a meet and greet with West Virginia authors and regional publishers. To fine tune your memoir writing skills, join in on a Writing Workshop by author Cat Pleska at the Visitors Center from 4 to 5 p.m. At 5:30, Horror Author Brian Keene will be giving a reading followed by a Q&A period at the Lewis Theater. At the same time, Children’s Author S.D. Smith will give a program aimed at young readers at the Greenbrier County Public Library. For fans of The Help by Kathryn Stockett, enjoy a free showing of the film version at 7 p.m. at the Lewis Theater.
Throughout the evening, stop by the City Green Space for a cool interactive art piece. “If I kept one book, which would it be?” Pick up a piece of chalk and write it on a giant chalkboard. Enjoy live music by Jim Snyder & Marcel Lazare with their creative guitar and percussion arrangements of music from a variety of genres – singer songwriter, folk rock and tropical rock.
In conjunction with the Lewisburg Literary Festival, visit these downtown shops for more literary themed events:
The North House Museum hosts “Writing Dime Novels.” Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller, who lived at The Cedars in Alderson, will speak about how she became a famous author of Dime Novels. This presentation begins at 4 p.m. Also, stop by to see the exhibit of vintage typewriters. Wolf Creek Gallery is offering free face-painted moustaches. Choose a moustache in literature, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman or other famous authors and make it yours. Harmony Ridge Gallery highlights book cover art. HRG will be showing reproductions of the works of Peter Mendelsund, who is a much-sought-after book cover designer and art director. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, collections of Joyce, Kafka, Dostoevsky, Tom McCarthy and many more books are adorned with his jacket designs. Drop by HRG to see the visual side of great literary works. The Visitors Center presents “Poetry Inspired Art,” featuring a collection of poems and paintings by The Greenbrier Artists.
A dramatic horror reading at the Old Stone Cemetery takes place at 9:15 p.m. Local actors Eric Fritzius and Devin Preston will perform a play adaptation of “…to a Flame,” a short horror/humor story involving West Virginia’s legendary Mothman.
The Asylum hosts a Hunter S. Thompson look-a-like contest. Registration is at 9:30 and the contest takes place at 10 p.m. While there, enjoy the Flying Dog tap take-over!
Other events downtown include Story-Time at Love Child and samples of the wildly fun game Spot It! At 6 p.m. Love Child will announce the winner of the Lewisburg Food Locker Raffle Basket, worth over $750 and 100 percent of the proceeds go the Lewisburg food locker! Stop by for a ticket to win! Come by The Pepper Shed and tickle your palette with meatballs in a savory Dark Hollow BBQ Sauce. In addition, you will not want to miss one of their specialty dips served with pretzels. For every $50 sold, a free hot sauce is yours to take home! General Lewis Inn will have mini mint julep samples and mint chocolate chip cookies, come and enjoy! At the Irish Pub visiting Celtic musician Justin Murphy will play, followed by Rivertown Gypsies, who will entertain with a mixture of classic covers and original songs. Stop in for a pint and a listen. Bella will showcase the last of the summer white wines by sampling staff favorites and a few new gourmet goodies, too. Stop by for a taste or two! Plants Etc. will host Robert Wilson on clarinet with blues, folk, and modern music. The Front Porch is hosting a show for Paul Robinson Fine Art. Come join in the festivities, and have a glass of champagne and some refreshments. They again are donating 10 percent of Friday evening’s proceeds to Lewisburg Family Refuge Center. Patina hosts a trunk show for Premier Designs Jewelry by Melanie Austin along with complimentary refreshments. At the Visitors Center, music for the evening will be provided by local musicians Robin and Doug, a cello and guitar duo. Enjoy their eclectic mix of country, blues, folk, bluegrass, Americana, and originals. Also, be sure to view the exhibit of Homer Laughlin dinnerware and Fiesta on loan to the Visitors Center by the WV Division of Culture and History.
For more information about the Lewisburg Literary Festival call 1-888-716-5082 or go to www.lewisburgliteraryfestival.com.
