Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Friday, August 12, 2022
Outdoor Movie Night: Luca
Aug 12 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Dana Park

Henderson County Parks & recreation hosts a free movie screening and food truck at parks across the county this summer! Food truck opens at 7pm, movie starts at nightfall (approx 8pm). Bring your blanket and chair!

– May 13 | Jackson Park | Encanto
– June 17 | Etowah Park | Clifford the Big Red Dog
– July 15 | East Flat Rock Park | Sing 2
– July 29 | Tuxedo Park | Space Jam
– August 12 | Dana Park | Luca

Saturday, August 13, 2022
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library®
Aug 13 all-day
online

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library impacts the pre­-literacy skills and school readiness of children under the age of 5 in Buncombe County. The program mails a new, free, age-appropriate book to registered children each month until they turn five years old. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates a home library of up to 60 books and instills a love of books and reading from an early age. If you have any questions about the program, please send an email to [email protected].

A national panel of educators selects the Imagination Library titles, which include: The Little Engine that Could, Last Stop on Market Street, Violet the Pilot, As an Oak Tree Grows, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Look Out Kindergarten, here I come, and many more (take a look at all the titles).

Register your child now!

Friends of the Library Pop Up Book Sale! Black Mountain Library
Aug 13 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Black Mountain Library

Friends of the Library Pop Up Book Sale!

Children’s books: 2 for $1
Fiction: a bag full for $5

Grandfather Presents: Charlie Brady
Aug 13 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Grandfather Mountain
Charlie Brady Event

As part of our 2022 Grandfather Presents speaker series, Charlie Brady, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Conservancy, will present “Strategically Protecting Land to Ensure Access to Natural Places for Everyone.” The Blue Ridge Conservancy is a non-profit organization that has protected over 23,000 acres in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey Counties in western NC. In addition to protecting working farmland, BRC’s efforts have resulted in the creation of state natural areas such as Beech Creek Bog, Bear Paw and Bullhead Mountain.

Charlie has served on the Environmental Management Commission for the State of North Carolina, North Carolina State Parks Board, Foothills Conservancy Board of Trustees, Trout Unlimited National Board, as well as on numerous local and regional non-profit boards. He is an avid outdoorsman and recreationalist with a strong commitment to land and water conservation.

Arrive early or stay after to chat with the speaker. Read more about Grandfather Presents.

Location: Classroom in the Clouds Event Space, Wilson Center for Nature Discovery

Tickets: Included in park admission or Bridge Club membership. RSVP required. Reserve your seat below beginning July 11.

Author Talk – Andrew Aydin
Aug 13 @ 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
East Asheville Public Library

Author Talk - Andrew Aydin

Author Andrew Aydin will join us at the East Asheville Public Library to talk about his work with the late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis and their #1 New York Times bestselling work, March.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022
North Asheville Book Club: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
Aug 16 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Online w/ North Asheville Library

North Asheville Book Club

Join us to discuss this month’s book: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown

This is a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting. Participants may come in person to the North Asheville Library or participate via Zoom.

Registration is required for the Zoom link.

The North Asheville Book Club meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.

Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Hybrid: Melanie Bianchi presents The Ballad Of Cherrystoke And Other Stories, in conversation with Alli Marshall
Aug 17 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Melanie Bianchi in conversation with Alli Marshall : Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


A young maid at an upscale resort hides her banjo-playing freight hopper brother. An unlikely romance bridges a quarter-century age gap and a 150-year-old murder. A man tries to turn his sheltered mother’s backyard shed into a pricey vacation rental. A gig worker must shake off her darker identity to become a professional baby namer. This mesmeric debut collection of stories set in the Appalachian mountains weaves together the curious and the sublime, with Bianchi’s lyrical style cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Melanie McGee Bianchi grew up in a series of character-forming historic houses in different parts of the U.S. Starting at age 12, she gathered modest notice on the spelling-bee circuit, won short-story contests in various newspapers, and placed poems and fiction in national print publications, including the grunge-era teen magazine Sassy. After university, she began a career in features journalism in Asheville, North Carolina, where she has lived most of her life. Melanie was the lead arts reporter and Arts & Entertainment Editor at Mountain Xpress, a member paper of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, for ten years. She interviewed celebrities of many genres, including Loretta Lynn, David Sedaris, Aimee Mann, the late R.L. Burnside, and the late Doc Watson. In 2004, she won an industry Gold Award for special-section editing.After five happy years as a stay-at-home mom, Melanie next edited VERVE, a women’s magazine, for a period in the 2010s, working with Venezuelan fashion photographer Zaire Kacz and model/stylist Sara Fields Bridges. Melanie currently manages three regional lifestyle publications: Asheville Made, Bold Life, and Carolina Home + Garden. Her humor essays have been published regionally and nationally, and her poetry has been shortlisted in national chapbook contests and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Melanie’s current fiction has appeared in The Mississippi Review’s Summer Prize Issue, in Chattahoochee Review, and in The Moth Magazine (based in Co. Cavan, Ireland). These pieces and more are included in her first book, The Ballad of Cherrystoke + Other Stories, forthcoming from Blackwater Press in 2022.

Alli Marshall is a poet, performer, writer, editor, film maker and creative community builder. She’s interested in moving writing beyond the page, seeking the golden in the mundane, finding the intersection of art and social justice, and reconnecting with mythology — both ancient and modern.

Hybrid: Melanie Bianchi presents The Ballad Of Cherrystoke And Other Stories, in conversation with Alli Marshall
Aug 17 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
Image contains the text: Melanie Bianchi in conversation with Alli Marshall : Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 6 PM ET. Hybrid. Next to the text are photos of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


A young maid at an upscale resort hides her banjo-playing freight hopper brother. An unlikely romance bridges a quarter-century age gap and a 150-year-old murder. A man tries to turn his sheltered mother’s backyard shed into a pricey vacation rental. A gig worker must shake off her darker identity to become a professional baby namer. This mesmeric debut collection of stories set in the Appalachian mountains weaves together the curious and the sublime, with Bianchi’s lyrical style cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Melanie McGee Bianchi grew up in a series of character-forming historic houses in different parts of the U.S. Starting at age 12, she gathered modest notice on the spelling-bee circuit, won short-story contests in various newspapers, and placed poems and fiction in national print publications, including the grunge-era teen magazine Sassy. After university, she began a career in features journalism in Asheville, North Carolina, where she has lived most of her life. Melanie was the lead arts reporter and Arts & Entertainment Editor at Mountain Xpress, a member paper of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, for ten years. She interviewed celebrities of many genres, including Loretta Lynn, David Sedaris, Aimee Mann, the late R.L. Burnside, and the late Doc Watson. In 2004, she won an industry Gold Award for special-section editing.After five happy years as a stay-at-home mom, Melanie next edited VERVE, a women’s magazine, for a period in the 2010s, working with Venezuelan fashion photographer Zaire Kacz and model/stylist Sara Fields Bridges. Melanie currently manages three regional lifestyle publications: Asheville Made, Bold Life, and Carolina Home + Garden. Her humor essays have been published regionally and nationally, and her poetry has been shortlisted in national chapbook contests and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Melanie’s current fiction has appeared in The Mississippi Review’s Summer Prize Issue, in Chattahoochee Review, and in The Moth Magazine (based in Co. Cavan, Ireland). These pieces and more are included in her first book, The Ballad of Cherrystoke + Other Stories, forthcoming from Blackwater Press in 2022.

Alli Marshall is a poet, performer, writer, editor, film maker and creative community builder. She’s interested in moving writing beyond the page, seeking the golden in the mundane, finding the intersection of art and social justice, and reconnecting with mythology — both ancient and modern.

Thursday, August 18, 2022
Virtual Story Time with Wallace West, author and illustrator of Mighty Red Riding Hood
Aug 18 @ 10:00 am
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Story Time with Wallace West: Thursday, August 18, 2022. 10 AM ET. Virtual. Next to the text are photos of the participant and the cover of the featured book.

Join us for a special Miss Malaprop’s Storytime featuring author and illustrator Wallace West!

This is a free event, but registration is required. Click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


In this clever twist on a traditional tale, a boy who loves his frilly, swishy riding hood turns the tables on a big, bad, bullying wolf!
Better not mess with Little Red when he’s got on his favorite frilly red riding hood! It makes him feel happier than a pig in mud, more special than a birthday cake, and mighty as a firecracker. Nothing’s gonna stop him from being himself…Not even a big ol’ bully of a WOLF! With admirable spunk and a heaping helping of southern humor and hospitality, Little Red finds a way to crack the shell of the closed-minded wolf’s perception of frills and bows.
This refreshingly spirited version of the classic tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” explores the challenge of staying on your path when confronted by strangers who don’t want to understand you.

Wallace West is a native Texan and world explorer. Wallace says “I once foolishly pet a wild alligator and consider a tinned-fish picnic in Norway the best meal I’ve ever had. By day I work in advertising. By night my beagle and I wonder if the house is haunted.”

The Beat Goes On: Lake Julian Park Drum Circle
Aug 18 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Lake Julian Park

We are shamelessly drumming up attention for our exciting new program at Lake Julian Park. Starting Thursday, March 31, Buncombe County Recreation Services is hosting a drum circle on the last Thursday of every month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The only thing you need to bring is yourself and a drum, and then just let the rhythm and beautiful scenery do the work as you enjoy the beat and comradery of fellow percussionists.

All experience levels are welcome, and registration is not required. If you have any questions, please contact Park Ranger Zach Hickok at (828) 684-0376.

 

: Every Last Thursday until -Sept. 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Park shelter number 2, Lake Julian Park, 26 Lake Julian R

Notorious HBC (History Book Club)
Aug 18 @ 7:00 pm
online

This club meets in-person and virtually. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected] for more info and instructions! 

Join host and Malaprop’s bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across different periods of history. The club tackles challenging subjects, hence “NOTORIOUS.”  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

The club meets at Malaprop’s on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm.

Saturday, August 20, 2022
WNCHA Hidden History Hikes and Tours: Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School Tour
Aug 20 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School

Influenced by the work of Booker T. Washington, in the 1900s, the Julius Rosenwald Fund helped create schools across the American South for African American students. Between 1929-1930, this funding helped construct one such school in Mars Hill, in Madison County, where dozens of Black students attended classes in a two-room building until integration in 1964. In 2009, a group of community and alumni members came together in hopes of restoring this historic schoolhouse, and have worked tirelessly to open it to the public once again. Today, it is the only Rosenwald school building still standing in WNC. Join us as we tour the school and learn more about those who attended and saved this building. Our hosts will include the chair of the planning committee, as well as various school alumni. We will also visit the nearby marker for Joseph Anderson, an enslaved man (and namesake of the Rosenwald school) who was used by a trustee of Mars Hill College as collateral on a loan for the college in 1859. Learn more here.

Meet: 11AM @ Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School, Long Ridge Rd, Mars Hill, NC 28754.

Second Stop: 12:30PM @ Mars Hill University (Joseph Anderson grave) – 3 miles away

Note: Afterwards, guests may wish to eat lunch in Mars Hill. There are several restaurants near the university, but guests are encouraged to check their hours/status in advance.

 

Tickets: This is a free event, though donations are accepted. Donations are shared with the Anderson Rosenwald School. Registration is required.

   

    Rain Date: In the event of inclement weather, we will reschedule to Saturday, August 13. Participants will be notified no later than 8PM the evening before the event.

 

LINK for Aug. 20 tour: https://www.wnchistory.org/event/wncha-hidden-history-hikes-and-tours-mars-hill-anderson-rosenwald-school-second-tour/

Sunday, August 21, 2022
BOOK LAUNCH: THE LISTENING SKIN BY GLENIS REDMOND
Aug 21 @ 3:00 pm
Peace Center

Book Launch: The Listening Skin by Glenis Redmond

Join us for a special book launch event celebrating award-winning poet and and our former poet-in-residence Glenis Redmond‘s newest poetry collection, The Listening Skin, which explores how an artist dares to dance and create through a pain-riddled body. Come enjoy a reception followed by a reading and Q&A session with Glenis as well as a book signing opportunity.

About Glenis Redmond

Glenis Redmond is a performance poet, a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist, a Cave Canem alumni, and a former poet-in-residence here at the Peace Center. She is the author of three books of poetry with three more books set to publish this year. Her poetry has been showcased on NPR and PBS and most recently published in Orion Magazine, southStory and The New York Times. Glenis has spent almost three decades touring the country as a poet and teaching artist.

Ticket price includes a signed copy of The Listening Skin.

Hybrid: Dan Chapman presents A Road Running Southward in conversation with Georgann Eubanks
Aug 21 @ 5:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Dan Chapman in conversation with Georgann Eubanks. Hybrid.Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. 5 PM ET. Virtual. Next to the text are a photo of the participants and the cover of the featured book.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


Veteran Atlanta reporter Dan Chapman, distressed by sprawl-driven environmental ills in a region he loves, recreated Muir’s journey to see for himself how nature has fared since Muir’s time. Channeling Muir, he uses humor, keen observation, and a deep love of place to celebrate the South’s natural riches. But he laments that a treasured way of life for generations of Southerners is endangered as long-simmering struggles intensify over misused and dwindling resources. Chapman seeks to discover how Southerners might balance surging population growth with protecting the natural beauty Muir found so special. Each chapter touches upon a local ecological problem–at-risk species in Mammoth Cave, coal ash in Kingston, Tennessee, climate change in the Nantahala National Forest, water wars in Georgia, aquifer depletion in Florida–that resonates across the South. Chapman delves into the region’s natural history, moving between John Muir’s vivid descriptions of a lush botanical paradise and the myriad environmental problems facing the South today. Along the way he talks to locals with deep ties to the land–scientists, hunters, politicians, and even a Muir impersonator–who describe the changes they’ve witnessed and what it will take to accommodate a fast-growing population without destroying the natural beauty and a cherished connection to nature.

A Road Running Southward is part travelogue, part environmental cri de coeur, and paints a picture of a South under siege. It is a passionate appeal, a call to action to save one of the loveliest and most biodiverse regions of the world by understanding what we have to lose if we do nothing.

Dan Chapman is a writer, reporter, and lover of the outdoors. He grew up in Washington DC and Tokyo, the son of a newspaperman and an English teacher. He worked for Congressional Quarterly, The Winston-Salem Journal, The Charlotte Observer, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has also reported from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He currently writes stories about conservation in the South for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Georgann Eubanks is a writer and Emmy-winning documentarian. Her most recent books are The Month of Their Ripening: North Carolina Heritage Foods through the Year and Saving the Wild South:The Fight for Native Plants on the Brink of Extinction.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Live Stream: Robyn Ryle presents She/He/They/Me: An Interactive Guide to the Gender Binary
Aug 23 @ 6:00 pm
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text: Robyn Ryle presents She/He/They/Me: Tuesday, August 23, 2022. 6 PM ET. Virtual. Next to the text are photos of the participant and the cover of the featured book.

This is a free event, but registration is required. Click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


We will have a limited quantity of signed copies available for purchase. Please order the book below and indicate that you would like a signed copy in the “comments” section during checkout. 

If you’ve ever questioned the logic of basing an entire identity around what you have between your legs, it’s time to embark on a daring escape outside of the binary box. Written in a choose-your-own path style, you’ll explore over one hundred different scenarios that embrace nearly every definition of gender around the globe and throughout history in a refreshingly creative exploration of the ways gender colors and shapes our world.

In She/He/They/Me, Dr. Robyn Ryle, professor of sociology and gender studies at Hanover College in Indiana, thoughtfully discusses gender constructs, expectations, and transitions along with covering everything from the science, biology, and psychology of gender to the philosophy, legality and societal implications.

This is a must-read for better understanding and celebrating LGBTQ+, nonbinary, and transgender identities and a great resource for parents of gender queer kids.

Dr. Robyn Ryle is a writer and a professor of sociology and gender studies at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where she has been teaching sociology of gender and other courses for 20 years. She went to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, for her undergraduate degrees in sociology and English with a concentration in women’s studies. She received her PhD in sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington and is originally from northern Kentucky.

Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Hybrid: Asia Suler presents Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self-Healing from the Living World
Aug 24 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprop's Bookstore
Image shows teal box containing the text: Hybrid. Asia Suler presents MIRRORS IN THE EARTH. Wednesday, 8.24.22. 6 PM ET. A photo of the author and the front cover of the book are shown.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


 In a series of 12 lyrical nature essays, herbalist, writer, and Earth intuitive Asia Suler illuminates the healing power of the living Earth–and gives us permission to nurture self-compassion and empathy as forces for personal and ecological healing.In a time of unprecedented ecological devastation, it’s easy to feel hopeless and disconnected. It’s easier still to mask our inherent goodness–to imagine that our unique and precious gifts simply aren’t enough, or forget the power of our inborn empathy. For those of us who are highly sensitive, innately attuned to the workings and whispers of the natural world, it can be hard to embody the belief that we’re enough as we are–and that can heal the Earth.Here, Suler reveals the opposite: our goodness, our empathy, our intuitive connections, and our capacity for self-compassion are more than personal traits or antidotes to despair: they are, in fact, our most potent vehicles for planetary transformation. And as we learn to more deeply nurture and accept ourselves, we unlock living, healing connections to Earth.Combining poetic nature writing with exercises and reflection prompts at the end of each essay, Mirrors in the Earth coaxes us to come as we are: to discover and tend the inherent brilliance and medicine that lives in each of us. From the manatee-calm springs of wild Florida to the flower-dotted coves of the world’s most biodiverse mountains, Mirrors in the Earth is an invitation and encounter with the benevolence of the living world–and a nature therapy session for the soul.

Asia Suler is a writer, teacher, earth intuitive and ecological philosopher who lives in the folds of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the founder of One Willow Apothecaries, an Appalachian-grown company that offers handcrafted herbal medicines and educational experiences in herbalism, animism, ancestral healing and earth-centered personal growth. Asia has guided over 20,000 students in 70+ countries through her immersive online programs. With her writings and teachings, Asia helps people embrace their own unique medicine through a joyful engagement with the natural world. Mirrors in the EarthReflections on Self-Healing from the Living World is her first book.

Hybrid: Asia Suler presents Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self-Healing from the Living World
Aug 24 @ 6:00 pm
Malaprops Bookstore and online
Image shows teal box containing the text: Hybrid. Asia Suler presents MIRRORS IN THE EARTH. Wednesday, 8.24.22. 6 PM ET. A photo of the author and the front cover of the book are shown.

This is a hybrid event, meaning there is an option to attend virtually and a limited number of seats are available to attend the event in-store. Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Please click here to register for the VIRTUAL event. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

Please click here to register for the IN-PERSON event. Note the important event details on the RSVP form.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!


 In a series of 12 lyrical nature essays, herbalist, writer, and Earth intuitive Asia Suler illuminates the healing power of the living Earth–and gives us permission to nurture self-compassion and empathy as forces for personal and ecological healing.In a time of unprecedented ecological devastation, it’s easy to feel hopeless and disconnected. It’s easier still to mask our inherent goodness–to imagine that our unique and precious gifts simply aren’t enough, or forget the power of our inborn empathy. For those of us who are highly sensitive, innately attuned to the workings and whispers of the natural world, it can be hard to embody the belief that we’re enough as we are–and that can heal the Earth.Here, Suler reveals the opposite: our goodness, our empathy, our intuitive connections, and our capacity for self-compassion are more than personal traits or antidotes to despair: they are, in fact, our most potent vehicles for planetary transformation. And as we learn to more deeply nurture and accept ourselves, we unlock living, healing connections to Earth.Combining poetic nature writing with exercises and reflection prompts at the end of each essay, Mirrors in the Earth coaxes us to come as we are: to discover and tend the inherent brilliance and medicine that lives in each of us. From the manatee-calm springs of wild Florida to the flower-dotted coves of the world’s most biodiverse mountains, Mirrors in the Earth is an invitation and encounter with the benevolence of the living world–and a nature therapy session for the soul.

Asia Suler is a writer, teacher, earth intuitive and ecological philosopher who lives in the folds of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the founder of One Willow Apothecaries, an Appalachian-grown company that offers handcrafted herbal medicines and educational experiences in herbalism, animism, ancestral healing and earth-centered personal growth. Asia has guided over 20,000 students in 70+ countries through her immersive online programs. With her writings and teachings, Asia helps people embrace their own unique medicine through a joyful engagement with the natural world. Mirrors in the EarthReflections on Self-Healing from the Living World is her first book.

Thursday, August 25, 2022
Virtual Story Time with author and illustrator Ashley Belote
Aug 25 @ 10:00 am
online w/ Malaprop's Bookstore
Image contains the text Virtual Story Time with author and illustrator Ashley Belot Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. 10 AM ET. Next to the text are a photo of the participant and the cover of the featured book.

Join us for a special Storytime event featuring Ashley Belote!

This is a free event, but registration is required. Click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!

An overly excited elephant learns to listen with a little help from her new friends in Listen Up, Louella, an adorably humorous new picture book from Ashley Belote, the illustrator of Frankenslime. Louella is VERY excited to be at Roar Scout Camp. There’s so many fun things for her to do! But Louella is so busy having fun that she doesn’t stop to listen to anyone else… Or to realize that maybe her new friends aren’t having quite as much fun as she is. When Louella misses an important invitation, it’s up to Tarantula and the rest of their friends to help Louella learn to listen and play together.

Ashley Belote is the illustrator of Frankenslime and the author-illustrator of Listen Up, Louella . She studied traditional animation under the direction of Don Bluth. Ashley earned her BA from Alderson Broaddus University and her MA in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky. Her graduate study included a children’s literature and illustration course through Simmons College. Ashley lives and works in North Carolina where she creates artwork that she hopes brings lots of laughs to others.

The Beat Goes On: Lake Julian Park Drum Circle
Aug 25 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Lake Julian Park

We are shamelessly drumming up attention for our exciting new program at Lake Julian Park. Starting Thursday, March 31, Buncombe County Recreation Services is hosting a drum circle on the last Thursday of every month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The only thing you need to bring is yourself and a drum, and then just let the rhythm and beautiful scenery do the work as you enjoy the beat and comradery of fellow percussionists.

All experience levels are welcome, and registration is not required. If you have any questions, please contact Park Ranger Zach Hickok at (828) 684-0376.

 

: Every Last Thursday until -Sept. 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Park shelter number 2, Lake Julian Park, 26 Lake Julian R

Black Experience Book Club: The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
Aug 25 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Noir Collective AVL

Black Experience Book Club

Join us at Join us at Noir Collective AVL, 39 S. Market St. in downtown Asheville,, for our discussion of this month’s book pick, The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin.
WHERE TO FIND THE BOOK
AT THE LIBRARY
Call your local Buncombe County Public Library or visit buncombecounty.org/library to reserve your copy online.
NOIR COLLECTIVE AT THE YMI
Stop by the Noir Collective during open hours, call 828-257-4540, or email [email protected] to check availability.

City Dance
Aug 25 @ 7:30 pm
Landmark Hal

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Friday, August 26, 2022
North Asheville Book Club
Aug 26 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
North Asheville Public Library

North Asheville Book Club

Join us to discuss this month’s book: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown

This is a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting. Participants may come in person to the North Asheville Library or participate via Zoom.

Registration is required for the Zoom link.

The North Asheville Book Club meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.

Skate Nights at Carrier Park FREE
Aug 26 @ 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Carrier Park

Skate Night image

Bring your own skates and roll bounce with us to your favorite soundtrack.

Saturday, August 27, 2022
Ready to Try Hiking? Join Parks + Recreation for the Sampler Hike Series
Aug 27 @ 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Bent Creek Park
a group of people on a hike

Have a yen to try a local hike, but don’t know where to begin? Join Buncombe County Parks & Recreation for scenic hikes close to home this summer and fall. The Sampler Hike Series is a free four-pack of popular treks lead by Parks and Recreation staff on Saturday mornings.

Explorers of all skill levels are invited to experience the fun of one hike, all four, or somewhere in between. Space is limited to 12 hikers and advanced registration is necessary.

Up first is the Lake Powhatan hike. We will begin our hike at Bent Creek River Park and take the Mountains to Sea Trail until we hop onto NC Arboretum property to join the Old Mill Trail and Bent Creek Road Trail that takes us into the Pisgah National Forest on our way to Lake Powhatan.

This hike follows a multi-use gravel path for most of the journey with some dirt paths here and there. The grade is flat and is considered a very easy hike. The overall distance that we will be traveling is 6.5 miles and it will take around 2.5 hours.

Stayed tuned to buncombecounty.org/parks for details on September’s hike.

What to Bring Hiking

  • Daypack or backpack
  • Weather-appropriate clothing (The temperature and wind can change with elevation, so moisture-wicking shirts and layers are recommended.)
  • Hiking boots or shoes
  • Water
  • Trail snacks
  • Sunscreen
  • Insect repellant
  • Sunglasses (optional)
  • Hat or bandana (optional)
  • Binoculars (optional)
  • Camera (optional)
  • Trekking poles (optional)
  • Compass (optional)
  • Whistle (optional)
  • Knife or multi-tool (optional)
  • First aid kit (optional)

Follow Parks & Recreation on Facebook and Instagram.

Nature at Night Hike
Aug 27 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Chimney Rock State Park

Join a Park naturalist on the Hickory Nut Falls trail, and watch as the Park comes alive under the shadow of darkness. Do you know whether that’s a frog or a toad calling from the undergrowth? What birds and mammals prefer the dark to the daylight? Get ready to learn more about the Park’s rarely-seen residents.

Monday, August 29, 2022
Science Fiction Book Club
Aug 29 @ 7:00 pm
online

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7 pm on Zoom. Also meets on the second Monday of every month at 7 pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read.  Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading and contact the club host to join. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!

Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Romance Book Club
Aug 30 @ 7:00 pm
zoom

Romance Book Club is a space to celebrate love in literature. Whether it’s set in early 1800s London, a distant planet years into the future, a fantasy world of magic, or our own contemporary universe, we are here for the stories that end with a happily-ever-after (or at least a happily-for-now).

Meetings will take place at 7:00 PM ET on the last Tuesday of each month via Zoom. Please visit the Romance Bookclub page for the monthly selection, and email Samantha at [email protected] for the link to join.

Visiting Writers Series: The Katherine Min Memorial Reading with UNC Asheville Alumna Sarah Addison Allen
Aug 30 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room

Join UNC Asheville Alumna and New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen for the launch of her latest novel, Other Birds.

With millions of books now in print and translated into more than 30 languages, Sarah continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as “”Southern-fried magic realism.”” Her books to date are: Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, The Peach Keeper, Lost Lake, First Frost, and now, Other Birds. This annual reading by a graduate of UNC Asheville is held in honor of Katherine Min, the late writer and faculty member who was a mentor to many budding writers at UNC Asheville. She died in March 2019 after a long battle with cancer.

This is the first of five events in the 2022-23 Visiting Writers Series presented by the UNC Asheville English Department. Additional events in 2022 include an evening with poet torrin a. greathouse on Thursday, Oct. 20; and an evening with award-winning essayist John Jeremiah Sullivan on Tuesday, Nov. 8. In 2023, UNC Asheville welcomes U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón on Monday, Mar. 20 and fiction writer Jamel Brinkley on Thursday, Apr. 6.

Co-sponsored by Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe.

Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Foodie Book Club
Aug 31 @ 7:00 pm
online

The Foodie Book Club is a club about food writing. The club meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM.  Click here for details and monthly picks!

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 – 7:00pm
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 – 7:00pm
Wednesday, December 28, 2022 – 7:00pm
Thursday, September 1, 2022
The Beat Goes On: Lake Julian Park Drum Circle
Sep 1 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Lake Julian Park

We are shamelessly drumming up attention for our exciting new program at Lake Julian Park. Starting Thursday, March 31, Buncombe County Recreation Services is hosting a drum circle on the last Thursday of every month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The only thing you need to bring is yourself and a drum, and then just let the rhythm and beautiful scenery do the work as you enjoy the beat and comradery of fellow percussionists.

All experience levels are welcome, and registration is not required. If you have any questions, please contact Park Ranger Zach Hickok at (828) 684-0376.

 

: Every Last Thursday until -Sept. 29 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Park shelter number 2, Lake Julian Park, 26 Lake Julian R