Calendar of Events

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Join this new group of supportive local writers for fiction writing practice, sharing & feedback.

This group will meet the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month 1-3 PM beginning January 26th- April 13th. 

Each session will include readings, critique, and creative writing prompts as time allows. This is a new group for all, and no pre-registration is necessary.  Light refreshments will be served.  Email [email protected] with questions.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Giving blood is a simple thing to do, but it can make a big difference in the lives of others. Asheville Outlets is teaming up with the American Red Cross to host a mobile blood drive on Friday, March 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot located behind the food court. Donors are asked to register in advance by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/give and entering the sponsor code AshevilleOutlets. For more information, visit ShopAshevilleOutlets.com.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Raymond McAnally will lead a virtual writing workshop titled “Using Acting Techniques to Write Clear Characters.”

Have you ever had trouble differentiating one character’s voice or reactions from another on the page? Do characters with strong or surprising points of view seem to evade you? Then spend a workshop with writer/actor Raymond McAnally to learn how he uses his experience as an actor to write new characters and find the decisions and actions that draw us to them.

This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels and is a fun way to find inspiration from a new prompt or revise current work. It is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Microsoft Teams for the virtual connection. A link will be emailed to participants the day before the workshop.

Raymond McAnally is an award-winning actor, a produced writer, and university lecturer.  Television acting credits include a supporting lead role in Black Mirror: San Junipero, winner of the 2017 Emmy for Best TV Movie; Guest starring roles on Better Call Saul, Modern Family, Chicago Fire, Rizzoli & Isles, Law & Order SVU, Royal Pains, and 30 Rock; as well as roles on Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie, Mozart in the Jungle, among others.  He has film credits too numerous to mention here.

As a playwright, Raymond’s full-length solo-play, “Size Matters,” received its world premiere at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati in May of 2014.  Directed by Tony Award-winning former Cincinnati Playhouse Artistic Director Ed Stern, the show ran for three weeks; garnering outstanding reviews, standing ovations, and sold-out performances.  The show was filmed before a live audience in 2015 and is now a comedy special available for streaming on Amazon Prime.  Raymond’s short plays, “The Odd Ball” and “Homeland”, have been produced at festivals on both coasts and his short play, “The Next”, will be published the Winter of 2019 in an anthology by New World Theatre.  In 2018, Raymond completed a playwriting fellowship with New World Theatre in Concord, New Hampshire.  In 2019, Raymond’s full-length play “The Cruelty of Children” was a semi-finalist at the O’Neill Center.  From 2010 to 2014, Raymond was the head content writer for the online production company Daily Fiber Films, which produced and distributed over sixty online comedy shorts, written by Raymond, and featured by FunnyOrDie.com, Fullscreen, CNN, New Media Rockstars, and The Food Network.  His short comedies also screened at festivals from coast to coast and earned “Best of the Fest” awards at L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival and the New York Friar’s Club.  In 2017, Raymond’s independent pilot “DPW” was filmed on location in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Raymond is currently a part-time lecturer for the Rutgers Arts Online department, Mason Gross School of the Arts.  He has been a lecturer at universities and guest artist at professional training programs since 2005.  He holds an MFA in Acting from MGSA, Rutgers University and a BA in Philosophy from Sewanee.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Have social time meet our staff and current fosters and get to know more about our Foster Program. Games, snacks, and other goodies will be provided for attendees and donations of much-needed kitten items are encouraged. Items requested include vital supplies like kitten formula and food, kitten warmers, bottles, and supplements that give foster kittens the needed boost to grow into healthy adult cats.

The full kitten supply list is available on the Blue Ridge Humane Society website at https://www.blueridgehumane.org/donate/wish-list/. There are also options available for items to be purchased online and shipped directly to Blue Ridge Humane.

As the weather warms up, the birds, bees, and cats get busy. Soon, kittens start to appear in local animal shelters, “rescued” by well-meaning animal lovers. “We are coming on that time of year when animal lovers begin finding kittens outside,” says Angela Prodrick, Blue Ridge Humane’s Executive Director. “It is important to remember that the amount of community or feral cats in our county far outnumbers the number of people living in our community. If all the kittens were brought to a local shelter, the shelter would quickly become overwhelmed.”

If you find a kitten, here are a few simple things you can do to help save lives:

Instead of immediately springing into action once kittens are found, wait and watch. If the kittens aren’t visibly sick or injured, move away from the nest and wait to see if the mother returns. If the mother returns, you can help her by providing food and shelter while she raises the kittens.

If you discover that mom isn’t returning, or if it appears that she is not coming back, then you should remove the kittens. This is crucial to the kittens’ survival. The best place for kittens to grow is with a dedicated foster. Blue Ridge Humane provides kitten kits to help kitten rescuers turn into kitten fosters.

Once kittens are about 6-8 weeks old, a finder can look to get them spayed or neutered and adopted into new homes. If you find kittens that need care and you need supplies or advice, contact the BRHS Foster and Community Outreach Team at [email protected] or (828) 393-5832. Animal lovers can also view additional resources about what to do when kittens are found at https://www.blueridgehumane.org/resources/lost-found/kittens/.

Blue Ridge Humane offers kitten care support for volunteers, as well as comprehensive training and support for fosters in the BRHS foster program. To learn more about fostering, visit https://www.blueridgehumane.org/get-involved/foster/ or contact Michaela Okuda, Foster Program Coordinator at [email protected].

The Blue Ridge Humane Society, Inc., is a 501(c)3 animal welfare organization started in 1950 and dedicated to ensuring the highest quality of life for animals in Henderson County and our neighboring communities. BRHS cares for pets awaiting adoption at the Adoption Center; offers low-cost vaccine clinics, animal education programs, pet training classes, and youth education and projects; coordinates community pet food assistance, emergency vet assistance, and the Spay Neuter Incentive Program (SNIP), which is a collaboration with Henderson County, the City of Hendersonville, and the Henderson County Animal Services Center.

If you believe in our cause, consider donating or learning how to volunteer by visiting the Blue Ridge Humane Society’s website at www.blueridgehumane.org or call (828) 692-2639.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Award-winning author Jamel Brinkley will present a reading at 7 p.m. on Thurday, April 6 in UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center, Mountain View Room.

Jamel Brinkley is the author of A Lucky Man, a finalist for the National Book Award, the Story Prize, the John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and winner of a PEN Oakland Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

This is the fourth of five events in the 2022-23 Visiting Writers Series presented by the UNC Asheville English Department.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Join this new group of supportive local writers for fiction writing practice, sharing & feedback.

This group will meet the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month 1-3 PM beginning January 26th- April 13th. 

Each session will include readings, critique, and creative writing prompts as time allows. This is a new group for all, and no pre-registration is necessary.  Light refreshments will be served.  Email [email protected] with questions.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

Kate Steinbeck
Music for solo flute – A program of surprises

This concert is a fundraiser for a mission trip to Armenia to play concerts for UN Refugee communities and others

Advanced reservations are encouraged.

Read more about Adventure Armenia here: https://panharmonia.org/2023/01/02/adventure-armenia/

As per usual, please bring a piece you can read in 10 minutes, support our wonderful venue, and if you want to simply listen/observe/sit in, that’s fine too!

Please DM me if you would like to be added to the email listserv that keeps us all in the loop.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

Join New York Times Bestselling author and UNC Asheville alumnus, Wiley Cash ’00 in conversation with author Benjamin Gilmer on Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center in the Manheimer Room.

This event is part of the Common Word Community Read, curated by Cash. The program brings the UNC Asheville community together to engage in a collective educational experience. Each semester, one book will serve as the focus of numerous virtual and in-person lectures and discussions that will allow participants to delve deeper into the text. Over the course of the academic year, participants will read one book each semester, gaining insights and sharing ideas in a welcoming and respectful environment. Spring 2023’s selection is The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.

La Sylphide (translated to “The Sylph”) is a magical morality tale about the pitfalls of temptation.  Set in Scotland, the ballet tells of James, his fiancé Effie, and a beautiful Sylph who first appears as a dream, ultimately luring James into the woods, abandoning friends and his bride.  La Sylphide features exquisite classical technique, intriguing characters, and leaves questions for the audience to ponder about the choices we make. La Sylphide is one of the oldest full length classical ballets still in repertoires of major ballet companies across the globe.

International Ballet’s La Sylphide will feature Greenville Native Ekaterina Nechayeva as the Sylph.

Great news for poets and poetry lovers: Dark City Poet’s Society is returning to the Black Mountain Library. DCPS is a completely free poetry group that is open to poets of all ages and experience levels. Join us at the Black Mountain Library from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month for our (respectful) critique group. DCPS will meet at BAD Craft from 6-7 p.m. on the third Tuesday for our monthly open mic Poetry Night. Find out more on Instagram @darkcitypoetssociety or contact the Black Mountain Library.

In this series, we will write about encounters with the natural world through workshops in poetry, fiction, and autobiography. Drawing from the experiences you bring to class, and using a naturalist’s eye for observation and detail, you will capture encounters with vast mountain ranges and lush forests, garden insects and backyard bears, moon phases and songbird migrations. We will read example texts and practice writing prompts to deepen our relationship with nonhuman nature. We will also discuss how “eco” writing supports climate activism, environmental justice, conservation, and related issues.”

Spring creative writing workshops with Fairview author and teacher, Dr. Beth Keefauver, will be offered the last Thursdays of March, April and May.  The classes may be taken individually or as a series. The April class will focus on Eco Fiction.

Registration is required for these classes.  For more information call 828-250-6484.

This class is sponsored in part by the Friends of Fairview Library.

TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community. The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am. No RSVP needed, just drop by! Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.