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.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Stay Home and Write(rs) Group
Dec 16 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Firestorm Books & Coffee

No photo description available.

A weekly space for writing in community while practicing social distancing. Join online every Wednesday night in April to increase accountability as it relates to your writing practice, whatever that may be.

We’ll come together once a week to connect and engage in the active writing process. Each session will start by sharing intentions, followed by an agreed upon period of time for silent writing, and wrap with reflections about process and plan for the following week. Casual and seasoned writers alike welcome!

If you are interested in registering, send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Writers Group.” We will send you a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thursday, December 17, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 17 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Friday, December 18, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 18 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Saturday, December 19, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 19 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Sunday, December 20, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 20 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Stay Home and Write(rs) Group
Dec 23 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Firestorm Books & Coffee

No photo description available.

A weekly space for writing in community while practicing social distancing. Join online every Wednesday night in April to increase accountability as it relates to your writing practice, whatever that may be.

We’ll come together once a week to connect and engage in the active writing process. Each session will start by sharing intentions, followed by an agreed upon period of time for silent writing, and wrap with reflections about process and plan for the following week. Casual and seasoned writers alike welcome!

If you are interested in registering, send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Writers Group.” We will send you a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Sunday, December 27, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 27 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Monday, December 28, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 28 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 29 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 30 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Virtual Divine Feminine Circle: Mother Mary
Dec 30 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Online

Let’s gather together VIRTUALLY to celebrate Mother Mary and discover our own inner divine feminine.

Join us for a monthly ceremony to celebrate the Divine Feminine. Awaken and empower the levels of conscious connection with your inner wise woman using alchemical interventions. Every month a specific Goddess will guide our circle for us to remember how Her magic can intertwine with our own, elevating our greatest selves to Rise. Adora combines over 20 years experience walking the spiral of the Divine Feminine to inspire the community with rare aromatics, crystals, meditation and vibrational medicine to Transform and Evolve our feminine power.

In this month’s “Igniting the Spark of the Divine Feminine” we will work with Mother Mary. Mother Mary offers us many teachings, her universal comprehension of life that fully embraces the gamut of human experience is perhaps what I most closely connect with. We will explore the alchemy of Mother Mary in relationship to her Divine attributes of grace, courage, humility, faith, wisdom, and to support the expression of your authentic self along your path of self-mastery. I will offer teachings on alchemical interventions and guided meditation to invite her aspects of the Divine Feminine to rise in greater ways of clarity, vibrancy, and empowerment in your life.

Thursday, December 31, 2020
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Dec 31 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Friday, January 1, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 1 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Saturday, January 2, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 2 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Sunday, January 3, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 3 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Saturday, January 9, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 9 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Sunday, January 10, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 10 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Soul Care
Jan 13 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Online

Soul Care

**Soul Care Groups are for members of the Joy Prescription. See enrollment information below.**

What: Soul care facilitated by Dr. Libert via Zoom video call.

Soul care groups offer a sacred space for healing, especially for those struggling with stress, anxiety and depression. We intentionally set aside time to come together for contemplation, for sharing our stories, for deep, empathetic listening, for Bible study, for silence, listening and tuning in to the still small voice of God together.

Although every Soul Care group session is unique, here’s the general format:

Welcome
Opening Prayer
Introductions & Check-In
Gentle Movement Activity
Dialogue on Scripture
Reflection & Sharing Group Wisdom
Closing Circle

All are welcome. While our background and teachings are distinctly Christian, we welcome ALL people seeking God into our community. All members must agree to and abide by our group covenant to participate in Soul Care groups.

Learn more and enroll by visiting: https://thejoyprescription.com/soul-care-groups/

Saturday, January 16, 2021
UNC Asheville Courses for Community Residents Great Smokies Writing Program
Jan 16 all-day
Online

The GSWP, now celebrating its 20th year of workshops with some of Western North Carolina’s finest authors, is offering five-week, 10-week and 15-week courses including poetry, prose, feature-writing, editing and revision. These Spring 2021 Semester courses have start dates ranging from late January to mid March. Registration is now open, with course descriptions, instructor bios, cost information and more, available at greatsmokies.unca.edu.

Elizabeth Lutyens teaches a group of students.

Sunday, January 17, 2021
FREE Random Acts of Fringe: Flying Solo Workshop Writing
Jan 17 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Online w/ The Asheville Fringe Festival

Flying-Solo-sq.jpg

One of the most unique things about The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is our Random Acts of Fringe. These short, site-specific performances are mostly free and open to the public. This year, most of our RAFs are happening on social media, so be sure to follow us there for more information about these shows.

Writers at Home
Jan 17 @ 3:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

The Writers at Home reading series features work from UNCA’s Great Smokies Writing Program and The Great Smokies Review.  RSVP here to receive an email on the day of the event with the link you’ll need to attend.

Like most of our events, this event is free. If you decide to attend and to purchase the authors’ books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you are supporting our work and keeping more dollars in our community. If you would like to support us without purchasing a book, you may purchase a gift card or make a donation of any amount. Thank you!

Sunday, January 24, 2021
FREE Random Acts of Fringe: Flying Solo Workshop Performance
Jan 24 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Online w/ Asheville Fringe Arts Festival

Flying-Solo-sq.jpg

One of the most unique things about The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is our Random Acts of Fringe. These short, site-specific performances are mostly free and open to the public. This year, most of our RAFs are happening on social media, so be sure to follow us there for more information about these shows.

Monday, January 25, 2021
ZOOM Newcomers Reception Asheville Jewish Community Center
Jan 25 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Online

ZOOM Newcomers Reception

Whether you’ve been here for 3 days, 3 months or 3 years- if you are looking to get connected to all that is vibrant Jewish Asheville, join us online to learn about the various Jewish institutions in the area.

Saturday, February 6, 2021
Sunday Celebration ~ Rooted + Grounded in Faith
Feb 6 @ 9:30 am
Online w/ Jubilee Community

Join us as we continue in Via Creativa with ROOTED & GROUNDED IN FAITH, led by Jubilee! minister of community life, Jackie Dobrinska. Also joining in Sunday’s celebration are:
– Daniel Barber ~ minister of music
– Yona FrenchHawk ~ calling the sacred directions
– Paula Hanke ~ gift of song
– Don Fortuna ~ gift of celebration
– Laura Collins ~ minister of transition
– YOU ~ real-time, face-to-virtual-face connection!
Please stay for the after-celebration party immediately following this week’s regular Sunday celebration…and help us send Jackie off on her new journey in style!
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
UNCA Visiting Writers Series Claudia Rankine
Feb 24 @ 7:00 pm
Online

Each year, the Department of English brings visiting writers across genres for readings and master classes with students, hosted by our Writer-in-Residence, Wiley Cash. In recent years, the department has hosted several award-winning writers, including Ben Fountain, Camille Dungy, David Ebershoff, Chrystal Hana Kim, Frank X Walker, and many others.

http://claudiarankine.com/

Acclaimed poet, essayist and Guggenheim Fellow, Claudia Rankine, will present a reading and talk via zoom on Wednesday, February 24th at 7:00 PM. One of the most prominent voices in literary and critical race studies, Rankine is the author of Just Us: An American Conversation (2020), and six collections of poetry, including Citizen: An American Lyric and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely; three plays including HELP, which premiered in March of 2020 at The Shed, NYC, The White Card, which premiered in February 2018 (ArtsEmerson/American Repertory Theater) and published by Graywolf Press in 2019, and Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue; as well as numerous video collaborations. She is also the co-editor of several anthologies including The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind (FENCE, 2015). In 2016, she co-founded The Racial Imaginary Institute (TRII).

Friday, March 12, 2021
Creative Writing Group online
Mar 12 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Online w/ Leicester Library

Come join us for creative writing online! We’ll meet on Zoom and do several rounds of writing and reading our writing to each other. Our focus is creating a supportive and fun environment through writing exercises and discussion

Tuesday, March 16, 2021
UNCA Visiting Writers Series: CJ Hauser
Mar 16 @ 7:00 pm
Online w/ UNCA

Visiting Writers Series

Each year, the Department of English brings visiting writers across genres for readings and master classes with students, hosted by our Writer-in-Residence, Wiley Cash. In recent years, the department has hosted several award-winning writers, including Ben Fountain, Camille Dungy, David Ebershoff, Chrystal Hana Kim, Frank X Walker, and many others.

https://cjhauser.com

CJ Hauser teaches creative writing and literature at Colgate University. Her novel, Family of Origin, was published by Doubleday in 2019. She is also the author of the novel The From-Aways, and her fiction has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Tin HouseNarrative Magazine, The Paris Review, TriQuarterly, Esquire, Third Coast, and The Kenyon Review.

This event is free and open to the public, but you must register at this link:

Thursday, April 1, 2021
Celebrate National Poetry Month at the Library Black Out Poetry Kits
Apr 1 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
All Buncombe County Libraries

Photo of typewriter

 

April is National Poetry Month and we invite all poets, would be poets and poetry fans to celebrate with Buncombe County Public Libraries.  We’ll be hosting the following free events at libraries all over the county.  For more information on any of these programs, contact your friendly neighborhood library.

Black Out Poetry Kits Available at the Library
All Month Long
Every Library

Come to any library and pick up a free kit to create a black out poetry masterpiece. Black out poetry doesn’t start with a blank page, it starts with a page of words taken from an old book. Poets will eliminate words to create a poem composed of the words left on the page. Visit any branch of Buncombe County Public Libraries in April to pick up your very own black out poetry kit featuring markers, inspiration and pages of print to begin your creation. When you’re finished, photograph your creation and upload it to facebook or instagram. Tag your library’s account and we’ll feature it as a post! You can also drop your poem by the library and we’ll post it for you. Kits are available while supplies last.

Live Stream Reader Meet Writer: Wild Women and the Blues with Denny S. Bryce
Apr 1 @ 7:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

We’re pleased to be part of the Reader Meet Writer series of online events hosted by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.

This event is free but registration is required. Prior to the event we will send an email with the link required to complete your registration and attend on Zoom.


In a stirring and impeccably researched novel of Jazz-Age Chicago in all its vibrant life, two stories intertwine nearly a hundred years apart, as a chorus girl and a film student deal with loss, forgiveness, and love…in all its joy, sadness, and imperfections.

“Why would I talk to you about my life? I don’t know you, and even if I did, I don’t tell my story to just any boy with long hair, who probably smokes weed.You wanna hear about me. You gotta tell me something about you. To make this worth my while.”

1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.

2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink. Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he’s right—if she can fill in the blanks in his research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But the links Honoree makes are not ones he’s expecting…

Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth and nail to keep his. It’s a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions. And as past meets present, for Honoree, it’s a final chance to be truly heard and seen before it’s too late. No matter the cost…

DENNY S. BRYCE is an award-winning author and three-time RWA Golden Heart® finalist, including twice for Wild Women and the Blues. In addition to writing for NPR Books and FROLIC Media, the former professional dancer is a public relations professional who has spent over two decades running her own marketing and event management firm. A member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Novelists, Inc., she is a frequent speaker at author events. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Savannah, Georgia. Visit her online at DennySBryce.com.

Friday, April 2, 2021
Voices of the River: Art + Poetry Contest
Apr 2 all-day
online w/ RiverLink

Create a river-inspired work of art for our Voices of the River: Art & Poetry Contest. You can make 2D or 3D creations, write poems, haikus or short stories, or even record a dance, skit or song that you create. Winners will receive a variety of prizes donated by local businesses and organizations.

Show Us What the River Means to You!

Every spring we host our Voices of the River: Art & Poetry Contest. We ask kids to use the river as a source of inspiration to showcase their creativity. Each year we are so amazed by the talent of these young artists, poets, and performers. Submissions can include 2D and 3D works in various mediums, poems and creative writings, and video compositions of songs, dances, or skits. Winners are selected by a council of judges made up of local artists, writers, and community leaders. Many generous businesses also donate prizes for winners from each age group and category.

This year we want you to show us “How has the river helped you during this time of isolation?”

All entries are due by Thursday April 22nd