Malaprop’s is pleased to partner with The Great Smokies Writing Program and Departments of History and English at UNC Asheville to bring #1 New York Times bestselling author Erik Larson back to Asheville!

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City delivers a startlingly fresh portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz.

In THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people the art of being fearless. It is a story of political brinksmanship but also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchills prime-ministerial country house, Chequers, and his wartime residence, Ditchley, where Churchill and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest. Drawing on a wealth of untapped sources, including recently declassified files, intelligence reports, and personal diaries only now available, Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their daughters, Sarah, Diana, and the youngest, Mary, who chafes against her parents wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; her illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the cadre of close advisors who comprised Churchills Secret Circle, including his dangerously observant private secretary, John Colville; newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook; and the Rasputin-like Federick Lindemann.

THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE takes readers out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership when in the face of unrelenting horror Churchills eloquence, strategic brilliance, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

ABOUT ERIK LARSON
Erik Larson is the author of seven books, five of which became New York Times bestsellers. His latest Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, hit #1 on the list soon after launch. His saga of the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893, The Devil in the White City, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won an Edgar Award for fact-crime writing; it lingered on various Times bestseller lists for the better part of a decade. Hulu plans to adapt the book for a limited TV series, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese as executive producers. Eriks In the Garden of Beasts, about how America’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany and his daughter experienced the rising terror of Hitler’s rule, has been optioned by Tom Hanks for development as a feature film. Learn more at https://eriklarsonbooks.com/

Books for kids 0-18! Priced to sell! Most for $1 or less!
Proceeds provide books for young children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Lace up your running shoes, grab your winter hats & join

us for the 8th Annual Chilly Challenge 8K

& 1 Mile Chili Chase Fun Run and Chili Cook-off!

Enjoy a scenic run & post-race celebration that includes:

• Tasty Luella’s Bar-B-Que chili lunch

• Local chili cook-off contest

• Fantastic prizes

• Race day t-shirt*

For runners and walkers of all ages, this event is hosted by the North Buncombe Middle School PTO and designed to raise much-needed funding for the school. This rolling hills course will start and finish on the school campus. Chip timing will be provided by Right on Time.

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Bike Love, Asheville on Bikes (AoB) annual gala event, returns to Isis Music Hall on Saturday, Feb. 29.

The event features the music of The Hot Sun (featuring Stephanie Morgan) and DJ JutRut and includes a cycle centric silent auction supported by a variety of bicycle and active living manufacturers. Review the silent auction items on our online gallery.

*7:00 – 8:00pm Donor Sponsor Reception (*invitation only)

8:00pm – Doors Open

8:30 – 10 – The Hot Sun (featuring Stephanie Morgan)

10:30 – 12:30am – DJ Jut Rut

Volunteer for Bike Love and enjoy the event following your shift. Volunteer shifts fill up quickly so don’t delay. Use the volunteer form to peruse the jobs and times before selecting the volunteer shift that works best for you.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite for $30 and at local bike shops for $25. Tickets are nonrefundable.

Join us for the 2nd Annual Creative Market benefitting The SPARC Foundation. Our home office – literally, we’re in a big house on Chestnut Street – will be filled with local artists in every room. From sweets and savories to paintings and pottery, you’re bound to find an original treat with your name on it. Metal and wood designs, succulent plant arrangements, jewelry, photography, paintings and more!
Come shop in our warm home office Saturday, March 7th from 10am-2pm and benefit the work of the SPARC Foundation. SPARC ignites connections to education, employment and mentorship to strengthen the well-being and personal freedom of people and families in need.

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ signature fundraiser is back! You can register your team or make a donation today!

Each bowler raises a minimum of $50 ($35 for students) and receives two free games, shoe rental, a commemorative t-shirt and the chance to be a part of the excitement at the lanes that day.

We’re having kittens! Join Triskelion Brewing Company and Blue Ridge Humane Society on Saturday, March 7th for a Kitten Shower! Come support BRHS and help them prepare for the hundreds of kittens that will pass through their doors this year. This fun, free, kid-friendly event will be held at Triskelion Brewing Company from 3pm-5pm with free donuts provided by HenDough Chicken & Donuts!

Triskelion is donating $1 from each regular-sized beer sold that day to Blue Ridge Humane Society Foster Program. Guests will be able to learn more about the BRHS Foster Program, submit names for foster kittens, and are welcome to bring needed items from the Kitten Shower registry. Visit Hendersonville PetCo or the BRHS Kitten Shower Amazon Wishlist at http://a.co/g37PlC4 for needed items. Donate an item and you’ll be entered into the raffle drawing for an amazing gift basket including a Triskelion T-Shirt, BRHS T Shirt and Triskelion Brewing Company Gift Card, and more!

The Blue Ridge Humane Society, Inc., is a 501(c)3 animal welfare organization started in 1950 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 making a donation or learning how to volunteer by visiting the Blue Ridge Humane Society’s website at www.blueridgehumane.org or call (828) 692-2639.

Dig out your bell bottoms, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie because we’re throwing a Funkraiser for the Arts dance party and auction! Headlining the event will be the popular Freeflow Band who the Mountain Express called “The Guardians of Funk.” Ticket price includes delicious hors d’oeuvres, desserts, beer and wine.

The Freeflow Band is known to throw an “irresistible dance party” with a set-list full of Motown, R&B, Soul and of course, Funk. The dynamic foursome is made up of lead singer and percussionist Lil’  Rog Ware, lead singer Kazual Collins on keyboards, vocalist and bassist Darrell ‘The Black Note’ Griffin and LT on lead guitar. Local comedian and performer Mondy Carter of Reasonably Priced Babies fame will bring his own smooth vibe to keep the action moving.

The upper level of the Arts Center will be brimming with silent auction items donated from local businesses. Items from clothing, jewelry and art to baskets, packages and gift certificates will be available to bid on.

Symmetry Financial Group and Native Kitchen & Social Pub present a very special evening to benefit Our VOICE, Buncombe County’s sexual assault crisis and prevention center. Amber Tamblyn is an activist, author, actor and director. She is passionate in her fight for women’s rights as an unrelenting voice in the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements. Amber has been nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award for her work in television and film. She is the author of six books, including the most recent critically acclaimed non-fiction memoir, Era of Ignition: Coming of Age During a Time of Rage and Revolution.

5:00pm: Champagne Reception

6:00pm: Doors Open*

6:30pm: Program Begins

*You will be required to print your ticket at home or present the e–ticket that is emailed to you on a mobile device for admittance

Urban Orchard Cider Company West

I hope you’ll join the Dogwood Alliance crew to celebrate the return of Elderberry Wise at Urban Orchard’s West Asheville location this Friday. Meet fellow forest lovers and taste this delicious cider infused with local elderberries.

In support of the forests that give us so much, Urban Orchard is donating $1 to Dogwood Alliance for each pint of Elderberry Wise sold until it runs out!

THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS is a dazzling, genre-defying work, blending memoir with immersion journalism, fusing late-night philosophical musings with an intimacy akin to the work of James Agee and Teju Cole. With radical empathy and striking candor, Sharlet brings attention to lives lived on the margins of society: the elderly, the homeless, the mentally ill, the disabled. Through these illuminating and thought-provoking encounters, Sharlet depicts a society full of suffering and regret—but one which when observed, casts a glimmer of light.

Natanya Ann Pulley, author of “With Teeth,” a Many Voices Project winner in fiction, will read from and discuss her writing at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, in Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum. This event is free and open to everyone with no tickets needed.

“It is with great regret and reluctance that the decision was made to cancel this event as it is one we are excited about and feel is a special opportunity for our community.” said Angela Prodrick, Executive Director of Blue Ridge Humane Society. “However, the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, sponsors, guests and contributors is of utmost importance.”

Join us at the Champion Hills Clubhouse with special guest speaker Adam LeGrand of K9s for Warriors. We will celebrate the positive impact of animal rescue not just here at home in Henderson County but in the lives of veterans across the nation. Adam will speak directly to the profound effect that a service animal has had in his life, after Molly was rescued from a Henderson County shelter and became a part of the K9s for Warriors Program.

In addition to Adam and Molly, the luncheon will feature the presentation of the first K9 Hometown Hero Award presented by Hunter Subaru to celebrate the dogs who do extraordinary things in our community! Nominate your guide, hearing, law enforcement, military, search and rescue, service, or Credentialed Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) dog for the Hunter Subaru K9 Hero Award here! The top three finalists will be invited to the Blue Ridge Humane Society Cause for Paws Luncheon for recognition and for the announcement of the overall winner.

Attendees who have already purchased tickets have the following options:

1. Do nothing.  In that case, ticket(s) will be reserved for the November 6th event and Blue Ridge Humane will contact the ticket holder with further details as that date approaches.
2. Ticket holders who have a scheduling conflict can donate the amount of their ticket(s) to the Blue Ridge Humane Society for the care of animals in the Adoption Center OR request a refund by contacting Laresa Griffin at [email protected] or (828) 692-2639 ext 304. If a refund is requested the process may take 1-2 weeks due to the current situation.

Ticket sales will still be open for the November date and updated details regarding the luncheon will be released in the near future.

BRHS asks that the public monitor its website at www.blueridgehumane.org, and their social media channels for updates regarding events, preparation or animal care in the midst of COVID-19 presence.

The Blue Ridge Humane Society, Inc., is a 501(c)3 animal welfare organization started in 1952 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 making a donation or learning how to volunteer by visiting the Blue Ridge Humane Society’s website at www.blueridgehumane.org or call (828) 692-2639.

Join us Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 pm when N.K Jemisin presents her new novel, THE CITY WE BECAME (on sale March 24, 2020).

We are pleased to partner with UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and English Department for this event, which will be held at in Lipinsky Auditorium on the UNCA campus.

There are two ticket options:

(1) Ticket includes admission for one person and a copy of THE CITY WE BECAME (hardcover)

(2) Ticket includes admission for two people, a copy of THE CITY WE BECAME (hardcover) and a copy of HOW LONG TIL BLACK FUTURE MONTH (paperback)

N. K. Jemisin will sign books following reading and audience Q&A. Books will be available to pick up at the event.

***Stay tuned for important details about the event and signing. When purchasing your ticket(s), please make sure you provide an email address where you can receive emails from the Brown Paper Tickets automated system.***

ABOUT THE CITY WE BECAME
Five New Yorkers must come together to defend their city from an ancient evil in this stunning new novel by Hugo Award-winner and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.

Every great city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? Shes got six.

But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs in the halls of power, threatening to destroy the city and her six newborn avatars unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.

In a starred review, Kirkus calls THE CITY WE BECAME “Fierce, poetic, uncompromising.”

N.K. Jemisin will present her new book, The City We Became, just two days after its public release. This ticketed event takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in Lipinsky Auditorium, presented in partnership by Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, and UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and Department of English.

This is a ticketed event with different ticketing/book purchase options, with online ordering at: https://www.malaprops.com/event/ticketed-nk-jemisin-presents-city-we-became-unca

Free tickets (which do not include the book) are available for UNC Asheville students and employees – contact Lilly Augspurger, 828.251.6099 or [email protected].

Living and writing her speculative fiction in Brooklyn, Jemisin’s new novel features five New Yorkers who must come together to defend their city from ancient evil. She is the only author to win three Best Novel Hugo awards in a row, which she did for her Broken Earth trilogy. Jemisin also has won a Nebula Award and two Locus Awards among the many honors for her eight novels, a novella, and two short story collections. A former counseling psychologist and educator, she also covered science fiction for three years for the New York Times Book Review. For more information about Jemisin, her books and this event, visit the Malaprop’s website.

Visitor Parking on the UNC Asheville Campus – Visitors may park in faculty/staff and non-resident lots from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, and on weekends, holidays, and campus breaks. Visitors are not permitted to park in resident student lots at any time. Campus map is here – use menu bars to find parking lot locations.

Building accessibility information is available here.

Accessibility Contact: Highsmith Student Union, [email protected] or 828.251.6990.

The Asheville Art Museum will hold a dynamic new “fun” raising, fundraiser event. ART Party 2020 will feature live music, dancing, event-specific installations, and performance art in partnership with UNC Asheville students, faculty, and local, contemporary artists. Guests will also enjoy light food and drink, a silent auction, and raffle.
Cost (includes one drink ticket): $60 Members, $65 non-members.