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.

Thursday, January 28, 2021
A Virtual Sandburg Story Slam
Jan 28 all-day
Online w/ Carl Sandburg House

Carl Sandburg Home NHS will host a virtual story slam in honor of Carl Sandburg’s January 6th birthday. Throughout the month of January, storytellers are invited to prepare a true five-minute story, take a video of themselves reading the story, and submit the video to be shared here on the official Carl Sandburg Home Facebook page.
Videos will be posted on Facebook from January 27-29, and the winners announced on Saturday, January 30, at 10am. Stories should reflect the theme of “seasons,” such as nature’s change of seasons, a story from a favorite season, or the seasons of life. Visit www.nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/slam.htm for submission information and video formatting tips. Submissions are due by January 22, 2021.
A panel of judges will rate the stories, with first place awarded $100, second place $75, and third place, $50. All storytellers will receive a small thank you gift for participating.
Support for the Slam is provided by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, the park’s fundraising partner, and Eastern National, the non-profit partner that operates the park store.

Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Jan 28 all-day
Online
Books and Wine! – A Book That Is The First In A Series
Jan 28 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Online

Come join us for a fun afternoon sampling some wine(s) and talking about books. As always, the book can be fiction or non-fiction ….. whatever……just so that it somehow involves whatever topic we’ve chosen for the month. And if you just want to join us to hear about the books we’ve read but haven’t read any yet yourself, come along anyhow. You’ll have a chance then to suggest a topic for us to read books on for future times. For now during these COVID times, we will be meeting via Zoom. When COVID is more under control, we will talk about starting to meet at Metro Wines again.

What we’re about

A non-committal Book Club! No pressure to finish a book or host a meeting. Just show up, Sip and swap! Bring books you’ve read. Sip wine (beer or cider) and swap books and conversation. There will be a monthly topic-specified event on the 2nd Thursday from 2-4 with other meetings thrown in from periodically.

Black Experience Book Club
Jan 28 @ 6:30 pm
YMI Impact Center

Man reading book

YMI Cultural Center and Buncombe County Public Libraries have partnered on a book club exploring modern Black authors. December’s selection is The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Asheville’s YMI Cultural Center (YMI) and Buncombe County Public Libraries (BCPL) are partnering to create a book club focusing on modern Black authors and readers. Beginning Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, the Black Experience Book Club will meet twice per month at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.

To maximize safety, meetings will be held in a hybrid in-person and online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone interested may join the meeting via Zoom or meet in person at the YMI Impact Center, 39 S. Market St., Suite A, Asheville, NC 28801. In-person meetings will be capped at 10 participants in order to observe social distancing.

To register to attend in-person, please call YMI staff at 828-257-4540 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Thursday or email [email protected] at any time. To receive the Zoom link or for questions regarding finding copies of book club titles, please contact Alexandra Duncan at [email protected]. You may also find information about upcoming titles and request the Zoom link through the library’s Events Calendar. Visit buncombecounty.org/library and click on Events Calendar at the top of the page.

In December 2020, the Black Experience Book Club will discuss The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. In January 2021, members will discuss The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah, and in February 2021, Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi. Selected titles for future months will be announced in book club meetings, on the library’s Events Calendar, and via YMI and BCPL social media channels. Readers may borrow any of these titles at any BCPL location or at the YMI. Copies will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so participants are encouraged to reserve their copies early.

Black Experience Book Club Sign Up
Jan 28 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Online and YMI Impact Center
Black Experience Book Club

Join us for a bi-monthly book club sponsored by the YMI Cultural Center and Buncombe County Public Libraries. This month, we’ll be discussing The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah.

Join us for a bi-monthly book club sponsored by the YMI Cultural Center and Buncombe County Public Libraries. This month, we’ll be discussing The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah.

The Black Experience Book Club is a hybrid in-person and online book club.

To attend in person, call the YMI from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday – Thursday at 828-257-4540 or email submit@ ymiculturalcenter.org. In person meetings are limited to 8 attendees. To attend by Zoom, click “Sign Up” on this event listing. There is no limit on Zoom attendance.

Books are available to borrow on a first-come first-serve basis at both the YMI and Buncombe County Public Libraries.

Friday, January 29, 2021
A Virtual Sandburg Story Slam
Jan 29 all-day
Online w/ Carl Sandburg House

Carl Sandburg Home NHS will host a virtual story slam in honor of Carl Sandburg’s January 6th birthday. Throughout the month of January, storytellers are invited to prepare a true five-minute story, take a video of themselves reading the story, and submit the video to be shared here on the official Carl Sandburg Home Facebook page.
Videos will be posted on Facebook from January 27-29, and the winners announced on Saturday, January 30, at 10am. Stories should reflect the theme of “seasons,” such as nature’s change of seasons, a story from a favorite season, or the seasons of life. Visit www.nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/slam.htm for submission information and video formatting tips. Submissions are due by January 22, 2021.
A panel of judges will rate the stories, with first place awarded $100, second place $75, and third place, $50. All storytellers will receive a small thank you gift for participating.
Support for the Slam is provided by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, the park’s fundraising partner, and Eastern National, the non-profit partner that operates the park store.

Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Jan 29 all-day
Online
Saturday, January 30, 2021
A Virtual Sandburg Story Slam
Jan 30 all-day
Online w/ Carl Sandburg House

Carl Sandburg Home NHS will host a virtual story slam in honor of Carl Sandburg’s January 6th birthday. Throughout the month of January, storytellers are invited to prepare a true five-minute story, take a video of themselves reading the story, and submit the video to be shared here on the official Carl Sandburg Home Facebook page.
Videos will be posted on Facebook from January 27-29, and the winners announced on Saturday, January 30, at 10am. Stories should reflect the theme of “seasons,” such as nature’s change of seasons, a story from a favorite season, or the seasons of life. Visit www.nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/slam.htm for submission information and video formatting tips. Submissions are due by January 22, 2021.
A panel of judges will rate the stories, with first place awarded $100, second place $75, and third place, $50. All storytellers will receive a small thank you gift for participating.
Support for the Slam is provided by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, the park’s fundraising partner, and Eastern National, the non-profit partner that operates the park store.

Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Jan 30 all-day
Online
Meet Biblioboard, Buncombe Library’s Newest Digital Resource
Jan 30 @ 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
online w/ Buncombe County Libraries

Create, share, and discover with Buncombe County Public Library’s newest resource, Biblioboard.

BiblioBoard Library is an easy-to-use platform of high-quality digital content. Biblioboard offers books, articles, documents, images, audios, and videos. BiblioBoard Library is host to content from traditional publishers, indie authors, cultural institutions, and local thought leaders. Users can access BiblioBoard Library through the library’s website or on the device of their choice.

Some features of Biblioboard:

  • No waitlists or holds
  • Streaming audio and video are available on a wide variety of topics
  • Check out curated collections of the best indie authors.
  • Available for desktop, iOS, and Android devices

Local authors can submit their work for inclusion in the library catalog or publish books with Press Books. You can submit and share your work locally or nationally.

Interested? Check it out, and access Biblioboard today by clicking here.

Tuckasegee River Excursion with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Jan 30 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1½ hour layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, bed and breakfasts and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Foraging Food Tour
Jan 30 @ 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
No Taste Like Home

Join us for three hours “off the eaten path” as we find and gather over a dozen wild edibles. We’ll whip up a little tasting right on the trail. Take home the rest of your finds and/or get ready for some find dining when one of our award-winning restaurant partners prepares your “catch of the day,” with lunch, brunch or dinner, for free. Wild mushroom pizza, daylily tamales, sassafras root beer, wisteria ice cream… it all depends on what we find!


Pricing

  • Adult (Ages 12+): $75
  • Child (Ages 5-11): $35
  • Child (Ages 4 & Under): Free
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Jan 31 all-day
Online
Meet Biblioboard, Buncombe Library’s Newest Digital Resource
Jan 31 @ 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
online w/ Buncombe County Libraries

Create, share, and discover with Buncombe County Public Library’s newest resource, Biblioboard.

BiblioBoard Library is an easy-to-use platform of high-quality digital content. Biblioboard offers books, articles, documents, images, audios, and videos. BiblioBoard Library is host to content from traditional publishers, indie authors, cultural institutions, and local thought leaders. Users can access BiblioBoard Library through the library’s website or on the device of their choice.

Some features of Biblioboard:

  • No waitlists or holds
  • Streaming audio and video are available on a wide variety of topics
  • Check out curated collections of the best indie authors.
  • Available for desktop, iOS, and Android devices

Local authors can submit their work for inclusion in the library catalog or publish books with Press Books. You can submit and share your work locally or nationally.

Interested? Check it out, and access Biblioboard today by clicking here.

Monday, February 1, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 1 all-day
Online
Live Stream: Alan Gratz presents Ground Zero: A Novel of 9/11
Feb 1 @ 2:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

We are thriled to celebrate the release of Ground Zero with Asheville author Alan Gratz! Click here to register to attend on Crowdcast.

Alan Gratz’s eagerly-anticipated new novel is just in time for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. Ground Zero is another pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear — and the stunning links between the past and present. The book tells the parallel stories of Brandon—who is visiting his dad at work at the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001—and Reshmina—who stumbles upon a wounded American soldier in her village in Afghanistan on September 11, 2020. Two kids. One devastating day. Nothing will ever be the same.

Alan Gratz will sign and personalize books purchased from Malaprop’s! Please leave your personalization request in the comments section during checkout. 

This is a free event. If you decide to attend and to purchase the authors’ books, we encourage you to 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. 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!

Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including AlliesGrenade, RefugeeProjekt 1065Prisoner B-3087, and Code of Honor. Alan lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Look for him online at alangratz.com.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 2 all-day
Online
WILD (Women in Lively Discussion) Book Club
Feb 2 @ 6:30 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

Check the WILD book club’s Facebook page for COVID-19 related updates. Please RSVP the moderator at [email protected] for the Zoom meeting passcode for the meetings.  

Join former Malaprop’s General Manager Linda-Marie Barrett for this woman-only book club that seeks to have fun by reading books (fiction & non) by women writers. 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 6:30 P.M. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Battery Park Book Exchange. It will be held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Live Stream: Catana Chetwynd Launches In Love + Pajamas
Feb 2 @ 7:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

Malaprop’s is delighted to host the virtual launch event for In Love & Pajamas with Catana and John!

*Your book is your ticket. Pre-order a signed copy of In Love & Pajamas from Malaprop’s to secure your spot at the event. Couples welcome. For personalization use the order comments field to provide the name to which the book should be autographed. Please note that due to Covid-19 related delays in processing and mailing, books will be delivered after February 2.

*When you order the book below, your name and email address will be added to the invitation list for the event. Please order by 4:00 PM ET on February 2 if you wish to attend the live virtual event. Please provide a valid email address when you order and make sure your email filters allow messages from malaprops.com.

*On the day of the event, an email will be sent with the link required to attend.


From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Snug and the bestselling Little Moments of Love comes an all-new collection, In Love & Pajamas by Catana Chetwynd of Catana Comics! 

When you’ve reached that sweatpants-wearing cozy place in your relationship, it’s all In Love & Pajamas! This brand-new collection of Catana Comics presents 50 percent never-before-seen comics and some fan favorites that delight and amuse readers of all ages. Wholesome, sweet, feel-good humor, a perfect gift for your other half and a welcome add-on to any wedding, anniversary, or Valentine’s Day gift.

Catana Chetwynd is a self-taught traditional artist and the enthusiastic author of Catana Comics. She grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she spent her time creating art and pursuing an education in psychology until accidentally stumbling into the world of comics. Not only is her fiancé, John, the daily inspiration for her drawings, but he was also the one who suggested a comic series about their relationship in the first place. Thanks to his idea and his inspiring daily antics, Catana was able to pursue her childhood dream of being a cartoonist. She currently lives on the East Coast with John and their tiny, angry dog, Murph.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 3 all-day
Online
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 4 all-day
Online
Live Stream: Love Letters Between Authors with Joan Frank and Peg Alford Pursell
Feb 4 @ 6:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

Joan Frank and Peg Alford are two writers who’ve written to one another over years—beginning with physical letters and now through emails—in the course of which they talk about their writing lives. The authors will choose a section from one another’s books to read.

Click here to RSVP for this event. Prior to the event, we will email you with the link required 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 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!


The Outlook for Earthlings traces an unusual, difficult friendship across a lifetime, between women of stunningly opposite natures. Melanie Taper is timid, compelled to obey and venerate authority. Yet in unguarded moments she demonstrates such deadly insight into human foibles as to suggest a strength that has, for dark reasons, deliberately hidden itself. Scarlet Rand, by contrast, is rash, willful, and impatient of reverence of any stripe. Scarlet is shocked by Mel’s passive reserve; despite her obvious gifts, Mel is–bafflingly–self-erasing. Mel’s saintliness maddens Scarlet–because finally and most troublingly, Scarlet disbelieves it. Their friendship suggests to each a final frontier, a saving sanctuary. Yet at its core, a pained impasse soon becomes evident: each woman takes a secret, moral offense at the other’s inmost nature–and choices. Living out these differences–against awareness of the illness which is slowly destroying one of them–proves an ultimate challenge. In each, a reckoning must occur. The Outlook for Earthlings examines what women want, amid conflicting layers of need. It ponders beginnings, endings, and Virginia Woolf’s declaration that good angels must be killed. It considers the limits of friendship–and of the act of witnessing. At its heart, it asks how we may finally measure a life–and who should do the measuring.

Joan Frank is the author of two essay collections and eight novels, including Miss Kansas City, which won the Michigan Literary Fiction Award.


Following her acclaimed debut, Show Her a Flower, A Bird, A Shadow, award-winning author Peg Alford Pursell explores and illuminates love and loss in 78 hybrid stories and fables. A Girl Goes into the Forest immerses readers in the complex desires, contradictions, and sorrows of daughters, wives, and husbands, artists, siblings, and mothers.In forests literal and metaphorical, the characters try, fail, and try again to see the world, to hear each other, and to speak the truth of their longings. Powerful, lyrical, and precise, Pursell’s stories call up a world at once mysterious and recognizable.

A Girl Goes into the Forest invites fans of Lydia Davis and Helen Oyeyemi into a world where “no one can deter a person from her mistakes.”

Peg Alford Pursell is the author of Show Her a Flower, A Bird, A Shadow, a collection of hybrid with praise from Peter Orner, Joan Silber, Antonya Nelson, Glen David Gold, and others, and featured by Poets & Writers magazine’s second annual 5 over 50, December 2017. Her work has appeared in Permafrost, the Los Angeles Review, Joyland Magazine, and other journals and anthologies. She is the founder and director of the national reading series Why There Are Words and of WTAW Press. She lives in Northern California.

Crime and Politics Book Club
Feb 4 @ 7:00 pm
Online w/ Malaprop's

The Crime and Politics Book Club will be held virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. Please email [email protected] for info and instructions to attend. 

Join host and Malaprop’s Bookseller Patricia Furnish to discuss a range of books across true crime and public affairs. The club meets the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. Click here to learn more about the club, view important news, and find the pick for this month.

Friday, February 5, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 5 all-day
Online
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 6 all-day
Online
Tuckasegee River Excursion with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Feb 6 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1½ hour layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, bed and breakfasts and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Foraging Food Tour
Feb 6 @ 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
No Taste Like Home

Join us for three hours “off the eaten path” as we find and gather over a dozen wild edibles. We’ll whip up a little tasting right on the trail. Take home the rest of your finds and/or get ready for some find dining when one of our award-winning restaurant partners prepares your “catch of the day,” with lunch, brunch or dinner, for free. Wild mushroom pizza, daylily tamales, sassafras root beer, wisteria ice cream… it all depends on what we find!


Pricing

  • Adult (Ages 12+): $75
  • Child (Ages 5-11): $35
  • Child (Ages 4 & Under): Free
Our hidden personality in everyday life
Feb 6 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Online w/ Asheville Social Introverts Group

We will begin a new book, so if you plan to do the reading, please order ASAP Naomi Quenk’s Beside Ourselves: Our Hidden Personality in Everyday Life. It’s also available in a different edition (which has different pagination): Was That Really Me? How Everyday Stress Brings Out Our Hidden Personality.

What we’re about

We are Myers-Briggs introverted personality types: INTJ/INFJ, INFP/INTP, ISTJ/ISFJ, ISFP/ISTP. Since we’re introverts, it can be a little more difficult for us to be social and meet new people, so this group will break through those internal barriers. We’ll get together for casual social interaction and informally share our stories about how we relate to the world differently than the extroverted MBTI types (who are the majority of the population). We’ll meet over food and drink, board games, etc. — and please give me your suggestions so we can consider them as we plan together! ~Todd

Update on our group’s name: Since we’re not only introverts who gather to socialize but also to socialize in a distinctively introverted way, we are now the AVL Social Introverts Group.

Sunday, February 7, 2021
Black History Month – Book List for Young Readers
Feb 7 all-day
Online
Virtually Assembled: An *Assembly Required Experience
Feb 7 @ 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Virtually Assembled: An *Assembly Required Experience

*Assembly Required, the premiere Southeast destination for designer, bootleg and art toy artists and collectors is going VIRTUAL, with their event Virtually Assembled: An *Assembly Required Experience. Streaming live February 6-7, 2021 on www.assembly-required.net, the event will include interviews with artists, studio tours, artist exclusives, surprises from Toybox, America’s Favorite Cartoon Witch, and much, much more!

With molding, and production techniques, designer toy artists echo the production methods of traditional toy manufacturers. Refining inspiration from a variety of underground and subcultural elements, *Assembly Required honors this true to form, turn of the century avant-garde/pop surrealistic art movement. 2021 will be *Assembly Required’s third year celebrating this melting pot of artistic expression.