WHEELING, W.Va., OCT. 23, 2017 — West Liberty University’s Elbin Library has partnered with the Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission, the Ohio County Public Library and the Wheeling National Heritage Area to present the annual Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books, which begins today.
“It’s that time of year again! November brings books and authors to the Upper Ohio Valley with events covering two full weeks. Authors specializing in non-fiction with brand new books, lessons on salvaging flood damaged family photos and papers, and a huge book sale highlight this year’s Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books,” said Cheryl Harshman, director of the Elbin Library.
“Beginning Nov. 3, 2017 and running through Nov. 16, 2017, the Festival of Books will stretch across Ohio County. From The Wheeling Artisan Center and the Ohio County Public Library in downtown Wheeling, to the Sandscrest Conference and Retreat Center on GC&P Road, book related programs will offer something for everyone this year.”
Authors attending the Festival of Books this year include Ronni Lundy, this year’s James Beard Cookbook Award for the best cookbooks in America. Her book “Victuals” explores the rich and varied foods of our Appalachia. She will speak at Lunch with Books, and again at Sandscrest after a dinner from the recipes in her book. A complete list of events follows:
4 – 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 3, West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman unveils his latest children’s book, “Fallingwater,” at the Wheeling Artisan Center, 1400 Main St, Wheeling. Joining Harshman will be co-author Anna Smucker. This book guides readers through Frank Lloyd Wright’s process designing Fallingwater. Graceful prose and rich, dynamic illustrations breathe life into the story of Frank and Fallingwater, a man and home utterly unlike any other, according to reviews. This is a great chance to purchase the new book for holiday gift giving.
Monday, Nov. 6, Book Sale begins, Early Bird Special is from 5 – 7 p.m. ($5 admission). Regular sale with no admission, is from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 7 through Saturday, Nov. 11. All proceeds benefit the restoration of historic Mt. Wood Cemetery, held at Wheeling Heritage at the Artisan Center, (3rd floor), 1400 Main St., Wheeling.
Noon, Tuesday, Nov. 7, Ronni Lundy, winner of this year’s James Beard Cookbook Award for the best cookbook in America, will speak at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Library, 52 Sixteenth Street, Wheeling. Regarded as the most engaging authority on our region’s food and folkways, Lundy’s new book guides readers through the surprisingly diverse history of food in the Mountains as it explores the diverse and complex food scene through recipes, stories, traditions, and innovations.
7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 7, Peoples University, at Ohio County Public Library, Lori Hostuttler and Jane LaBarbara of the West Virginia and Regional History Center at WVU Libraries will talk about how to salvage books, photographs, and family materials from floods and water damage.
6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8, Dinner with author Ronni Lundy at Sandscrest Retreat Center. Acclaimed chef Sarah Lydick will cook recipes from “Victuals.” After Dinner program is a free and open to the public and includes Lundy discussing her book and local food ways. Those who purchase a book can have it autographed. Dinner tickets are $35 and can be purchased from Cheryl Harshman at cherylrharshman@gmail.com.
7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 9, special screening of the WVPB special Vietnam: West Virginians Remember. Suzanne Higgins for WVPB will speak about the making of the documentary and will set up a table where people can participate in our Memories In Hand: Veterans Project. (www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/5221).
1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 11, Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books Keynote Speaker, James McGrath Morris, author of “The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway,” “Dos Passos” and “A Friendship Made And Lost In War” will speak at the Ohio County Library. The title of his talk is “An End to the Age of Innocence: How the Great War Forever Changed American Literature.” After the talk there will be time to ask the author questions and to have a book autographed.
Noon, Tuesday, Nov. 14, Peoples University, Ohio County Public Library archivist Laura Carroll will present “Authors in the Archives.” While a manuscript archivist at Emory University in Atlanta, Carroll processed the papers of award-winning author and international figure Salman Rushdie. In addition to the correspondence, journals, numerous drafts and proofs of manuscripts that are commonly found in author collections, his papers also included four of his computers. She will discuss the unique challenges involved in organizing authors’ papers and how these collections can inform scholarly research in a variety of disciplines. She will also discuss one of the Ohio County Public Library’s own author collections, the Elizabeth Monroe papers which consist of Monroe’s extensive research for her book, “The Wheeling Bridge Case: Its Significance In American Law And Technology.”
Noon, Thursday, Nov. 16, Lunch With Books will be held at the library at noon when award-winning biographer Walter Stahr will tell the story of Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Stanton is the man Lincoln entrusted with raising the army that preserved the Union. Stahr, author of the New York Times bestseller “Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man,” came to Wheeling to access the Ohio County Public Library’s Elizabeth Monroe papers archival collection while doing his research for this new book, “Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary,” and will talk about his book and Stanton’s connection to the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
The Upper Ohio Valley Book Festival is brought to the community through the collaboration of the Ohio County Public Library, the Arts Commission of the City of Wheeling, the Elbin Library of West Liberty University, and the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation with funding by the West Virginia Humanities Council.
All programs are free and open to the public. For more information regarding the Upper Ohio Valley Book Festival please contact: Ohio County Public Library 304-232-0244, the Artisan Center at 304-232-3087 or Elbin Library at 304-336-8183.