The 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 third annual Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books, which begins today.

“We are featuring Jayne Anne Phillips and we’ve waited two years to bring her to the area. She’s incredible. She’s the professor of creative writing at Rutgers and she’s from Buchanan. She’s top-notched. We are so excited,” said Elbin Library Director Cheryl Harshman, who has been involved in the Festival planning for all three years of its existence.

“Phillips’ novel, Quiet Dell, is really a modern spin on a Davis Grubb novel, Night of the Hunter. Grubb was from Moundsville and I’ll be presenting a Lunch with Books program on Grubb on Election Day, Nov. 8,” she said. The Festival of Books takes place at a variety of venues from Oct. 31 through Nov. 12.

All programs are free and open to the public.

The keynote speaker, national bestselling author Jayne Anne Phillips, will appear at the festival’s finale at the Ohio County Public Library on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.

A West Virginia native who has written five award winning novels and two short story collections, Phillips will be reading from her fifth novel, Quiet Dell, which Stephen King has called “a brilliant fusion of fact and fiction” and “the novel of the year…a compulsively readable story.” The book is based on the true story of the infamous 1931 murders committed in West Virginia by con man Harry Powers (the same crimes on which the great Moundsville author, Davis Grubb, based his novel, “Night of the Hunter”). The tragedy was one of the first nationally sensationalized crimes in America.

Phillips is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and a Bunting Fellowship. She is distinguished professor of English and director of the Rutgers Newark MFA Program at Rutgers-Newark, the State University of New Jersey.

The festival’s launch event, also at the Ohio County Public Library at 7 p.m. on Halloween, will feature author Paul Hertneky who grew up in Ambridge, Pa., a steel town just 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Hertneky’s book of essays, “Rust Belt Boy: Stories of an American Childhood,” portrays the last gasp of the industrial north where European immigrants had raised families and built communities, but saw the end of their way of life looming on the horizon.

Hertneky has written for the Boston Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NBC News, and National Public Radio. He serves on the faculty of Chatham University.

Jayne Anne Phillips, author

This year the organizers have expanded the festival’s reach by partnering with the Brooke County Public Library, the Marshall County Public Library, Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre and Cinema, West Liberty University, West Virginia Northern Community College, and the Wheeling Artisan Center, all locations that will be hosting programs and workshops between Nov. 1 and Nov. 11, under the umbrella of the Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books.

“We are very pleased to be able to add these wonderful new partners and to make this festival truly inclusive of the Upper Ohio Valley, as its name suggests,” said Harshman, also a member of the History and Literature Committee of the Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission. The full schedule includes:

• Mon. Oct. 31 at 7 PM: LAUNCH EVENT! Paul Hertneky, author of Rust Belt Boy: Stories of An American Childhood. Plus: Free Pierogi, Ohio County Public Library, 52-16th Street, Wheeling, 304-232-0244, www.ohiocountylibrary.org.
• Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. Film Screening: The Book Thief (2013, Rated PG-13, 131 min.) Presented by the Thorn Pages Book Club for Teens. Based on the acclaimed novel by Markus Zusak. While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Marshall County Public Library, 700 5th St, Moundsville, WV, 304-845- 6911, moundsville.lib.wv.us.
• Wed. Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. “The Secret Lives of Sherlock Holmes,” created by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, Sherlock Holmes is one of English literature’s most enduring fictional characters, and original Holmes stories are still being produced today (in print, on television, and in film). Dr. Paula Makris, Wheeling Jesuit University English Professor, will discuss the literary history and influence of the world’s most famous detective and reveal some of Holmes’s (and his author’s) darker family secrets. West Virginia Northern Community College, Auditorium, Wheeling Campus, 1704 Market Street, Wheeling, WV, 304-233-5900, www.wvncc.edu
• Thurs., Nov. 3 at 5 p.m., Alan Fitzpatrick: The White Indians, This is the story of a long-held secret from one of the darkest chapters of American history that is truly shocking. It is the epic story of more than 1,200 white captives who never came home after the peace was made. Limited seating, please call to RSVP. Brooke County Public Library, River Room – 945 Main Street, Wellsburg, WV, 304-737- 1551, wellsburg.lib.wv.us.
• Fri., Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. “Friday Film After-Hours” Papa: Hemingway in Cuba (2016, Rated R, 110 min.) Historical biopic about the legendary Ernest Hemingway helping a young journalist in Havana, set during the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Based on a true story, this was the first Hollywood film shot in Cuba since 1959. Marshall County Public Library, 700 5th St, Moundsville, 304-845-6911, moundsville.lib.wv.us.
• Davis Grubb Mini-Film Festival! Sat., Nov. 5 at 3 p.m. Fools’ Parade (1971, Rated PG, 98 min.) In 1935, after 40 years in a West Virginia prison, three released convicts wish to open a legitimate business using the $25,000 earned in jail, but a crooked prison guard in cahoots with the town banker plans to defraud them. Starring Jimmy Stewart, George Kennedy, Anne Baxter, Strother Martin, and Kurt Russell.
• Sun. Nov. 6 at 3 p.m., Night of the Hunter (1955, Rated PG, 93 min.) A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he’d stolen in a robbery. Starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Both movies were based on novels by Davis Grubb and were filmed on location in Moundsville. Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Cinema, 2118 Market St, Wheeling, 304-242- 7700, oionline.com/towngate
• Nov. 7-Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. BOOK SALE, funds to benefit the Mt. Wood Cemetery restoration project.  Cash or checks accepted. Wheeling Heritage at the Artisan Center (3rd Floor), 1400 Main St, Wheeling, 304-232-3087, artisancenter.com.
• Mon., Nov. 7 at 6 p.m., Mark Twain – History Alive! Meet one of America’s most renowned authors and humorists, portrayed by Doug Riley of Tunnelton, WV. Courtesy WV Humanities Council, Marshall County Public Library, 700 5th St, Moundsville, 304-845- 6911, moundsville.lib.wv.us.
• Tues., Nov. 8 at Noon, “Marriage, Mayhem, and Murder: West Virginia’s True Crime of the Century,” Cheryl Ryan Harshman explores Davis Grubb’s novel, Night of the Hunter. Lunch With Books, Ohio County Public Library, 52-16th Street, Wheeling, 304-232-0244, www.ohiocountylibrary.org.
• Wed., Nov. 9 at Noon, “Judging a Book by its Cover” Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian at WVU, will demonstrate how the cover of a book can be just as important as the text by showing how Appalachians have historically (1850-1915) been portrayed on the covers of books. Wheeling Heritage at the Artisan Center (3rd Floor), 1400 Main St, Wheeling, 304-232-3087, artisancenter.com.
• Thurs., Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. Author Gary Rider presents Marshall County Patriots and Heroes (Vol. 7) with 129 new profiles of men and women who have served in the U.S. military. Marshall County Public Library, 700 5th St, Moundsville, 304-845-6911, moundsville.lib.wv.us.
• Thurs., Nov. 10, 5-7 p.m. Journal-Making Workshop, Free Workshop on making your own journal or book. Simple techniques to create a one-of- a-kind piece using recycled materials. Wheeling Heritage at the Artisan Center (3rd Floor), 1400 Main St, Wheeling, 304- 232- 3087, artisancenter.com.
• Sat., Nov. 12 at 1 p.m., FINALE featuring Jayne Anne Phillips, National bestselling author Jayne Anne Phillips will read from her novel, Quiet Dell. Ohio County Public Library, 52-16th Street, Wheeling, 304-232-0244, www.ohiocountylibrary.org.

All Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books programs and workshops are free and open to the public. For more information, visit its Facebook page.

Additional funding for the Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books has been provided by the West Virginia Library Commission and the Center for the Book and private donors. The project is supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in West Virginia by the State Librarian.

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