Berkshire Wordfest at The Mount just days away

Submitted by Lesley Ann Beck on July 20, 2010 - 3:14pm

 

 

Berkshire WordFest at The Mount begins on Friday and I am in the middle of the delightful task of deciding which events to attend. The choices are many and all are intriguing. Audrey Manring and the staff at The Mount have planned a marvelous variety of events with a stellar lineup of authors—more than twenty fiction and nonfiction writers and eight poets—for a spectacular weekend. It’s time to add a top-notch literary festival to the other excellent cultural offering in the Berkshires, and holding it at the home of Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer for fiction, makes perfect sense.

 
WordFest at The Mount in Lenox, Mass., features panel discussions, interviews, poetry readings, several receptions and parties, and two breakfast events. Tickets for each event as well as a day pass option are available. Go to www.edithwharton.org or http://berkshirewordfest.org/attend for complete information. (Visit the website to peruse the excellent assortment of quotes from the participating writers, as well as Wharton herself, on the right side of the screen.)
 
 
I plan on spending most of the weekend at The Mount, attending as many events as I can, a sort of full-immersion in all things “writerly.” A more leisurely approach, taking the time to stroll in the gardens and listen to some of the poetry readings, has great appeal as well. The festival has been organized so that it’s possible to spend the day or just an hour, depending on personal whim.  
 
 
Booksignings follow most events, and a complete schedule of booksignings with the various participating authors is now available on the website (http://berkshirewordfest.org/attend/events). Access to the signings comes with admission to The Mount; an event ticket is not necessary to have your book signed. And a special Festival Bookstore will be open, every day from 10 to 5, through Monday, July 26, featuring the books by the participating authors, organized with The Bookstore in Lenox.
 
 
The Festival begins on Friday night, July 23, with a party featuring a keynote talk by Francine Prose, winner of the 2010 Edith Wharton Achievement Award. Saturday’s festivities include a cocktail party with the authors followed by a dinner with guest Garrison Keillor, winner of the 2010 Henry James Award, who will offer a talk. For complete information on these three events, visit www.edithwharton.org.
 
 
On Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25, Books for Breakfast, from 8:30 to 10, features a buffet breakfast on the terrace and conversation with an accomplished novelist. On Saturday, Elizabeth Brundage will read from her new novel, A Stranger Like You, talk about her writing, and answer questions. On Sunday, it will be Elinor Lipman reading from her new novel, The Family Man. (I am a big fan of both these writers and plan to attend both days!)
 
 
Three panel discussions are planned for the weekend, all on themes that would have been meaningful to Edith Wharton: these are the descriptions from the event website:
Old Money, New Money, Saturday, July 24, 10:30 to noon: Edith Wharton is perhaps best known as a novelist of Old New York, chronicler of the customs, privileges, and quiet despairs of the upper crust. In this discussion, Kurt Andersen, Tad Friend, Katy Lederer, Martha McPhee, and moderator Simon Winchester take a page from Wharton’s book(s) and explore the dynamics of class in literature and life. A stimulating look at old and new money from perspectives both satiric and serious. Booksigning follows.
Writers in Wartime, Saturday, July 24, 1:30 to 3: World War I was a transformative experience for Edith Wharton, who reported from the frontlines of the war in France and organized large-scale relief efforts in Paris. In this discussion, John Hockenberry, Elizabeth Samet, Tatjana Soli, and moderator Frank Delaney bring their distinct experiences to bear on the roles and obligations of writers in wartime. A timely and important conversation. Booksigning follows.
 
Well-Behaved Women, Sunday, July 25, 10:30 to noon: Was Edith Wharton “well-behaved”? Not by the lights of historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who famously quipped, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” In this discussion, Katie Roiphe, Judith Thurman, and moderator Laura Miller explore the “who, how and why” of boundary-breaking women in literature, and the complicated relationship between women and the literary establishment—in Wharton’s day and our own. Booksigning follows.
 
On Saturday and Sunday, Joe Donahue and Susan Arbetter will take it in turns to interview five authors who work in genres from memoir to short story to nonfiction. The challenge? How to choose! I have read—and enjoyed—books by all of these writers. You can’t go wrong.
July 24, 11 to noon: Former Gourmet magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl (Tender at the Bone) joins Joe Donahue, host of WAMC’s The Roundtable and The Book Show, for conversation about a life in food writing. Booksigning follows.
July 24, 2 to 3: Genre-bending novelist Jim Shepard (Like You’d Understand, Anyway) joins Joe Donahue for conversation about books on dark subjects and the art of writing the teenage mind. Booksigning follows.
July 24, 4 to 5: A distinctive voice on and off the page, Roy Blount Jr. (Alphabet Juice) joins Joe Donahue for down-home conversation about writing, language, humor, and exile in the North. Booksigning follows.
July 25, 11 to noon: Dani Shapiro (Devotion) may not have all the answers, but her memoirs and novels have beautifully and thoughtfully explored the important questions. Here, she shares her insights into life and writing with journalist Susan Arbetter of WCNY.
July 25, 2 to 3: Susan Orlean writes nonfiction with the frisson and fascination of fiction. Orlean (The Orchid Thief) joins journalist Susan Arbetter for a conversation about fanatical orchid growers, fanatical chicken keepers, Rin Tin Tin, and more. Booksigning follows.
 
Berkshire-based poets will be reading their work on the terrace in half-hour interludes curated by Peter Filkins and Michelle Gillett. The poetry readings are free to festival ticketholders. A $10 grounds pass is available for those who would like to attend the poetry readings and enjoy the gardens.
Saturday, July 24, at 12:30: readings by Leslie Harrison and Lawrence Raab
Saturday, July 24, at 3:30: readings by Deborah Bernhardt and Abbot Cutler
Sunday, July 25, at 12:30: readings by Peter Filkins and Michele Gillett
Sunday, July 25, at 3:30: readings by Hannah Fries and Tess Taylor
 
 
The theme of WordFest is ‘Channeling Edith Wharton,” and I plan on soaking up as much literary atmosphere as possible in Edith’s beautiful gardens and in her lovely home, and to leave motivated and challenged by the contemporary authors who are sharing their expertise and inspiration this weekend.
 
THE GOODS
2 Plunkett St.
Lenox, Mass.
www.edithwharton.org

 

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