But there’s something else that makes Will Lavender special–something aside from the fact that his novels have been translated into fourteen languages. Will Lavender is a Louisville resident, a graduate of Centre College, and a native of Whitley City, Kentucky. This local fella has agreed to be our keynote reader for The Writer’s Block Festival, to take place at Flame Run Gallery from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM on October 15. Lavender will be available after his speech to sign copies of his novels. This event is FREE but you must register for a ticket, which you can do by scrolling down to the bottom of our schedule of events page and clicking the link.

The Writer’s Block is proud to welcome Kevin Wilson, an author with as much wit and originality as any working author to date. Wilson, who lives and teaches in Sewanee, TN, is the author of a story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, as well as his recently released novel, The Family Fang. He has been honored with the Shirley Jackson Award and his work has been celebrated by such publications as The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, and Publisher’s Weekly, just to name a few.

Wilson, whose work has also appeared in Ploughshares, Tin House, and One Story, will be giving a reading on Friday, Oct. 14 at The Bard’s Town on Bardstown Rd., in the Highlands beginning at 7:00 PM, and will be available after the reading to sign copies of his books.

On Saturday, come out to the festival, where Kevin Wilson will be conducting a fiction workshop, for only $20. This workshop, which will begin at 9:30AM, is entitled “Finding a Narrative Engine: The Beginning is Not Always the Beginning.” Of the workshop Wilson writes, “For writers, it’s sometimes difficult to find a story we want to tell, the fear that we have nothing left to say.  Finding the beginning of a narrative, the perfect opening, can sometimes keep us from ever starting. Editors and agents put so much emphasis on the first few pages that we can paralyze ourselves. In this workshop we’ll figure out ways to generate narrative without initially worrying about the beginning. Using prompts to establish images and scenes and characters, we’ll work from that initial idea to create a narrative that becomes your next story or novel.”

Ready to sign up for Kevin’s workshop? Great! You can do so by clicking here and scrolling down to the workshop section.

The designers and printers of The Writer’s Block Festival posters (which will be available for sale at the registration area in The Green Building), Hound Dog Press, have also provided the festival with a workshop to teach attendees the art of letterpress. Hound Dog will open their facilities, allowing registered attendees a chance to use their antique presses to make a keepsake of their very own. Along with the tutorial, the gracious hosts will also provide a historical perspective on the art form itself.

To learn more about the mad genius behind Hound Dog Press, click here, or see below to get a full video experience.

Register for the letterpress workshop by going to the schedule of events page here, and scroll down to the workshop section.

John Burnham Schwartz is one of those authors who has the corner market on cool. His stark and awe-inspiring style in Reservation Road translated beautifully into a film, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, and Jennifer Connelly, and was heralded as being, “A dark and irresistible miracle…” by The Los Angeles Times. His books have been translated into more than fifteen languages, and his work has appeared in many publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe and Vogue. This summer, Schwartz published the sequel to Reservation Road, and will be stopping through Louisville as part of his author tour for Northwest Corner.

Clearly, The Writer’s Block Festival could not be more thrilled to welcome Schwartz to Louisville, beginning with a reading and book signing for his latest on Thursday, October 13, at Carmichael’s Books.  On Saturday, October 15, Schwartz will be part of two literary panels that are free to the community. First, Schwartz will participate in our screenwriting panel, Screenwriting: A Craft Conversation, at 10:00 AM in The Green Building, where he will discuss his recent screenplay for Showtime, Den of Thieves. Later, local fiction author Kirby Gann will interview Schwartz in a panel entitled: Writing is a Process, which will begin at 11:30 AM.  Schwartz and Gann will discuss frankly the ways in which they write their stories, including overcoming––you guessed it––writer’s block.

To see this event listing, as well as other free events scheduled for The Writer’s Block Festival, click here.

6:30pm Sign ups for the open mic
7:00pm Open mic readers
7:30pm Music guest
8:00pm Featured readers

FEATURED READERS:
Kevin Wilson is the author of a story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Ecco/Harper Perennial, 2009), which received the Shirley Jackson Award, and a novel, The Family Fang (Ecco, 2011). His fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Tin House, One Story, and elsewhere. He lives and teaches in Sewanee, TN.

Catherine Bowman is the Director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at  Indiana University. She is the author of the poetry collections The Plath Cabinet (Four Way Books), Notarikon (Four Way Books), Rock Farm (Gibbs Smith), and 1-800-HOT-RIBS (Gibbs Smith) which was reissued by Carnegie-Mellon University Press as part of its contemporary classics series.  She is the editor of Word of Mouth: Poems Featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, the Harvard Review, The Best American Poetry Series.

FEATURED MUSIC:
A small town boy with a big time voice, Calvin Fackler’s talent seems to spring from the forested hollows and ridges of his Kentucky home. Fackler’s soulful voice espouses heartfelt songs about coming of age in rural towns. Presenting an honest sound, his depictions of the joys and hardships that come with the beautiful landscapes of his upbringing. Make sure not to miss this rare solo performance from The Foxery’s vocalist.

Jake Snider currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky, where he attends the University of Louisville and courts disaster. Among the various artistic endeavors, he primarily co-creates the self-published zine Smokestacks and Spires. As the newest, bright eyed and bushy faced intern for The Writer’s Block/Typecast Publishing, Jake hopes to further his involvement and celebration of the Louisville Literary Arts community.

Look for more from Jake about the Festival as we move along this summer. You can follow his Festival updates via Twitter or Facebook.