2023 A Look Back: Survivor Award

This award goes out to the Fontana Regional Library, which, despite consistent attacks throughout 2023, is still standing, and continues to serve the residents of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. 

The true story of a teacher who defied Hitler

In 1933 Germany, headmistress Anna Essinger was ordered by the newly-elected Nazi party to fly a Nazi flag above her school.

A church in communion with all creatures

The Covid pandemic has produced many new books with many of them addressing the current situation in which we humans find ourselves and the pressing issues that we need to address.

Rash takes care of business in ‘The Caretaker’

Ron Rash’s new novel “The Caretaker” (Doubleday, 2023, 252 pgs.) is much different than his previous novels.

The unfailing connection of a classic novel

I have always been a fan of old books. There’s a comfort I find in between the pages of a story written long ago, a sort of escape from my modern-day life.

A love story from a more innocent time

Every once in a while, a novel hits me with a punch I never saw coming, perhaps even one unintended by its author. 

Film to highlight the ‘grit and wit’ of Gary Carden

A film about one of Western North Carolina’s most revered literary figures will make its world premiere in a free event at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Jackson County library in Sylva. 

Residents object to LGBTQ literature at Macon library

A group of Macon County residents and library patrons attended a Feb. 7 library board meeting to air a plethora of concerns. Chief among them were that the library is promoting a sexual agenda to minors and the library’s affiliation with the American Library Association and the Fontana Regional Library System.

Tapping gently at her door, fate beckoned me in

Some sage once observed that your whole life really comes down to just a handful of moments, and it has taken me most of mine to recognize the truth in that.

I am one of you forever: A conversation with Fred Chappell

In conversation, Fred Chappell is a man of few words and sentiments. Perhaps that’s because he uses all of his vocabulary and emotions to spill across the blank page. 

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