Kickass Writers Festival set for June

May 23—SARANAC LAKE — The second iteration of the Kickass Writers Festival runs Friday and Saturday, June 7-8, and attracts writers, poets, comedians, and other creatives in Saranac Lake.

On June 7, the Kickass Kickoff features NY State Poet Patricia Spears-Jones and Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion Denice Frohman, 7 p.m. at the Harrietstown Town Hall.

"It's going to be a phenomenal," Nathalie Thill, Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) executive director, said.

"They are both incredible performers as well. They have such stage presence. It's going to be really special, and it's free and open to the public. So, there's really no reason not to come. It's at the Town Hall, and you can just kind of slide in, dip your toe."

June 8 starts at 8 a.m. at Fowler's Crossing with "Adirondack Forest Bathing with Helene Gibbens of Adirondack Riverwalking."

Festival attendees can get to know each other at a "Speed Dating" at 9 a.m. at the Town Hall. A Bookfair follows at the venue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A Ra Press Memorial Reading and Open Mic will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the Town hall.

"We are honoring Dave Donohue from Ra Press. It was a regional press out of Vermont," Thill said.

"He published a lot of Adirondack authors, so we are honoring him. There will also be an open mic for anybody that is registered for the festival.

"On Saturday, you can arrive, check out what's happening, be at the Bookfair, hear John Glusman and Michael Coffey, who are two veteran publishers and have been in the publishing industry for decades and they are going to be talking about the publishing industry today, which is really different. There are a lot of new things, and it's a different world to navigate even than it was 10 years ago."

VARIETY OF GUESTS

Festival guests include GennaRose Nethercott, Megan Mayhew Bergman, Diane Goettel, executive editor of Black Lawrence Press, and Carrie Howland of Howland Literary.

"What we consider when we invite writers is do they have anything new and are they something we consider kickass for one reason or another," Thill said.

"Obviously, Denice Frohman is kickass. She's one of the most incredible poets working today. She won the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Patricia Spears Jones is not only kickass, but she's badass. She also the New York State Poet. She's just a really impressive human being and just really believes in community and believes in serving the whole state. A lot of times, people just focus on Manhattan, but you have someone like Patricia Spears Jones who really takes it to heart to reach as many rural spaces in New York state as well. I just really appreciate her. She's a really thoughtful impressive person."

Tyler Barton, ACW's program manager is a huge fan of Nethercott's.

"She's just really interesting," Thill said.

"She has a new book out, and she's just different. We try to find people that you wouldn't necessarily expect to see because the idea behind it is to explore writing in all its forms and not in just in the ways that you would normally come about it. That's why we invite comedians. It drives me crazy that people don't consider them writers because is there anyone that agonizes word choice other than comedians and poets. Each word matters so much, we're careful to have comedians as well as poets."

At the festival, ACW strives to have an interesting slant on nature writing and Bergman writes fiction and nonfiction.

"It's just really impressive the way she writes about nature and the way she makes ties," Thill said.

"It's just different and exciting, so those are the types of people that we try to reach out to. To make sure we have a variety of voices and examples of different kinds of writing so that whether you're a writer or a reader or just someone who wants to hear interesting people say interesting things. These are all just really remarkable thinkers doing exciting work. So, that's how we find our people."

The Kickass Keynote with Nethercott and Bergman will be held at the Hotel Saranac in the Great Hall.

"It's kind of a cocktail hour kind of event," Thill said.

"Then, we have three comedians (Greg Edwards and Tracy Dolan, hosted by Nathan Hartswick) ending the evening on Saturday night. All of these events are open to the public, even if you're not registered."

More than 100 people have registered for workshops and manuscript critiques.

A Regional Authors Showcase hosted by Christopher Shaw, features readings by local and regional writers of various genres: Kelsey Francis, Amy Godine, Alice P. Green, Betsy Kepes, Roger Mitchell, Curt Stager, Annie Stoltie, and more.

"The local showcase that was a really joyful thing last time," Thill said.

"We keep them wanting more. At this stage of the game, most of the the workshops and manuscript critiques are already sold out."

LOCAL SUPPORT

The festival programming cost is $30,000, which is funded by a 15,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant and the remainder by local sponsorships such as Cape Air, Hotel Saranac, The Wild Center and Adirondack Frontier.

"The whole community of Saranac Lake really is behind this festival, and they are supportive in a lot of ways," Thill said.

"The ticket costs are actually so inexpensive, not to mention that the majority of the events are free. All that is made possible because of the funding, the sponsorships, but particularly, the National Endowment for the Arts. So, we are able to welcome a very wide range of people. It's very diverse. People coming from all over and regional to attend because we are able to keep the costs really low, and in some cases free."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell