WAC The Wrightwood Arts & Wine Festival is fast approaching, and alongside the featured artists and musicians, ten talented authors, representing many different genres, will be sharing their work. In addition to reading excerpts from their most recent books, these writers will be offering a book signing, a great opportunity for readers to meet notable authors and come away with something unique to add to their literary collections.
Among the featured will be Anders Carlson-Wee, a renowned poet who has appeared in publications such as The Paris Review, Harvard Review, and Ploughshares. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Poets & Writers, the Camargo Foundation, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, he is also the winner of the Poetry International Prize. His most recent book, The Low Passions, traces the fringes of the American experiment through the eyes of a young drifter. He is also the author of Disease of Kings, which is forthcoming from W.W. Norton in October 2023.
Tricia Cochée (co-shay) is a fourth generation Californian with ancestral roots that stretch to South Africa, the Caribbean and India. Cochée is a writer (she’s been writing stories seen she was six years old), poet, independent journalist, cultural arts producer and promoter, massage therapist and health educator, whose life focus has been on wholistic health and wellness education, the literary arts, and travel. Her debut collection of poetry and prose, The Orisha Talks: Tales of Lust, Love and Herstorical Memory, in the author’s words, “mixes the sacred with the profane into a delicious gumbo (masala) of poetic memoir and historical musings of truth telling, from California to Brazil, Hawaii, Cuba and back home again.”
With an eclectic background in the humanitarian and social enterprise worlds drawing from his expertise as a filmmaker, Andrew McGregor is a Grammy-nominated bagpiper, inventor, writer, chessboxing champion, entrepreneur, frequent TEDx speaker, mentor, Highlands games athlete, photojournalist, magician, Curator of MindshareLA, and a founder of The Tiziano Project. McGregor was named one of ‘LA’s 40 Most Interesting People’ by LA Weekly. His forthcoming novel, set in the wake of September 11th, follows a man who grew up with his mother in Eastern European brothels as he comes to New York City searching for an adventure, identity, and home.
These are only a few of the exceptional authors visitors will have the chance to meet at the Wrightwood Arts & Wine Festival this spring. In addition to literary and poetic readings,the Wrightwood Poetry Slam is back, this time featuring International Slam Champion Joaquin Zihuatanejo. Last year’s winner, Alex Clark, will look to defend his title against a more than a dozen competitors. This is always a popular and energy-filled event that returning audiences look forward to every year.
The festival draws thousands of visitors each year to its showcase of regional art, food, wine, and music, as well as scenic beauty in a quiet mountain setting. Come experience the creativity and talent of Wrightwood’s unique arts community.
Author Booth Schedule:
10:30am: Zachary Kluckman (Poetry)
11:00am: Jennifer Savino (Children’s)
11:30am: Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl (Poetry)
1:00pm: Andrew McGregor (Fiction)
1:30pm: Anders Carlson-Wee (Poetry)
2:00pm: Patricia Cochée (Memoir)
2:30pm: Alexis Sears (Poetry)
3:00pm: Erica Garza (Non-fiction)
3:30pm: Adam Martinez (Poetry)
4:00pm: Mary Camarillo (Fiction)
