"To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company." -- Andre Gide
Colombia
Hay Festival Cartagena
January 29-February 1, 2009
Cartagena, Colombia
http://www.hayfestival.com/
England
The Wordsworth Trust Weekend Arts and Book Festival
January 23-25, 2009
Grasmere, England
http://www.wordsworth.org.uk/events/index.asp?pageid=404
“The Wordsworth Trust is proud to present the programme for the 2009 Weekend Arts and Book Festival, a vibrant programme of lectures, readings and workshops illuminating aspects of literature and the visual arts.”
Scotland
2009 Winter Words Festival
January 22-25, 2009
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry
http://www.pitlochry.org.uk/page187.php
“Why not begin Scotland's very special Year of Homecoming in style? Come and join us in the glorious surroundings of wintry Highland Perthshire for our four day festival of literature and the spoken word!”
Sri Lanka
Galle Literary Festival
January 28-February 1, 2009
Galle
http://www.galleliteraryfestival.com/
“An exciting programme will be published mid December featuring Thomas Keneally, Germaine Greer, Pico Iyer, Edna O’Brien, Romesh Gunesekera, V.V. Ganeshananthan, MJ Akbar, Giles Milton, Moses Isegawa, Michael Morpurgo and many more. We are also especially delighted to include alongside established Sri Lankan writers, talented new voices that we’ll be hearing from for the first time!”
United States
Florida
Key West Literary Seminar
January Session 1: January 8-11, 2009; Session 2: January 15-18, 2009
Key West, Florida
http://keywestliteraryseminar.org/lit/
The 2009 theme is "Historical Fiction and the Search for Truth.”
ZORA! Festival
The Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities
January 20-25, 2009
Eatonville, Florida
http://www.zoranealehurstonfestival.com/Events.html
“The event features museum exhibitions, public talks, panel discussions, workshops and concerts. It culminates with a three-day weekend Street Festival of the Arts, which features everything from literacy programs for children; performances by local, regional and national acts; Juried Arts competitions, presenting fine artists with their original artwork in competition for cash prizes; an international marketplace, where visitors purchase wares from around the world, an international food pavilion featuring an array of food options and more.”
Nevada
Cowboy Poetry Gathering
January 24-31, 2009
Elko, Nevada
http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php/National-Cowboy-Poetry-Gathering.html
“The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, is a week-long celebration of life in the rural West, featuring the contemporary and traditional arts that arise from lives lived caring for land and livestock.”
New York
The New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend
January 8-11, 2009
At the Times Center, 41st Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, New York
http://www.artsandleisureweekend.com/
“Join New York Times journalists and some of today’s most celebrated talent and thinkers from the worlds of art, television, music, literature, media, dance and politics – from Glenn Close to Keith Olbermann, Vampire Weekend to the ladies of “The View,” Salman Rushdie to Lewis Black and much more.”
"Read books. They are good for us." -- Natalie
