We will closed on Friday, May 1 for the National General Strike Day. Because of this, there will be no first Friday “Silent Book Club” this month.

Join us for our next “Death Café”*!

“Death Café” is a space where people can engage in open, meaningful conversations about life, death, and living fully every day.

An agenda-free discussion about death*

Hosted by Becky Knight

*Not a support group or grief counseling

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

Join us for a special evening author event and book signing with best-selling North Carolina author, pastor, and activist John Pavlovitz to help us close out the First Annual McDowell Literary Festival!

PLEASE RSVP IN ADVANCE so we know how many people to plan for:

Their trip together culminates in a vibrant depiction of what happens when everyone does the little bits that they can, as our friends’ individual offerings bring on a big, beautiful collective celebration.

Speaking about his first foray into children’s books, John Pavlovitz says, “This has been so long in coming! HNSC has been a dream of mine for nearly a decade, and once I met Stacey, I knew I’d found someone who could tell this story visually in a way that no one else could. It’s truly a thing of beauty!”

The book will be accompanied by an interactive group guide developed by John for families, classrooms, and libraries to help readers make the concepts of the book come to life where they are; to take the ideas right from the pages and into their communities.

We have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to make, and we’ll be making it at John’s author talk at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall building, so please RSVP now and plan now to join us!

Come celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at Bigfoot Books & Brews in downtown Marion, NC!

NOTE: We will be closing early (at 6pm) to shift all of our attention to the John Pavlovitz book event taking place at St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall building on Main Street in downtown Marion (339 S. Main St.). Everyone is invited and encouraged to join us 7pm there for a BIG announcement and for John’s first public reading of his new powerful and inspiring children’s book Here and Now and Small and Close!

The First Annual McDowell Literary Festival is a collaboration between three of the independent bookstores in McDowell County, NC!

Taking place on Independent Bookstore Day 2026 (always the last Saturday in April), the festival will include a local authors book fair, special author events and book signings, book sales and promotions, and other related events to celebrate authors and books in McDowell County, NC.

Please join us at 7pm for a very special author talk with John Pavlovitz discussing his new children’s book Here and Now and Small and Close!

We have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to make, and we’ll be making it at John’s author talk at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall building, so please RSVP now and plan to join us for that.

Want a chance to win a year of free audiobooks?

We’re partnering with Libro.FM to give one winner 12 free audiobooks on Independent Bookstore Day / First Annual McDowell Literary Festival Day.

Just visit Bigfoot Books & Brews on Saturday, April 25th and find the hidden Golden Ticket!

Join us for a night of open mic poetry — hosted by Dark City poet Greg Feightner! Get here early and sign up to read.

Greg Feightner is a big nerd whose right and left brains are constantly in conversation and occasionally disagree. He comes to us here in Marion from spending time recently in the Dark City Poetry Society in Black Mountain, NC, through open mics and monthly critique circles.

The puzzle pieces of his life as a former pastor, IT support manager, systems administrator, one-time festival organizer, men’s group facilitator and public storyteller/writer at first seem to impossible to fit together, but somehow, they do. The result is a wonderfully abstract tableau resembling a Picasso painting smeared into a JMW Turner-esque canvas. His proudest achievements are recipes, particularly figuring out how to perfectly cook thick cut bacon in the oven.

Join co-hosts Tina Wolfe and Christy Lewis from Civic Sound-Off as they interview Matt Suttles, Democratic candidate for the McDowell County Board of Commissioners, followed by a LIVE Q&A with you!

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

Join Unite Against Book Bans on April 20 for Right to Read Day—a time to celebrate our wins and take action against book bans!

The American Library Association will also release data and statistics about book bans in the United States in 2025 on Right to Read Day. For the latest information as it becomes available, visit uniteagainstbookbans.org/right-to-read-day.

Join us for a special Sunday afternoon author talk and book signing event with Carolyn Eichhorn, the western North Carolina-based author of the new culinary mystery Murder in the Mix!

Expect showtunes, pop music, or the genre your heart desires. Mics will be hot and bad art is encouraged. All are welcome. Art is for all.

Hosted by the Yonder Youth Collective!

Join us for a night of original music hosted by Freddy Bradburn!

Hosted by award-winning songwriter, educator, and playwright Freddy Bradburn, FEATURING performances from all of you!

Would you like to perform at our first Songwriter Night? Just contact Freddy to get on the list to perform!

Freddy Bradburn taught communications, theater, and storytelling at McDowell Tech for more than 20 years. He is also an award-winning songwriter, mulit-instrumentalist, and member of the local trio The Happy Enchiladas. He has had two original musicals produced by the local theater. Presently, Freddy created and directs a youth string band that performs in the community.

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

Join us for a FREE viewing party of the new documentary “In Their Hands” followed by a post-screening discussion!

Two best friends. Two callings. One shared belief: words matter.

Join us for a lively and thoughtful evening of words and works; where public service meets the power of language. Suzanne Gavenus, candidate for House District 85, will give remarks about the road ahead for her district. And, in a special guest appearance, a reading of new work by poet Maria Garcia Teutsch.

Come for the inspiration, stay for the conversation, and help shape what comes next.

Because democracy not only requires a commitment to public service, but also to courage, imagination, and the belief that our voices still matter.

PLEASE RSVP IN ADVANCE:
For tickets and to donate any amount to Suzanne’s campaign:

Suzanne believes everyone should have access to affordable healthcare and mental health services; our educators deserve respect and fair pay; working families need affordable housing, childcare and living wages; and disaster recovery should focus on long-term resilience so our communities can rebuild stronger. 

She brings leadership that is grounded in service, focused on working families, and committed to long-term solutions and economic stability for Avery, McDowell, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties—and to make sure our voices are heard in Raleigh.

In 2023 she wrote and directed two one act plays, The Revolution Will Have its Sky: a poem in one act, at Studio Apelbaum; and What She Saw in the Loteria Cards at Galerie Z22, both in Berlin, Germany. 

Her cinepoem, The Revolution Will Have its Sky was a part of the 2023 official selection of the Fotogenia Festival in Mexico City; The Nature and Culture International Poetry Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark; and the Birmingham International Art Film Festival, England.

In 2024 the cinepoem was a finalist at the New Arts International Film Festival in London, England. The Revolution Trilogy is comprised of her award-winning poetry collection, her one act play, and her cinepoem.

The Swallows of America was published by Dancing Girl Press in the Fall of 2021. Heather McHugh chose her poetry collection, The Revolution Will Have its Sky, as the winner of the Minerva Rising chapbook competition.

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

We will closed on Sunday, April 5 for the Easter holiday. Happy Easter, to all who celebrate!

Join us as for a special Second Chance Month guided discussion of the new book Jailbirds in Flight: Everything You Wanted to Know About Enlightenment in Prison But Were Afraid to Ask by Nicole Daedone, hosted by editor Courtenay Lapovsky and Marla Moffet!

RSVP IS REQUESTED: We are asking you to RSVP in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements for seating, coffee, etc.:

Written from inside MDC, this book is a love letter to the human soul and a call to restore the sacred in our most forsaken institutions. With startling tenderness and conviction, Daedone shows what happens when we treat prisons not as wastelands of punishment, but as the bedrock of liberation for a nation.

Nicole Daedone has given the copyright, all book proceeds, and related rights this book to the Jailbirds in Flight Trust, so her story can keep benefiting others. The Trust money is shared between some of the women she was incarcerated with, some of whose stories helped inspire some of this book and the non-profit Unconditional Freedom which runs the Art of Soulmaking and Guards to Guardians.

Courtenay is known for her humor, vulnerability, and storytelling, qualities that make the teachings of Eros feel personal and immediately relevant. Her classes invite participants to discover how the Sutras can illuminate and transform their daily lives.

She’s taught yoga at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., New York University in Paris, and the largest women’s prison in the U.S. A mover her whole life, Marla is happiest when practicing yoga, chanting, or dancing.

Bring a book with you (or grab one off of our shelves!), read quietly for one hour (7-8pm), then talk about it with other people (or not) if you choose to (8-9pm)! Tell people about what you’re reading and hear about what other people are reading. (Or just keep reading quietly by yourself for the second hour—it’s up to you!)

Ariana Hunter Greene will be hosting a book club here to discuss the book All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers!

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers is a popular, twisty thriller, focusing on a journalist returning home to solve an old murder linked to a new missing child case. It is ideal for fans of the “Crime Junkie” podcast (hosted by Flowers), offering intense discussions on small-town secrets and cliffhanger endings.

This book club is open to anyone who is interested in joining!

“When our families are under attack and costs are pushing people to the brink, silence is not an option. We will defend ourselves and our communities against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence.

“On March 28th, rise up, take to the streets, and say it loud: no thrones, no crowns, no kings. We’re not watching history happen—we’re making it. Join us.

“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.”

Join us for a night of open mic original poetry — hosted by Dark City poet Greg Feightner! Get here early and sign up to read.

Greg Feightner is a big nerd whose right and left brains are constantly in conversation and occasionally disagree. He comes to us here in Marion from spending time recently in the Dark City Poetry Society in Black Mountain, NC, through open mics and monthly critique circles.

The puzzle pieces of his life as a former pastor, IT support manager, systems administrator, one-time festival organizer, men’s group facilitator and public storyteller/writer at first seem to impossible to fit together, but somehow, they do. The result is a wonderfully abstract tableau resembling a Picasso painting smeared into a JMW Turner-esque canvas. His proudest achievements are recipes, particularly figuring out how to perfectly cook thick cut bacon in the oven.

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

Join us as for a special afternoon event with Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad, Founding Director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and author of the new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde.

RSVP IS REQUESTED: We are asking you to RSVP in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements for seating, coffee, etc.:

She is the Founding Director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies. She is also a Fulbright Scholar and Awardee in South Africa and Ghana. She is a contributing writer for Lion’s Roar and other publications and the author of two academic books Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives and the Struggle for Justice (2017).

Join us for a night of original music hosted by Freddy Bradburn!

Hosted by award-winning songwriter, educator, and playwright Freddy Bradburn, FEATURING performances from all of you!

Would you like to perform at our first Songwriter Night? Just contact Freddy to get on the list to perform!

Freddy Bradburn taught communications, theater, and storytelling at McDowell Tech for more than 20 years. He is also an award-winning songwriter, mulit-instrumentalist, and member of the local trio The Happy Enchiladas. He has had two original musicals produced by the local theater. Presently, Freddy created and directs a youth string band that performs in the community.

Join us for the Snail Mail Society!

We gather every Wednesday at 1pm for a casual letter writing group, hosted by Grace Kendall from the Tabletop Inn. Grace will bring some stationary, but feel free to bring your own.

Anybody can write letters to people they know or maybe there's a letters-to-strangers project you'd like to participate in. Just bring your ideas, and let’s write together!

Come out and enjoy a live Sunday afternoon musical performance by award-winning songwriter Freddy Bradburn!

Freddy Bradburn taught communications, theater, and storytelling at McDowell Tech for more than 20 years. He is also an award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and member of the local trio The Happy Enchiladas. He has had two original musicals produced by the local theater. Presently, Freddy created and directs a youth string band that performs in the community.

Join us as for a special afternoon event with Heather Leah, “The Hidden Historian” and author of the new book Lost Towns of North Carolina.

RSVP IS REQUESTED: We are asking you to RSVP in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements for seating, coffee, etc.:

Heather has served as a Commissioner on Raleigh’s Historic Development Commission, driving community awareness. Her past work includes being the Hidden History Segment Journalist at WRAL TV and ABC11 / WTVD. 

She is currently the Historian guide for The Great Raleigh Trolley.