(LENOX, Mass.) – On Thursday, September 5, 2013, at 5 pm, The Mount will kick off WordFest 2013 by welcoming the public to a free poetry event featuring Christian Phiffer and Rambling Poets. The event, which will be held on Edith Wharton’s expansive Terrace, will showcase gifted poets from the Berkshire, Albany, and Pioneer Valley regions.

Besides Phiffer, who will serve as host, the program will include Thom Francis of Albany Poets; Kevin Peterson, Algorhythm and others from the Nitty Gritty Slam; and Craig Nelson, Sam C., Bob Lipton, Chris O’Carroll, and Marley Engvall of Northampton Poetry, among others. Francis and Nelson, respectively the leads of Albany Poets and Northampton Poetry, will share host roles when their groups take the stage.

WordFest at The Mount, the three-year-old literary festival held at Edith Wharton’s Berkshire home, will take place this year from September 5-21. This special poetry event on September 5 will be followed on successive Thursdays with two more readings by writers and poets with ties to the Berkshires. The festival will culminate with two special weekend events: the Berkshire premiere of Literary Death Match on Friday, September 20, and a free public reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Strand on Saturday, September 21. All events will be held at The Mount, located at 2 Plunkett Street in Lenox, Mass. For more information or to make reservations, visit The Mount or call 413-551-5100.

Food and beverages will be available for purchase from the Terrace Cafe. The program, which will run approximately two hours, will include a brief intermission.

The Mount is located at 2 Plunkett Street in Lenox, MA. For more information, visit www.EdithWharton.org or call 413-551-5100.

“I’m thrilled to put the spotlight on the talented poets and slam poetry activities that abound in this part of the country,” said Christian Phiffer, a North Adams, Mass.-based poet who in April 2013 founded Rambling Poets, a community organization devoted to the advocacy and support of poetry and poets. “I can think of no better place to bring everyone together than at The Mount, with its own alluring beauty and significant literary history,” he added.

 

The complete schedule for WordFest at The Mount is as follows:

 

Thursday, September 5, 5 pm: Christian Phiffer and Rambling Poets

(free)

A one-of-a-kind poetry event featuring celebrated local slam poets. The event will be held during The Mount’s extended evenings, with free admission for all. This evening, as on every Thursday evening during the WordFest celebration, The Mount will be hosting an informal Book Swap. Visitors are invited to bring books they’ve read and would like to recommend. In exchange, they can take home books contributed by others.

Beverages and light fare will be available for purchase from the Terrace Café. No reservations necessary. Call 413-551-5100 for more information.

 

Thursday, September 12, 5 pm: “Writing from the Heart”
Presented in partnership with the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers (free)

Hosted by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, this program will feature short, heartfelt readings by Suzi Banks Baum, Sahra Brubeck, Anni Crofut, Hannah Fries, Jan Hutchinson, Lydia Littlefield, and Maria Sirois.

 

Thursday, September 19, 5:30 pm: Poetry on the Terrace

(free)

Six poets with ties to the Berkshires will read from their work on The Mount’s expansive Terrace.  The readings will be free, the café will be open for refreshments, and the poets will converse with audience members during the book signings afterwards. The event will feature Charles Coe, Jessica Fisher, David Giannini, Mark Hart, Owen Lewis, and Ellen Doré Watson.

This evening, as on every Thursday evening during the WordFest celebration, The Mount will be hosting an informal Book Swap. Visitors are invited to bring books they’ve read and would like to recommend. In exchange, they can take home books contributed by others.

No reservations necessary. Call 413-551-5100 for more information.

 

 

Friday, September 20, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm): Literary Death Match

On Friday evening, September 20th, The Mount will host the Berkshire premiere of Literary Death Match. A highly entertaining, high-energy combination of literary readings and commentary, Literary Death Match has been performed in over 50 cities worldwide. Together with Literary Death Match creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, The Mount will present literary and other well-known luminaries who will serve as performers and judges for this witty and fun-filled show. Participants will include Jim Shepard, Ophira Eisenberg, Jason Diamond, Rachel Shukert, Steve Almond, Brando Skyhorse, and Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz.

The evening will begin and end with time for the audience to mingle with the writers. Drinks will be available. Advance tickets: $12 general; $10 Mount members; $8 students (with ID). $15 at door. For tickets or more information, visit The Mount or call 413.551.5100.

 

 

Saturday, September 21, 4 pm: Reading by Mark Strand

(free)

On Saturday afternoon at 4 pm, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Strand will read from his selected works, including prose poems from Almost Invisible, his most recent book. The reading will be free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged, but not required.

Mark Strand was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada and now lives in Madrid, Spain. He is the author of 13 books of poems, a book of stories, several monographs on painters including one on Edward Hopper, several children’s books, a collection of essays and a couple of books of translations. He has won many fellowships and prizes including a MacArthur and a Guggenheim, the Pulitizer Prize, the Bollingen Prize, the Wallace Stevens Prize, and the Gold Medal for Poetry from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. In addition, his collages are currently being exhibited at Lori Bookstein Fine Art in New York City.

 

To reserve space or for more information, visit The Mount or call 413-551-5100.

The Mount is both a historic site and a center for culture inspired by the passions and achievements of Edith Wharton. Designed and built by Edith Wharton in 1902, the house embodies the principles outlined in her influential book, The Decoration of Houses (1897). The property includes three acres of formal gardens designed by Wharton, who was also an authority on European landscape design, surrounded by extensive woodlands. Programming at The Mount reflects Wharton’s core interests in the literary arts, interior design and decoration, garden and landscape design, and the art of living. Annual exhibits explore themes from Wharton’s life and work. In July 2010, The Mount held the first Berkshire WordFest, bringing together acclaimed writers and passionate readers in one of the most beautiful settings in the Berkshires. Learn more at The Mount.