Ploughshares Literary Magazine has named Asheville, North Carolina, the Number Ten “Literary Borough” in the country. From the press release:
Asheville, the “Paris of the South,†is home to thousands of artists, including painters, dancers, sculptors and writers. The mountain town has been called both a “freak capital†and “the torn notch of the Bible Belt,†while also voted as one of the “Top 10 Most Beautiful Places in America†and one of the top seven places to live.
The city feels like a retreat from anywhere. Writers come here to take time with their craft, study and establish their art. Some people just want to kick back with a book after hiking all day. With its city conveniences nestled in a pastoral setting, it offers a great spot for both.
Asheville, host of the 2011 North Carolina Writers’ Network Fall Conference, has been home to members of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame such as Fred Chappell, Wilma Dykeman, Robert Morgan, William Sydney Porter (O. Henry), Thomas Wolfe, and 2012 Hall of Fame indcutee (and 2012 Fall Conference Poetry Master Class instructor) Kathryn Stripling Byer.
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