Publishing as Collective Practice: An Immersive, Community-Driven Workshop (Free)
Black Mountain Library — Saturday, November 8 | 3pm–4pm | Free and open to the public
Next weekend, the Black Mountain Library will host the first Dark City Lit Festival, a celebration of books, reading, and community life across Buncombe County. The schedule is full of author talks, kids’ events, signings, book swaps, and poetry, all centered on one idea: literature thrives when people show up for each other. You can read the full festival lineup through Buncombe County Public Libraries HERE.
We’ll be there at the book fair (9am-11am), author readings, and as part of the festival, I’ll be leading a free workshop called Publishing as Collective Practice on Saturday, November 8 from 3pm–4pm at Black Mountain Library.
The workshop begins with a simple premise: publishing is not just the act of putting words on a page. It is a shared practice held up by many hands. Writing groups that shape early drafts. Open mics and salons where new work first enters the room. Small presses and community journals that create infrastructure. Libraries that keep doors open for anyone seeking a place to read, think, and belong.
The idea echoes a long history in this region. Black Mountain College built an artistic legacy not by focusing on a few select voices, but by creating a space where writers, dancers, painters, and thinkers lived and worked side by side. As poet Robert Creeley wrote, Charles Olson “needed a college to think with,” meaning a community of many voices, all active and engaged.
Today, Western North Carolina is experiencing a new wave of literary energy. Independent presses, small magazines, and regional writers are carrying Southern stories forward, documenting place, memory, identity, and change. At Loblolly Press, we see publishing as both artistic work and civic work—an act of tending to the voices that don’t always make it into the center of the cultural conversation.
During the workshop, we will look at what collective practice means in the daily life of a writer:
Shared creation — the writing groups, workshops, and collaborations that keep drafts alive
Shared presentation — open mics, salons, bookstore readings, and library events
Shared infrastructure — small presses, community journals, pooled resources, and digital collectives
Shared responsibility — documenting community history, uplifting marginalized voices, and treating publishing as world-making, not gatekeeping.
Every participant will leave with a personal “community map”—a practical list of resources, partners, and opportunities to support their creative life. The goal is simple: no writer should have to build alone.
I’ll be joined by Garrett Ashley, author of A Field Guide to North American Trees and the forthcoming Habitats (Loblolly Press, 2026). Garrett’s work explores personal histories intersect with land, ancestry, and transformation in the contemporary South. He will join the conversation for Q&A about his experience in various literary communities.
If you want to connect earlier in the day, Garrett and I will be at the Author Fair from 9am–11am, also at Black Mountain Library, with books and time to talk.
Event Details
If you’re reading this from afar and can’t make it to Black Mountain, you can still support the work we’re doing.
Loblolly Press publishes contemporary Southern literature from emerging, underrepresented, and regionally rooted voices. Our books are available at loblollypress.com, and direct orders help keep the press alive and independent.
You can also subscribe to this Substack to stay connected to new books, author features, readings, and submission windows. Paid subscribers help us fund printing, editing, and event programming throughout the year.
Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping to build a living literary culture here in the South.