Asheville writer and writing teacher, Tessa Fontaine, will kick off the Ashe County Friends of the Library monthly speaker series at 11:00 am, February 25, 2026 in the Library’s Community Room.
Fontaine is the author of The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018), a New York Times Editors’ Choice and finalist for the Utah Book Award. It was also named best book of the year by, among others, Southern Living, Amazon Editors’ and The New York Post.
Her most recent novel, The Red Grove (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024) was longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel prize and named a best book by Amazon Editors' and People Magazine.
Her writing has appeared in Outside, The New York Times Book Review, AGNI, Glamour, The Believer, and elsewhere.
Fontaine was raised in San Francisco and founded Salt Lake City’s Writers in the Schools program. She is a professor and has taught at prisons, universities, and community literary organizations. Fontaine is co-founder and teacher of Accountability Workshops and currently teaches in the MFA program at Warren Wilson College, and lives in Asheville.
Debuting this month Fontaine and Thomas Calder are co-hosting a monthly series of live conversations with a variety of guests expounding on what they do and why they do it. The events are free and held every second Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at DayTrip in Asheville.
Friends of the Ashe County Library meet every fourth Wednesday of the month at 11:00 a.m. in community room downstairs at Ashe County Public Library. To learn more about upcoming speakers pick up a brochure at the circulation desk at the Library.
The Friends of the Ashe County Public Library is a nonprofit organization that supports the library. Membership is $15 per year or $200 for a lifetime. Speaker meetings are free and open to the public."
For further information or questions contact Alan Briggs at:
alanbriggs3474@gmail or (919) 809-0255
Also check out other Arts events in West Jefferson, Literary Art events in West Jefferson, Workshops in West Jefferson.
