28 - ARTS IN THE PARK • SUMMER/FALL 2022
Adirodack Center for Writing features first ever Kickass Writers Festival SARANAC LAKE — The Adirondack Center for Writing will present its first Kickass Writers Festival, featuring writers, poets, comedians, mountaineers and more on Aug. 19 and 20. The festival will take place across various locations all over Saranac Lake and will include readings, workshops, talks, publishing programs, special performances, a book fair, speed dating, and more. The Kickass Writers Festival celebrates how writing and storytelling-in all of their forms-are essential to art, entertainment and social change. The two-day event will kick-off Friday, Aug. 19 at Pendragon Theater with the 2021 New York State Author, AYAD AKHTAR, and the 2021 New York State Poet, Willie Perdomo. The pair will be introduced by former New York State Writer, Russell Banks along with the award-winning poet Chase Twitchell. On Saturday, Aug. 20, ACW will present memoirist, feminist, and humanitarian, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, the first Peruvian woman to climb Mt. Everest and the first openly gay woman to climb The Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each of the seven continents). Her debut memoir, In the Shadow of the Mountain, tells the story of how an early life of abuse and addiction led her to discover hiking as a method of healing. These pursuits transformed her life and empowered her to not only climb the world’s most challenging
summits, but also to found the non-profit, Courageous Girls “...dedicated to healing and empowering survivors of violence and abuse through adventures in nature.” Her memoir is currently being adapted into a major motion picture starring Selena Gomez. The Adirondack Center for Writing brings words and people together through events, programs, and classes throughout the entire Adirondack region. Learn more about all that ACW has to offer readers, writers, and storytellers of all ages at www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org.
518-891-3799
24 Ceder Street Saranac Lake, NY
