The following readings will be held at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

• Julie L. Reed will present her new book, “Land, Language, and Women: A Cherokee and American Educational History,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 19. Reed uses Cherokee teaching and learning traditions spanning four centuries to rethink Native American educational history. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she recently joined the history and anthropology departments at the University of Tulsa. 

The North Carolina Arboretum invites everyone to join in the reawakening of a new season with Spring Into the Arb. Now in its second year, this series of plant shows and sales, science and nature activities and music and art is a wonderful way to reemerge and reconnect with nature. 

The following readings will be held at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

• Poet Donovan McAbee will read from his new collection, “Holy the Body,” with a musical per-formance by Grammy-nominated songwriter and guitarist Thomm Jutz at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 12. McAbee’s poems explore faith, doubt and dark humor. Jutz, based in Nashville, has had songs recorded by John Prine, Del McCoury, Billy Strings and The SteelDrivers and teaches songwriting at Belmont University. 

Situated on the corner of Haywood Road and Swannanoa Avenue in West Asheville, the AyurPrana Listening Room has become a haven for music lovers and artists well-versed in the sacred art of performance.

“[AyurPrana] somehow creates a ‘live studio’ atmosphere, almost like a set or soundstage or theater,” said Bryce Franich, music manager for AyurPrana. “The room feels like you’re there to experience something rare or once-in-a-lifetime, which seems to engage attendees in a theater-like manner.” 

Normally, when I’m interviewing storied Haywood County musician Darren Nicholson, we’d be talking either about an upcoming gig of his or a new album coming down the pipeline. But, today, we’re talking all things Christmas trees. 

“Well, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Nicholson tells me when I ask him about how to pick out the perfect tree for the holidays.

A packed slate of weekend events is on tap as Western Carolina University rolls out the welcome mat for alumni and friends to return to campus Nov. 7-8 for Homecoming 2025, including a parade and party in the university’s adopted hometown of Sylva. 

Seeking guidance, Jackson County Public Library board members met with County Manager Kevin King last week hoping to learn more about what, exactly, the lame-duck advisory board should do to prepare for operating an independent library over the next nine months. 

Haywood County will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene this week with a series of commemorations beginning during the opening ceremonies of the annual Haywood County Fair.

In a move that will raise some eyebrows and just as many questions, the decades-long dance festival put on by Folkmoot USA in Waynesville has quietly been eliminated. 

The long and storied tradition that is the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games returns to MacRae Meadows on Thursday, July 10, continuing through Sunday, July 13.