Big Stone Gap, VA — The MECC Foundation is pleased to announce the 41st annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival, featuring presentations by guest authors Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and Preston Mitchell, on Wednesday, March 22 at 10 a.m. in the Goodloe Center of Phillips-Taylor Hall.

In coordination with the festival event, the MECC Foundation will host the 30th Annual Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest and the 13th Annual Lonesome Pine Poetry Contest. Individuals interested in obtaining guidelines for submitting short story and poetry contest entries should contact the MECC Foundation Office at (276) 523-7466.  The deadline for submitting entries is Tuesday, February 28 at 4:30 p.m. Entry categories include adult, high school (grades 9 through 12), and middle school (grades 5 through 8) categories.  Contest rules are available on the MECC Foundation website at www.meccfoundation.org. Winners of the contest will be announced during the Literary Festival Event.

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s most recent novel, The War That Saved My Life, won a Newbery Award, a Schneider Award, and was number one on the New York Times Bestseller list. She has published sixteen books for young people, with a few other titles including Jefferson’s Sons, For Freedom, and Halfway to the Sky. The War I Finally Won, a sequel to The War That Saved My Life, will be published in October by Dial Books for Young Readers.

Preston Mitchell published Chase the Buffalo, a twenty-five-year odyssey of discovery and awareness, in 2016.  Chase the Buffalo is a story of one man’s quest to cycle the lower 48 states over a twenty-five-year period.  From the depths of the Mohave Desert, to the heights of the Rocky Mountains, from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, the ride is filled with beauty, adventure, theology, and hilarity.

Books will be available to purchase and for author signing.  The John Fox, Jr. Festival will be followed by a reservation-only luncheon with the featured speakers at the John Fox, Jr. Museum in Big Stone Gap.  Tickets for the luncheon are $23 per person and reservations can be made by calling the MECC Foundation office at 276.523-7466.

For more information on the MECC Foundation, please visit our website at www.meccfoundation.org.

-MECC Foundation

To view the contest rules, CLICK HERE.