The eighth annual Nature of Words literary festival is kicking off next week, from November 7th through the 11th and is to Bend’s literary scene what BendFilm is to the independent cinema scene. Each year NOW “brings acclaimed authors to Bend for five days of readings, workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and a gala author dinner” and on top of that also offers several year-round creative writing programs for people.

They have a full schedule of such events taking place at COCC, OSU Cascades, the Tower  Theatre, the Century Center, and more during the festival next week; and there are still plenty of tickets to most of the events available (though some are already sold out). If you have any interest in attending one or more of the sessions, now is the time to register.

Check out the guest authors too; quite a diverse group, with the biggest name that I recognize being Jean Auel.

The long and the short of it is, if you’re at all interested in the literary arts here in Bend—or are a writer—then this is definitely something you should be checking out.