Tahoe WordWave: Inaugural literary festival gaining national attention

Get ready for Tahoe WordWave, a literary event the likes of which has never before been seen in South Lake Tahoe, and the rest of the country is taking note.

Modeled after San Francisco's LitQuake, organizers of Tahoe WordWave have gathered creative and inspiring writers, musicians, and performers from around the country to share their talents over a three day experience at Tallac Historic Site. The festival will be interactive, featuring readings, workshops, plays, open mics, guided hikes, and oral storytelling.

“I am blown away by the community support,” said co-founder Kim Wyatt, owner of Bona Fide Books in Meyers. Tahoe South, South Lake Tahoe Rotary, Soroptimists of the Tahoe Sierra, Friends of the Library, Charter Advertising, and Folio Books are all supporting WordWave. Locals Len and Cindy Carlsen have jumped in and have backed the playwrighting contest.

LitQuake started as a one-day event and now lasts for one week. Wyatt would like to see WordWave grow as well. She envisions parts of the festival taking place in venues from Meyers to Stateline.

Wyatt and her co-founder Jennifer Basye-Sander have spent a year planning WordWave. Once they were told they could have the use of Vahalla for free, they made sure the festival was full of something for everyone. Basye-Sander runs "Write by the Lake," a women's writing retreat located in the Al Tahoe neighborhood.

A lot of the festival is free with some events having a small fee.

WordWave starts with two workshops on Friday, one for people that are interested in self-publishing their works. Wyatt leads this from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the cost is $40. During the same time is a chance for writers to pitch their book idea with a top literary agent. The cost is $20 for 10 minutes and participants will get professional feedback and suggestions, and maybe walk out with an agent.

The Tall Timber Ball at the Grand Hall: Steampunk in the Woods

Maybe a Steampunk Ball isn't well known, but after Friday night it certainly will in South Lake Tahoe. Based on the work of Jules Verne, people will be dressed up in everything from top hats and goggles to high heels and punky outfits. It is considered a cross between Edwardian and the Industrial Revolution with a touch of Mad Max. The cocktail party tickets are sold out, but some remain for the dance which includes food, music and fun. This is the only event of the festival that is a fundraiser and Wyatt hopes to make enough for WordWave to break even.

The Grand Hall at Valhalla is being transformed into five different vignettes with a "crazy atmosphere. This is foing to be one of those parties you’ll hear about and will regret you didn’t go," said Wyatt. Cost is $75 for the 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. dance.

One-Act Plays

Almost 200 people from across the country entered the one-act play competition sponsored by the Carlsens. The winner, Michelle Benson, is a recent graduate from Middle Tennessee State University. Runner-up Dallas Woodburn is a fiction writer, playwright and teacher who has had plays produced from New York to Los Angeles.

Honorable mention honors go to Rod McFadden who teaches in the masters programs at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco.

Saturday Free Events

A full day of free activities start at 8 a.m. with morning yoga, followed by keynote speaker Pam Houston. There will be a Washoe artist and drum maker, travel writing, poetry, novel writing for kids, hands on makers station teaching storytelling techniques, picnic with author Garth Stein, a Tahoe history roundtable, and much more. For a full schedule, visit this link.

25 writers, performers and creators are offering the day full of activities for children and adults.

15 South Tahoe High students received scholarships from Soroptimists to attend the weekend events and Wyatt was at STHS on Tuesday to promote everything the festival has to offer.

The first 25 at the keynote address receive a free, and unreleased, book

Sunday

Sunday is the final day of WordWave, but still full of workshops for the writer, including a hike and writing seminar by Tahoe Rim Trail Guidebook author Tim Hauserman and Eve Quesnel.

For more information and tickets: TahoeWordWave.com