The Mount Welcomes the 2018 Edith Wharton Writers-in-Residence

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Batuman, Jackson and Petty

LENOX, Mass. — The Mount, Edith Wharton's home, has announced the recipients of the 2018 Edith Wharton Writers-in-Residence: award-winning novelist Elif Batuman, book critic and historian Buzzy Jackson, and freelance writer and editor Kate Reed Petty.

The three finalists were selected from a pool of more than 130 applications and will be "in-residence" for two weeks in March. Their residencies will culminate with a public event, Writers in the House, free and open to the public on March 20 at 4 p.m.

Batuman, whose 2017 debut novel "The Idiot" was a New York Times Notable Book of 2017, was thrilled to learn she had earned one of the coveted spots.

"I'm a huge Edith Wharton fan and it will be an honor to work in her home," Batuman said. "I am looking forward to diving into my next project in the very rooms Wharton once occupied."

Buzzy Jackson echoed Batuman’s sentiments.


"I've heard a lot about The Mount; it’s such a spectacular setting. When I learned of the residency, I knew I had to apply," she said.

During her time at The Mount Buzzy will be working on a historical novel.

Kate Reed Petty looks forward to her time at The Mount as it "offers time and space plus a small community of fellow writers. … It sounded like the perfect combination for me to nurture the novel I'm working on."

Christene Barberich, the global editor-in-chief and co-founder of Refinery29, will join the writers as moderator of the Writers in the House event. Barberich, a 2017 Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence, will discuss with them their experience, current projects, careers, and Edith Wharton as a continuing influence on women writers.

This is the third year of the Edith Wharton Writers-in-Residence program at The Mount. Applications for the 2019 residency open June 1, 2018.

 


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Ghost Tour at Ventfort Hall

LENOX, Mass. — Join Robert Oakes, author of "Ghosts of the Berkshires," who will lead participants through the rooms and halls of Ventfort Hall sharing tales of its alleged hauntings.
 
The tour will take place at 8 pm on Saturday March 16.
 
Admission is $30 and minimum age to attend is age 12. Reservations are strongly recommended as tickets are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call at 413-637-3206. All tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Payment is required to make a reservation for an event.
 
This is not an active investigation.
 
Robert Oakes is an author, teacher, storyteller, and singer/songwriter originally from northern New Jersey and currently residing in the Berkshires.. Since 2010 Robert has led the ghost tours at Edith Wharton's The Mount in Lenox, and has represented the museum and its ghosts on Syfy's Ghost Hunters, Jeff Belanger's New England Legends series on PBS, and The Apple Seed show on BYUradio. 
 
In 2020, Robert's debut book, "Ghosts of the Berkshires," was published by Arcadia Publishing and is on sale now in our gift shop. Robert's latest book, "Ghosts of Northwestern New Jersey," was released in September 2022.
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