This year’s Deep Water Literary Festival embraces metamorphosis and transformation—a theme that resonates through the history of literature and art, as through so much of human experience. For our opening event, a midsummer night’s concert at Tusten Theater, transformation takes musical form as Marie Howe’s extraordinary poetry becomes song in a collaboration with composer Ricky Ian Gordon and soprano Jennifer Zetlan—a testament to art’s alchemy. Grammy-winning pianist, Kevin Hays, will add his own twist to Philip Glass’s short score, “Metamorphosis.”

Among many highlights, “On Becoming,” features novelists Susan Choi, Douglas Stuart, and Geoff Dyer as they explore the ways in which identity is forged in the crucible of memory and adversity, while “Elsewhere People” gathers acclaimed writers Madeleine Thien, André Aciman, Cristina Henríquez, and Alejandro Heredia to explore displacement as a perpetual state of becoming—where home is both lost and reinvented. “Ordinary Rebels” uncovers history’s quiet revolutionaries—from Mildred Harnack’s anti-Nazi cell to Italy’s women partisans—proving how ordinary people are transformed by extraordinary courage.

As always, Deep Water Literary Fest is committed to storytelling in all its forms, and this year’s performances include “Chrysalis Effect,” a dance piece that reimagines survival in a post-apocalyptic world, and artist Raphaele Shirley’s “100 Pink Smoke Flares Twice,” an ephemeral installation where pink smoke transforms landscapes into fleeting visions of beauty–a reminder that art and literature is alchemy. It bends time, bridges divides, and transforms words into worlds. We can’t wait to share it with you.

“Of all the literary festivals I’ve attended over my long career, none comes close to Deep Water for warmth, welcome, setting, originality and inspiration. I can’t wait to return."
— Joyce Maynard
“An epic literary festival”
— The New York Times
"A destination festival that is pure joy and not to be missed."
— A.M Homes
 
Festival Highlights

“I am living. I remember you” – a Midsummer Night’s Concert

Jun 20, 7:00pm

Featuring
Ricky Ian Gordon, Jennifer Zetlan, Kevin Hays

On Becoming

Jun 21, 11:00am

Featuring
Susan Choi, Douglas Stuart, Geoff Dyer

Elsewhere People

Jun 21, 2:00pm

Featuring
Alejandro Heredia, André Aciman, Madeleine Thien

Ordinary Rebels

Jun 21, 4:30pm

Featuring
Rebecca Donner, Peter Pomerantsev, Suzanne Cope
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