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CAP was founded in 1990 to act as an advocate for the arts, serve the public by providing services and resources for county artists and arts organizations, and encourage collaboration among arts, education, business, civic and government organizations.Learn more

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CAP Partners with WSKG to Kick Off Lit Fest

April 29th, 2010

Bill Jaker is on the road again, bringing WSKG's "Off The Page" program to Ithaca to record a special episode, kicking off Spring (W)rites, the inaugural Finger Lakes Literary Festival. This May 7th through the 9th the Community Arts Partnership (CAP) presents the festival-a constellation of 18 literary themed events, from workshops and panel discussions for writers to readings and performances by local poets, playwrights, essayists and novelists. The weekend begins with the taping of "Off the Page" at 4:00 pm on Friday, May 7th, in the Borg Warner Community Room of the Tompkins County Public Library.

Hosted by WSKG Producer/Director Bill Jaker, this panel convenes a group of writers from the region to discuss "Writing About Ithaca" - Ithaca and the Finger Lakes Region as setting, inspiration and even a character in itself in prose and poetry:

  • J. Robert Lennon-Novelist, Mailman.
  • Katharyn Howd Machan-former Tompkins County Poet Laureate, Belly Words; The Kitchen of Your Dreams
  • Beth Saulnier-Mystery writer, Bad Seed; The Fourth Wall
  • Michael Turback-Historian, Surrounded by Reality: 101 Things You Didn't Know About Ithaca, NY

In keeping with the program's usual interactive format, members of the audience will be invited to ask questions and add their comments and experiences. The panel discussion is free and open to the public; however, space is limited and no admittance will be granted once the program has begun, as it is being recorded for an airing of Off the Page. The program will be heard on WSKG Public Radio (90.9 in Ithaca, 89.3 in Binghamton, 91.1 in Corning/Elmira) on Tuesday, May 11th at 1:00 and 7:00 PM. "Off the Page" is WSKG's "forum for writers from our region" and has been part of the Public Radio station's schedule since January of 2000, when producer and host Bill Jaker convened a panel of science fiction writers to consider the future of s.f. and fantasy now that the 21st century was dawning. Since then the live and interactive fortnightly series has presented more than 200 broadcasts featuring writers of fiction, poetry, history, personal memoirs, children's books and even drama and film.

This inaugural festival is a program of the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County (CAP). CAP was founded in 1990 to serve as the arts council of Tompkins County, providing technical assistance, grant opportunities, and professional services and information to artists and arts organizations, as well as public programs that celebrate and support the arts community in the county. For the past 20 years, CAP has helped to distribute more than $2 million to artists and arts organizations in the community.