From Joyce Carol Oates to Jad Abumrad, Deep Water Festival Returns This Weekend

The Deep Water Literary Festival returns to Narrowsburg this weekend with a packed lineup of writers, artists, journalists, and storytellers exploring this year’s theme, “Time Shift.”

Festival founder Aaron Hicklin said this year’s theme emerged from a sense that modern life has become increasingly accelerated by technology and social change.

“We were in this very strange period where time seemed first fast and very slow and now really fast again,” Hicklin said, prompting the festival to ask how literature and storytelling help people make sense of those shifts.

Hicklin said the festival, founded in 2019, grew out of a desire to create opportunities for people to gather around books, ideas, and conversation in the Upper Delaware River Valley.

Deep Water has grown into an annual meeting place for local, national, and international writers. This year’s keynote speaker is Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad, whose presentation examines how artists such as Virginia Woolf responded to periods of technological and cultural upheaval.

Other highlights of the festival include appearances by Joyce Carol Oates, Marlon James, Fab 5 Freddy, Francine Prose, and Amal El-Mohtar.

Hicklin also pointed to discussions about technology’s growing influence on society, including a panel based on the book Muskism.

More than a literary festival, Hicklin said Deep Water transforms Narrowsburg itself into part of the experience. Events are spread throughout the town in partnership with local businesses and arts organizations, creating what he described as a uniquely collaborative atmosphere.

“A festival in a place like Narrowsburg is hard to pull off,” Hicklin said, “but it’s also incredibly rewarding,” bringing together residents and visitors for a weekend of conversation, creativity, and community.

Image: Joyce Carol Oates, pictured above on Easter, 1949. It is strange, she says, to live so long that you are older than your own parents were when they died. She uses the word “vertiginous” to describe the dizzying sensation of looking back on your life from a distance you can’t believe you’ve traveled. (Random House)