Western Book Roundup
New Books, Literary News, and Events Across the Region
By Jenny Shank, 4-16-08
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| El Centro Su Teatro, photo courtesy of SuTeatro.org. | |
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There’s a lot going on across the region this week, including readings and performances, a new book deal for an Oregon writer, and a lawsuit against a defunct Utah bookstore.
Colorado
The ninth annual Pablo Neruda Poetry Festival kicks off Thursday at El Centro Su Teatro in Denver. The first night features a tribute to the Denver teacher and poet Lalo Delgado, who died in 2004 and was posthumously named Denver’s first Poet Laureate. Su Teatro actors will perform Delgado’s poetry on Thursday (April 17, 8 p.m., $12-$15), and on Friday the stage will host participants in the Barrio Slam, vying for a $500 prize. On Saturday afternoon, there’s the “Tacos and Words Literary Salon” (tacos included with the price of admission) and that night is Palabras Vidas, a reading by Sandra Maria Esteves of the Nuyorican Poets Café and regional poet Sheryl Luna, among others.
John Kuebler of Su Teatro described to Mark Dragotta of Westword what attendees can expect: “Our artistic director, Tony Garcia, really likes the spoken-word form. He thinks of it as the next step in Chicano theater. Many artists are doing these hip-hop influenced spoken-word theater acts. So there’s kind of a merging of these forms.”
Boulder-based literary magazine Many Mountains Moving hosts a literary salon at St. John’s Episcopal Church on April 19 at 7 p.m., featuring readings by Marilyn Krysl and Robert Cooperman. To learn more about Krysl, a Boulder poet, fiction writer, and teacher, check out this recent Colorado Matters interview with her.
Montana
Michael Merschel of the Dallas Morning News recently interviewed Jim Donovan, the author of A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn, a book that delves into the history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and tries to separate truth from fiction about Custer. According to the interview, Donovan studied primary sources from the perspectives of both Custer’s army and the Sioux, as well as archaeological evidence to create a fresh narrative account of the events that was as accurate as possible.
Oregon
Oregon native writer Benjamin Percy recently signed a contract for his first novel with Graywolf Press, who also published his most recent short story collection, Refresh, Refresh. The new book, The Wilding, is due out in late 2009. For Percy fans who don’t want to wait that long to read more of his work, check out the May issue of Esquire, which includes his story “April 20th, 2008.” (And check out our recent interview with Percy here.)
Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the state of Utah is suing the owner of a defunct bookstore because customers did not receive refunds they were due. Brianna Lange writes, “The Utah Division of Consumer Protection is going to court to try to enforce a $10,000 fine against the owner of the former Beat the Bookstore franchise near the University of Utah…The fine was imposed because the store failed to issue refunds to customers after the store closed in October without giving notice to customers or the corporate company.” (Via Shelf Awareness.)
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