Bozeman News

Western Book Roundup

October Brings Book Events Throughout the Region

By Jenny Shank, 10-13-10

October is National Book Month, and there are book festivals throughout the region for the next few weeks—check out our Book Festivals of the West map to learn more about what’s going on in Montana, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho this month.  (The orange books on the map mark the October events.)

• Every year the Lighthouse Writers Workshop brings a notable writer to Denver for Inside the Writer’s Studio, a weekend full of literary activity.  Past guests have included Lorrie Moore, Tobias Wolff, and Francine Prose.  This year the featured guest is Colson Whitehead, the funny, talented author of four novels and one collection of essays.  A few years back, he won a MacArthur “genius grant” for his trouble.  (Also check out his always-amusing Twitter feed.) The festivities kick off on Saturday, October 23 with Inside the Writer’s Studio, an on-stage interview of Whitehead at Jones Theatre (DCPA, 4 p.m., $15-$20).  After that comes the Intuitive Dinner and Drinks, a chance to schmooze with Whithead at Tamayo (7 p.m., $100-$140).  On Sunday, October 24 at the Tattered Cover LoDo, Whitehead will deliver “Five Micro Lectures on Craft” ($50-$65).  Tickets to all three events are $150 for Lighthouse members, $185 for non-members.

• The 13th Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival takes a unique approach to celebrating books in October.  Instead of grouping all the events in one place over a few days, as does Missoula’s Montana Festival of the Book (October 28-29) and Billings’ High Plains Book Festival (October 16-19), Utah’s festival hosts events all over the state.  Some of the highlights include:

On Saturday, October 23, Thomas McGuane will speak at the Salt Lake City Main Library. (2 p.m., free.) McGuane’s new novel, Driving on the Rim, hits bookstores next week.  Watch for our review and interview with McGuane soon. Click here to learn about the many other authors coming to Salt Lake City for the festival.

On October 16, poets will gather to discuss the anthology New Poets of the American West (which we’ve featured several selections from) at Holmgren Historical Farm and Gardens in Tremonton, Utah (7 p.m., free). Utah and Idaho poets featured in the anthology, including Sandy Anderson, Star Coulbrooke, Linda Jeffries, and Michael Sowder, will read.

In Moab, on October 21, Craig Childs will read from The Secret Knowledge of Water, this year’s Moab Reads selection (Grand County Public Library, 7 p.m.), and he’ll also be involved in the Confluence Literary Festival from October 21 through 24 (Moab Arts and Recreation Center, multiple events).  This year’s theme is “Water.”

The Utah Humanities website has an interactive map with all the details of the many festival events.

• Great Falls, Montana-based author Jamie Ford scored a big hit with his debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which continues to win honors.  The novel, set in Washington state, was recently selected for the Washington Reads program fall book list, and it was nominated for the Washington State Book Award (it won the Montana Book Award earlier this year).  Ford has been touring behind the popular book for nearly two years, and he’s still on the road this month, visiting towns throughout Washington and Oregon before swinging down to Broomfield, Colorado on November 6, where Hotel has been selected as the One Book Broomfield selection (Broomfield Community Auditorium, 7 p.m.).  Check out all the dates on Ford’s never-ending book tour here.

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