Western Book Roundup

It’s Book Season: The Helena Book Fest and Many More Events Across the Region

By Jenny Shank, 9-23-09

I’ve got a lot of odds and ends to mention today, many good excuses to get out of the house and enjoy some bookish activities across the region this week:

Montana

The Helena Festival of the Book kicks off tomorrow and runs through the weekend, September 24-26 at the Holter Museum of Art and the Montana Historical Society. Participants include Steven Rinella, Wendy Parciak, Samuel Ligon and Laurie Lamon.

A few weeks ago I shared my enthusiasm for Thomas Savage’s The Pass.  O. Alan Weltzien, who teaches at Western Montana College of The University of Montana, wrote the forward for the new edition of the novel, and he’s going to be discussing Savage as part of the Helena Book Festival. His lecture, entitled, ”Not Always Happy Endings: Thomas and Elisabeth Savage,” will be held at the Montana Historical Society (Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m.).  On September 25, Weltzien will participate in a Thomas Savage panel along with Sue Hart and Karl Olson (Montana Historical Society, 12 p.m.).  If you can’t make it out to Helena, the three Savage buffs will reprise their panel at the Montana Festival of the Book in Missoula in October.

Weltzien wrote in to mention that this summer he participated in the “Lemhi County Historical Society annual road trip, devoted to Thomas Savage country and The Pass in particular.  I contend The Pass forms Savage’s most Idahoan novel, in terms of setting.” Weltzien sent some photos of the tour, which you can see above. Weltzien wrote, “the three primary players in these photos are Fred Snook, retired judge, fourth-generation Lemhi Co. citizen, raconteur, and tour leader; Ralph Nichol, of Belgrade MT, who is Savage’s first cousin and told many stories about the Yearians; and Yours truly.”

Phil Condon, who teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Montana, will read from his new short story collection, Nine Ten Again, at Fact and Fiction in Missoula on Friday, September 25 (7 p.m.).  Look for my review of it tomorrow.

Colorado

The folks behind One Book, One Denver have all sorts of events planned around its current selection, To Kill A Mockingbird, which was chosen by popular vote a few weeks ago.  The events are proving popular too, with some crafting and cooking classes connected to the book already fully subscribed.  The little bird people will be creating in “To Felt a Mockingbird” workshops is awfully cute.  Even if it looks suspiciously more like a robin than a mockingbird.  There are plenty more events with space available, including a number of book discussions, a teen writing contest, a poetry slam, live radio dramas, and film screenings.

Salt Lake City-based young adult novelist Sara Zarr will be coming to the Boulder Barnes & Noble tonight to read and sign her new book Once Was Lost (7 p.m.). Her 2007 novel, Story of a Girl, was a finalist for the National Book Award.  Once Was Lost will be featured as the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association as their “Reading the West” pick for October.

The Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association is holding its trade show in Denver this weekend.  I will be reporting on a couple of days of the events, so check back for that.

Idaho

A representative of the Idaho State Historical Society wrote in to mention that the American Association for State and Local History recently honored Parma, Idaho resident Helen Turner Lowell with a “a Leadership in History award for a lifetime of preserving the history of the Lower Boise Valley.” Turner Lowell is the co-author of 1976’s Our First Hundred Years: A Biography of Lower Boise Valley, 1814-1914, and she recently celebrated her 104th birthday.

Utah

Writer and photographer Stephen Trimble is wrapping up his year as a Wallace Stegner fellow at the University of Utah, and he’ll be presenting one of his final “Wallace Stegner in Utah” talks at the Escalante Arts Festival on Friday, September 25th (3:30 p.m.).  Trimble recently wrote about his travels throughout Utah this year for Isotope Magazine, and the paperback of his Bargaining for Eden is out now.

Whew.  That’s a lot of book events.  Don’t complain to me if you can’t think of anything to do this weekend!

Please follow me on Twitter, and with any regional book news or events.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.