http://www.newwest.net/topic/main/C131/L/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2008 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:10:54 MDT Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:10:54 MDT http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/western_literature_week_kicks_off_in_boulder/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/western_literature_week_kicks_off_in_boulder/C131/C131/ Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:12:37 MDT Western Literature Week, a collaboration between the Center of the American West and the Western Literature Association, kicks off today in Boulder. Public readings by Western authors will be held from October 1 through 4, including the October 2 presentations of Aaron Abeyta and Linda Hogan ("Western Poetic Landscapes," 4 p.m.) and William Kittredge and Patricia Limerick ("Western Collaborations," 7 p.m.). Other highlights are Teresa Jordan and Laura Pritchett's discussion entitled "Women Write the Range" (October 3, 12:15 p.m.) and Simon Ortiz and Reg Saner's "Reflecting the Sacred and Sacrificed West" (October 3, 5 p.m.). All events are at the Millennium Harvest House Motel, except for the October 4 Janet Campbell Hale presentation, which will be held at the Old Main Chapel on CU Campus (7 p.m.). Check out the complete schedule here. Also in the Roundup: Suspected arson is the latest twist in the Sherry Jones Jewel of Medina saga, Nick Arvin writes an op-ed for the New York Times, and U of Montana grad Matthew Eck picks up a "5 Under 35" award. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_douglas_kurtz/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_douglas_kurtz/C131/C131/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:57:09 MDT Boulder-based writer and writing coach Douglas Kurtz recently published his first novel, Mosquito, an action-packed literary thriller set throughout the American West, including stops in Boulder, Moab, Rocky Mountain National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park, where eco-tour guide protagonist Ben Baxter leads his group in and out of peril. Kurtz grew up in New York and Kansas, studied at the University of Delaware, and then at the University of Colorado, where he earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing (and I met him ten years ago). Kurtz also earned his life coaching certification from the Coach Training Alliance, and specializes in working with writers through his business, Write Life Coaching. I recently interviewed Doug about how he blended thriller and literary fiction elements in Mosquito, his current novel, and how he helps other writers overcome "limiting thoughts and beliefs, self judgment, lack of direction, and anxiety." New West: I really liked the premise of Mosquito with this haunted leader of Outward Bound-type adventures as the protagonist. It allowed you to take the story to a lot of beautiful wilderness settings throughout the West, and to describe them in an active way that involved the plot. How did you come up with this idea? Douglas Kurtz: For a couple of years in my twenties I worked as a tour leader taking foreign travelers on trips around the US, Canada and Mexico. I knew when I started Mosquito that I wanted the story, or part of it at least, to revolve around this kind of travel, but I didn’t know until I was well into the writing that a cross-country tour would become the vessel for the entire thing. Setting is very important to me, in fiction and in my life, so I wanted it to play a big role. Wilderness settings are full of opportunities for combining action and danger and beauty, and this was appealing to me—the idea that I could get a fast-paced plot happening in these scenic places, without using a lot of static description, which tends to bog down the pace. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/oprah_picks_wroblewskis_sawtelle_brokeback_porn_aggrieves_proulx/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/oprah_picks_wroblewskis_sawtelle_brokeback_porn_aggrieves_proulx/C131/C131/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:11:44 MDT It's getting to be all David Wroblewski all the time around here at the Roundup, but heck, this is big news: Oprah has named The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by the Westminster, Colo. writer as her next Book Club selection. Check out my interview with him, which I conducted a few weeks before the book was published, and my review of it for the Rocky Mountain News here. Patti Thorn, Books Editor at the Rocky, has the post-Oprah announcement scoop with Wroblewski. Earlier this month, Robert J Hughes of the Wall Street Journal interviewed Annie Proulx about her new story collection. Proulx said that this would be her final collection of Wyoming stories, because she wants to avoid the "regional-writer" label. She also remarked on how the film version of "Brokeback Mountain" affected her life: "'Brokeback Mountain' has had little effect on my writing life, but is the source of constant irritation in my private life." Also in the Roundup: Book news from Idaho's Joan Opyr and Kim Barnes and Oregon's Floyd Skloot, and Missoula mourns the death of crime novelist James Crumley. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_amy_shearn/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_amy_shearn/C131/C131/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:06:53 MDT In Amy Shearn's debut novel, How Far is the Ocean From Here, Susannah Prue, a nine-month pregnant surrogate mother for a wealthy Chicago couple flees to the desert "somewhere between West Texas and East New Mexico" and installs herself at the “godforsaken fleabag” Thunder Lodge motel, where she tries to sort out her complex emotions and makes a set of quirky friends. I recently interviewed Shearn via email about the inspiration for her book, writing from the perspective of a pregnant woman, and how she "always felt like anything could happen in the southwest." New West: How did you come up with the idea to build a novel around a nine-month-pregnant woman fleeing to the desert? Amy Shearn: It really all came from an image that just popped into my head of this pregnant woman driving alone through the desert. I had a vague idea that somehow the baby wasn’t hers, which obviously didn’t make any sense, so the whole process of writing the book was really an exercise in picking apart this mystery I’d set up for myself. Also, I’m just interested in those weird things that the human body can do. Pregnancy itself is surreal enough, but surrogacy sounds like science fiction. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/wyoming_reads_wroblewski_takes_his_time/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/wyoming_reads_wroblewski_takes_his_time/C131/C131/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:04 MDT It seems like every week I have some new information to mention about bestselling Colorado writer David Wroblewski, so here's today's tidbit: Rachel Deahl of Publishers Weekly reports: "…48-year-old debut author David Wroblewski has made an unusual request—he's asked would-be producers to pitch their film ideas to him in person so he can choose who’s most deserving of the film rights. The unusual (and demanding) move, if nothing else, will make a quick acquisition unlikely." This seems to be characteristic of Wroblewski, who took over a decade to craft his hit novel. He continues to be more concerned with quality than speed. (Via Texas Pages.) The September 11 edition of The Economist reported that libraries and reading are thriving in Wyoming. (Via The Book Bench.) The article featured Burns, Wyoming's library, noting, "This town of just 300 people has a public library containing 11,500 books." Also in the Roundup: Casper College hosts the 22nd annual Equality State Book Festival, The Wasatch Journal sponsors a Western short story contest, and the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association's annual trade show hits Colorado Springs. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/denver_picks_dead_author/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/denver_picks_dead_author/C131/C131/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:09:25 MDT Yesterday, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced that this year's pick for One Book, One Denver will be Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man. A few weeks ago I mentioned that Random House had dropped plans to publish former Missoulian Sherry Jones' novel, The Jewel of Medina, because the publisher feared that the book, told from the perspective of one of Muhammad's wives, could "incite violence." According to AFP, a British publisher, Gibson Square, announced that it will publish the book, releasing it in the U.K. next month. (Via Galleycat.) Also in the Roundup: Another honor for David Wroblewski, Denver short stories in the Rocky Mountain News, and readings by Doreen Orion and Stephen Trimble. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/bozeman_launches_new_community_reading_program/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/bozeman_launches_new_community_reading_program/C131/C131/ Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:00:17 MDT The first One Book-One Bozeman joins a number of other regional community reading programs when it kicks off this week, featuring Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder. The program, organized by "A host of volunteers and community partners, including the Bozeman Public Library, the Bozeman Public Library Foundation, Hopa Mountain, MSU, and Yellowstone Public Radio," according to its website, will include a series of varied events now through October 15, such as book discussions, a photo exhibit (opening September 5 at the Bozeman Public Library), cooking lessons, and storytelling and writing workshops for kids. One highlight: on October 9, Dr. Michael Iseman of Denver's National Jewish Medical Center will discuss his research on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, and the work of Paul Farmer, the subject of Kidder's book. Watch for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's announcement of the next One Book, One Denver selection next week. They've been accepting book nominations from the community on their website, so it will be interesting to see this year's pick. Also in the Roundup: The Democratic Convention gave a boost to the Tattered Cover, and the University of New Mexico Press launches a fall reading series. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/rafael_chacons_biography_of_montana_architect_aj_gibson/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/rafael_chacons_biography_of_montana_architect_aj_gibson/C131/C131/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:00:09 MDT The Original Man: The Life and Work of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson by Hipólito Rafael Chacón The University of Montana Press, 164 pages, $35 A.J. Gibson is one of Montana’s most beloved and famed architects. Paradoxically, he is – at least as far as the scant written historical record goes – also its most unsung. In fact, the only biographical material related to Gibson’s life published before September's release of Rafael Chacón’s The Original Man: The Life and Work of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson, was part of a multi-volume set released in 1914. Rafael Chacón will discuss his book at Missoula's University Congregational Church of Christ on September 14 (11:30 a.m.) and at Fact & Fiction on September 16 (7 p.m.). The book will also accompany a traveling exhibition of the same title that features architectural models, facsimiles of drawings and photographs. Organized by the Montana Museum of Art & Culture, the exhibition will be on view September 18 through October 19 at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/books_and_politics_mingle_in_denver/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/books_and_politics_mingle_in_denver/C131/C131/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:00:30 MDT The intense media focus on Denver this week for the Democratic Convention is casting some light on the city's bookstores, too. As Shelf Awareness noted, the Tattered Cover was featured in two articles recently. Kathy Baruffi of USA Today interviewed Tattered Cover manager Tamra Monahan about her ten favorite places in Denver (she doesn't name her own bookstore, but Coors Field and the Denver Art Museum make the list.) And Bookselling This Week checked in with the Tattered Cover about the special displays the store has planned during the convention. The store, just a few blocks away from the Pepsi Center, is going all out, selling, "souvenirs, including nonbook items like the official Democratic National Convention T-shirt and mug, politically themed gifts, and other convention-related items." They are also featuring a display of books that should be on the Western "Reading List for the President-Elect." Jeff Lee of the Rocky Mountain Land Library surveyed authors and bookish folks of the region to come up with the list, and contributors included Rick Bass, Barry Lopez, Laura Pritchett, and, well--me. The Tattered Cover's website also lists a slew of appearances by authors of political books this week, but the highlight in my view is today's Michael Chabon event. Okay he's not a political writer, but he happens to be in town, and will speak at 11:30 a.m. Also in the Roundup: Another Boulder bookstore closes, a Missoula writer fears for her safety after Random House cancels publication of her book about one of Muhammad's wives, Texas university presses, and more. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_greg_lemon/C131/C131/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/an_interview_with_greg_lemon/C131/C131/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:00:08 MDT Greg Lemon grew up in La Grande, Oregon, and after college, moved to Missoula in 1998 to work with the Forest Service's Technology Center. He attended graduate school in journalism at the University of Montana, and after graduating in 2004, he took a job with the Ravalli Republic newspaper in Hamilton. This year Lemon published his first book, Blue Man in a Red State, a biography of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. I recently interviewed Lemon via email about how he became interested in politics, how he came to write the book, and what he learned about Schweitzer in the process of writing the biography. Lemon will discuss his book at the Borders in Bozeman on September 6 (2 p.m.). New West: How did you start writing about politics? Greg Lemon: I started writing about politics at the Ravalli Republic newspaper in Hamilton. I was the natural resources reporter, but we didn’t have a large staff, so I took on politics as well. I never really wanted to cover politics, but once I got into it I liked it. Politics is about people and I think the best political reporters remember that.