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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Book Notes: Walter, Orozco share stage at Blue Door

Spokane novelist Jess Walter and University of Idaho professor and author Daniel Orozco will give a joint reading Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave.

Both wrote stories for Humanities Washington’s popular “Bedtime Stories” event, which were then published in an anthology titled “Night Lights.”

Copies of “Night Lights” will be available for sale to benefit Humanities Washington. The event is free.

Orozco teaches fiction writing at the University of Idaho and is perhaps best-known for his story “Orientation,” which was published in “Best American Short Stories 1995.” His work has also appeared in McSweeney’s and various Pushcart Prize anthologies.

Walter’s novel “The Zero” was a finalist for the National Book Award. His most recent novel is “The Financial Lives of the Poets.”

Keya Mitra reading

Pay no attention to the word “visiting” in Wednesday’s installment of Gonzaga University’s Visiting Writers Series.

That’s because the writer is Keya Mitra, an assistant professor of English at Gonzaga and a short story writer and novelist.

Mitra was a 2008 Fulbright Scholar in creative writing in India. She has published stories in a number of prestigious journals including Gulf Coast, the American Literary Review, Torpedo and Best New American Voices 2007. She worked as fiction editor for Gulf Coast.

She’ll be reading from her upcoming novel and short story collection on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. in the Globe Room of GU’s Cataldo Hall. The reading is free and open to the public.

Typically, one slot in the series is reserved for one of Gonzaga’s own writers.

See a Swami

Here’s a reading at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., that should be of interest to yoga fans.

Swami Radhananda will read from her memoir, “Carried by a Promise: A Life Transformed,” on Wednesdat at 7 p.m. She is the spiritual director of the Yasodhara Ashram in Kootenay Bay, B.C.

Her original name? Mary-Ann McDougall.