Book notes: Library’s writing contest entry forms available
Nineteen years is a long time to hold a writing contest.
But that’s just how long the Coeur d’Alene Public Library has been sponsoring its annual Writers Competition, which is accepting entries for the 2007 edition.
The competition, which is for previously unpublished fiction and nonfiction prose of 2,000 words or less, is held in five different age groups: 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-18, 19 and above.
Entry forms can be downloaded by going to www.cdalibrary.org. Or you can pick up copies at the library, 201 E. Harrison Ave. Or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to CdA Public Library, 201 E. Harrison Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814-3240.
Fees are $1 for each 6-11 entry, $2 for all others. Winners in each category will receive cash prizes: $100 for first, $50 for second, $25 for third. Deadline is March 31 (postal entries must be postmarked by March 29).
For further information, call (208) 769-2315.
Awards galore
“Spokane author Meghan Nuttall Sayres’ novel “Anahita’s Woven Riddle” (Amulet, 288 pages, $16.95) was chosen by the American Library Association as one of its Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults 2007. In addition, BookSense put the book on its Winter 2006/2007 Children’s Picks List.
“The latest issue of the newsletter printed by Moscow’s BookPeople, 521 S. Main, points out that William Kittredge’s novel “The Willow Field” (Knopf, 352 pages, $25.95) has been named one of the Top 10 First Novels of 2006 by the Marin County (Calif.) Free Library.
Kittredge, a longtime creative writing instructor at the University of Montana, is the author of several nonfiction books, including “Hole in the Sky: A Memoir” and the short-story collection “We Are Not in This Together.”
You choose
Every year we get inundated by lists of award-winning books. Wouldn’t you like to vote once in a while?
According to Sheri Miller, youth services manager of the Whitman County Library in Colfax, some contests are looking for reader reactions.
“The Young Reader’s Choice Award (www.pnla.org/yrca/Voting.htm), Evergreen (www.kcls.org/evergreen/current.cfm), Sasquatch (www.wlma.org/sasquatch), and Children’s Choice Picture Book Award (www.wlma.org/wccpba) Web sites all invite children to vote for their favorite books of the year to help determine the favorite in each category,” Miller said by e-mail. “Votes are tallied to determine the winners.”
Copies of books already nominated are, of course, available at the library. For further information, call Miller at (509) 397-4366.
Rhymes in time
Entries are flowing in for the 2007 Spokesman-Review Limerick Contest. This year’s theme: “Spokane – near nature, near perfect: missing the mark – or not! Legends, lunacies and luminaries” is broad enough to include almost anything you’d want to write about.
Remember to adhere to limerick form. E-mail entries to limerick@spokesman.com. By post, send them to S-R Limerick Contest, The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.
Deadline is March 5.
Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.
Book talk
“Gay & Lesbian Book Group (“The Blue Place,” by Nicola Griffith), 7 p.m. Wednesday, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. Call (509) 838-0206.
“Literary Freedom Book Group (“The Los Angeles Diaries: A Memoir,” by James Brown), 1 p.m. Saturday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
The reader board
“Maureen Doyle McQuerry (“Wolfproof”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
“Ralph C. Wood (“Flannery O’Connor and the Christ-Haunted South”), lecture, 7 p.m. Thursday, Jepson Center Wolff Auditorium, Gonzaga University. Wood’s lecture is titled “Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’: The Misfit as a Critic of Conventional Christianity.” Call (509) 981-1464.
“Matthew Kelly (“Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness”), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, St. Aloysius Church, Gonzaga University. Free to GU students/staff/faculty; all others, $5 donation. Call (509) 323-4243.
“Emily Rapp (“Poster Child: A Memoir”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore. Sponsored by Eastern Washington University’s Inland Northwest Center for Writers.
“Milton Taylor, Dick Warwick, accompanied by music duo The Educated Fellers (Bill Siems, Ted Hensold), Outback/cowboy poetry reading, 1 p.m. Saturday, Budding Rose Art Gallery, Rosalia, Wash. Admission: $7. Call (509) 523-4200. (Note: Taylor is a five-time Australian national champion performing poet.)