Finalist Sherman Alexie will read at Auntie’s
When Sherman Alexie comes to Auntie’s Bookstore on Tuesday, he’ll be carrying a new title.
That of National Book Award finalist.
Alexie, 41, the Wellpinit, Wash.-born author of poetry, stories, screenplays and novels – not to mention writer-director of the 2002 film “The Business of Fancydancing” – is on the road to support his new novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (Little, Brown; 240 pages, $16.99).
The novel, Alexie’s first attempt at the young-adult market, was named on Wednesday as one of five finalists for the 2007 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature.
The others are Kathleen Duey (“Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book One”), M. Sindy Felin (“Touching Snow”), Brian Selznick (“The Invention of Hugo Cabret”) and Sara Zarr (“Story of a Girl”).
A fictional reworking of Alexie’s own childhood experiences, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” focuses on a 14-year-old Indian boy who transfers from the reservation school to attend the mostly white, well-to-do high school in Reardan, Wash.
“Alexie’s humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience, and he doesn’t pull many punches as he levels his eye at stereotypes both warranted and inapt,” wrote a reviewer for the literary journal Booklist.
“A few of the plotlines fade to gray by the end, but this ultimately affirms the incredible power of best friends to hurt and heal in equal measure. Younger teens looking for the strength to lift themselves out of rough situations would do well to start here.”
Alexie’s reading is set for 7:30 p.m. For more information, call Auntie’s at (509) 838-0206. Or check out Alexie’s Web site: www.fallsapart.com.
Due to illness
Poet Julia Esquivel, the Guatemalan native scheduled to speak at Whitworth College on Wednesday, has canceled her appearance due to illness.
Translator Gloria Kinsler, a retired missionary and sanctuary advocate, will fill in with a presentation titled “Lives Intersect: The Story and Poetry of Julia Esquivel.”
Kinsler’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of Whitworth’s Faith in Action Dialogue series. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre of Weyerhaeuser Hall. Call (509) 323-6557 or (509) 535-1813.
Writer’s corner
The Inland Northwest Writer’s Group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Auntie’s Bookstore. This is the second meeting of the group; the theme is “Tricks or Treats: Publishing Experiences,” and anyone interested in learning more about the craft, sharing experiences or providing support is invited to participate.
For further information, call Linda Bond at (509) 838-0206 or Bonnie McDade at (509) 443-4963.
It’s Oktober
We’re all about supporting libraries. If you can do that and have fun, too, then it’s a bonus.
Oktoberfest Island Zest, a fundraising dinner and auction for Eastern Washington University libraries, will be held from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the JFK Library on EWU’s Cheney campus.
Tickets to the event, which features a tropical theme, are $30 each ($15 for students), or $150 for a reserved table of six. For further information, call (509) 359-2264.
On Austen time
Gonzaga University’s “What Can We Learn” discussion series will take a literary turn at 7 p.m. Thursday when two GU faculty members, English professor Patsy Fowler and philosophy professor Douglas Kries, present a talk titled “What Can We Learn from Jane Austen?”
The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Wolff Auditorium (room 114) of GU’s Jepson Business Building. For further information, call series coordinator Wayne Pomerleau at (509) 323-6750.
Unless noted otherwise, all events are free and open to the public.
Book talk
“Dark City Mystery Book Group (“Citizen Vince,” by Jess Walter), 7 p.m. Monday, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. Call (509) 838-0206.
“Auntie’s Youth Book Group (“Magyk: Septimus Heap, Book 1,” by Angie Sage), 2 p.m. Saturday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
The reader board
“Sherman Alexie (“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
“Gloria Kinsler (“Lives Intersect: The Story and Poetry of Julia Esquivel”), reading/lecture, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Weyerhaeuser Hall, Whitworth University. Call (509) 323-6557 or (509) 535-1813.
“Patsy Fowler, Douglas Kries (“What Can We Learn From Jane Austen?”), presentation, 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Jepson Business Building, Gonzaga University. Call (509) 323-6750.
“Steven Fucile (“Casting for Ghosts”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
“Nance Van Winckel (“No Starling”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Phase I Building (room 122), Eastern Washington University, Cheney. Call (509) 359-4956.