Doerr set to make Palouse stops
The Whitman County Library system will be reading Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “All the Light We Cannot See” as part of the Everybody Reads program.
In conjunction with Everybody Reads, Doerr – who lives in Boise – will make appearances across the Palouse as well as in the Lewiston- Clarkston area in November. The schedule is:
Nov. 12, noon: Clarkston High School
Nov. 12, 6 p.m.: Lewiston City Library.
Nov. 13, noon: a luncheon at the Colfax branch of the Whitman County Library. Catered lunch is available for $12; call (509) 397-4366 to reserve a spot.
Nov. 13, 5:30 p.m.: Neill Public Library in Pullman.
Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m.: Moscow High School Auditorium.
In addition to the Pulitzer, Doerr’s ambitious novel won the 2015 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, was the winner of the Australian International Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. The story centers on a blind French girl and a German boy who meet in occupied France during World War II.
Participating Washington libraries, in addition to Whitman County, are Asotin County and Washington State University; in Idaho, Latah County, Lewiston, Lewiston High School and the Prairie-River Library District.
For more information on Everybody Reads, visit www.everybody-reads.org.
Powder Horn Prize
Sage Hill Press’ annual Powder Horn Prize for first poetry books is wrapping up the submission process. The deadline to submit manuscripts is Monday.
Nance Van Winckel, author of six poetry collections, three short story collections and the “scrapbook novel” “Ever Yrs,” will judge this year’s contest. The winning book will be published by Sage Hill, a boutique press run by Spokane’s poet laureate Thom Caraway.
The 2015 winner was “Kill February” by Jeffrey Tucker.
For details, visit sagehillpoetry.com.
Meanwhile …
The deadline for submission to an upcoming prose edition of the Railtown Almanac has been extended until Nov. 1.
The almanac will feature short stories or essays by Spokane writers or about Spokane. The first edition of Railtown, released last fall and edited by Caraway and Jeffrey Dodd, was a Spokane poetry anthology.
For details about submitting work, visit sagehillpoetry.com.
Mark your calendars
The Friends of the Spokane County Library District will hold a Night at the Library event from 7 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Road.
The public is invited to meet and mingle with group members and library staff, learn how to join Friends of the Spokane County Library District, and hear local authors read from their works.
The lineup of authors features Cindy Hval, Spokesman-Review freelance writer and author of “War Bonds: Love Stories From the Greatest Generation”; Bruce Holbert, author of the novels “Lonesome Animals” and “The Hour of Lead”; Laura Read, poet and writing teacher at Spokane Falls Community College; Sharma Shields, author of the novel “The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac”; Shawn Vestal, Spokesman-Review columnist and author of the upcoming novel “Daredevils”; and Maya Jewell Zeller, poet and author of the novel “Rust Fish,” as well as an English instructor at Gonzaga University.
For more information on the group, visit http://www.scld.org/ friends-of-the-library/.
RiverLit coming soon
The latest issue of RiverLit, the Spokane-based literary journal, is set for release in October, but is available for pre-order now. Among the authors included are the aforementioned Shields and Holbert, along with Kris Dinnison, Leah Sottile, Emily Gwinn and Matt Comi, and features cover art by RiverLit artist in residence Ryan Desmond.
The journal costs $10, and can be ordered online at http://riverlit.com/. Look for it in local bookstores this fall.