Ari Kelman brings history to SFCC, EWU
The noted American historian Ari Kelman will be in town this week talking about his latest book, “A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek.”
Kelman is a Penn State University history professor who teaches on a range of subjects such as the Civil War, the American Revolution, American Indian history and environmental history.
His Sand Creek book, released in 2013, won the 2014 Bancroft Prize for best new book on American history, the Robert M. Utley Prize, the Tom Watson Brown Bag Book Award and the Avery O. Craven Award. It examines the Sand Creek massacre of 1864, in which more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho people – mostly women, children and elders – were killed by militia soldiers from the Colorado Territory. He also delves into the controversy that erupted over plans to memorialize the site, which eventually opened in 2007 as the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.
As Kirkus Reviews noted, the book vividly “captures the controversy and pain that accompanied this reopening of a dark chapter in American history.”
Kelman will be in Spokane at 6 p.m. Thursday for a talk at Spokane Falls Community College’s Building 24 auditorium. On Friday, he’ll be in Cheney from noon to 2 p.m. for a talk at Eastern Washington University’s Hargreaves Reading Room. His visit is sponsored by the EWU history department and SFCC. Admission is free. For more information, call (509) 359-6238.
Calling fiction writers
A couple of local literary journals are seeking submissions for new work.
Willow Springs is collaborating with Lost Horse Press to award the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. The winner will receive $2,000 and be published by Willow Springs, the EWU literary journal. Deadline is Friday; visit https://sites.ewu.edu/wseditions/ the-spokane-prize/ for details.
Railtown Almanac, published last year as a poetry collection, is venturing into short fiction as well. “Railtown Almanac: The Prose Edition” will feature short stories or essays by Spokane residents. Nonresidents can qualify if they write about Spokane. Deadline is Aug. 15. To submit or for more details, visit http://sagehillpoetry.com/ 2015/05/05/railtown-almanac-the- prose-edition/
Father-son reading
Speaking of Railtown Almanac, the collection featured poetry by Jackson Holbert, a Spokane native and student at Brandeis University. He’ll be at Auntie’s Bookstore on Thursday for a reading with his dad, Bruce Holbert.
The elder Holbert will be reading from his second novel, “The Hour of Lead,” which is being released in paperback.
The fun begins at 7 p.m. at Auntie’s, 402 W. Main Ave. Call the store at (509) 838-0206.
And a reminder
Poet and winner of the 2013 National Book Award for poetry Mary Szybist will be in town on Friday as the final entry in the EWU Visiting Writers Series.
She will read and answer questions beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Auntie’s. Call the store for details.