Book notes: Spokane is Reading selects Anthony Marra for this fall
Anthony Marra, an award-winning author and lecturer at Stanford University, is the subject of the annual Spokane is Reading project this fall.
Sponsored by the Spokane County Library District, the Spokane Public Library and Auntie’s Bookstore, each year Spokane is Reading selects a book for people communitywide to read, and develops programming around the book. This year, people are invited to read Marra’s acclaimed short story collection, “The Tsar of Love and Techno.” The interlocking stories are set in the former Soviet Union. It’s a collection that the New York Times called “extraordinary” and “a miracle of a book,” telling readers, “And if you’ve been worrying that you’ve lost your faith in the emotionally transformative power of fiction – Mr. Marra will restore that, too.”
The 15th edition of Spokane is Reading will cap off on Oct. 27 with two free appearances from Marra: at 1 p.m. at the Spokane Valley Event Center, 10514 E. Sprague Ave., and at 7 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.
“The Tsar of Love and Techno” is Marra’s second book. His debut novel, 2013’s “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and a New York Times best-seller. It won the first ever John Leonard Prize given by the National Book Critics Circle, and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. “The Tsar of Love and Techno” was named a notable book of 2015 by the New York Times, and was awarded the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The story collection, now available in hardback, will be released in paperback in July. For more information on Spokane is Reading, visit www.scld.org and www.spokanelibrary.org.
Speaking of Spokane is Reading …
A previously featured author of Spokane is Reading, Jess Walter, will be the inaugural author for a new reading and discussion series presented by the Coeur d’Alene Library Foundation.
It’s called Reading for the Library, and like Spokane is Reading, it will feature programming centered on a single book. First up, Walter’s first short story collection, “We Live in Water.”
Book clubs, library patrons and the public in general are invited to read the book then come to the library on June 12, where Walter will discuss it. The event, held in the library’s Community Room, will include wine and appetizers and will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30, available online at brownpapertickets.com/ event/2540084.
Need a copy of the book? The Well-Read Moose at Riverstone is offering it at a 20 percent discount.
Walter, a Spokane native, is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Beautiful Ruins” and the National Book Award finalist, “The Zero.” His other novels include the Edgar Award-winning “Citizen Vince,” and “The Financial Lives of the Poets.” His short stories have been featured in Esquire, Harper’s, McSweeny’s, Byliner. He also is among the authors being featured in The Spokesman-Review’s third annual Summer Stories series this year.
Celebrate the Springs
Willow Springs Books, a literary press housed in the Eastern Washington University Inland Northwest Center for Writers, is hosting a fundraiser on Friday night featuring readings, food, drink and more.
The event will feature local writers Sharma Shields, Tod Marshall, Maya Zeller, Laura Read and Kate Lebo reading original works and pieces published by the press. Your hosts will be poets Danielle Weeks and Andrew Koch. There will be raffles, and books, wine, beer and cocktails for sale.
The press, directed by Polly Buckingham and Christopher Howell, gives students an opportunity to be involved in all aspects of publishing, including reading manuscripts, design, marketing, and editing.
Admission is free; entry into the raffle is included with the purchase of a book, $15 for fiction, $10 for poetry.
The party, open to all ages, runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bartlett, 228 W. Sprague Ave. For more information, call (509) 359-4591.