Essayist and fiction writer Poe Ballantine featured in "A Writer's Life" at LCCC April 10

“A Writer’s Life” -- Writer's Workshop

Featuring Poe Ballantine

Tuesday, April 10, at LCCC Center for Conferences and Institutes, Room 129/130, Cheyenne

Writer’s Workshop – 1-3 p.m.
Public Presentation and Book Signing – 7 p.m.

Free and open to the public

Share in the insights of Poe Ballantine, his writing life and the experiences he draws from decades of tramping about the country, taking odd jobs, living on $400 a month and failing spectacularly. Poe has been called “The Voice of the People,” and “The King of the Personal Essay.” Take a view into his writing life, how he got here, how he sustains, the imperative of virgins in volcanoes and the ghosts who watch over us, matters of process, magic, mechanics, flambéing with banana liqueur and whatever else you want to know.

Presented by the Bill and Marietta Dinneen Writers Series

Alexandra Fuller reads from new book Aug. 18 at Teton County Public Library in Jackson

Join Jackson Hole author Alexandra Fuller on Thursday, Aug. 18, 7-8 p.m., as she reads from her new prequel and sequel to her critically acclaimed debut memoir at the Teton County Library. Co-presented by the library and Jackson Hole Writers Conference, Fuller will sign books following the reading.

In her first book, Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, Fuller recalls in vivid, often excruciating detail coming of age in Rhodesia as a long civil war rages in neighboring Mozambique. With candor and in wry, sometimes hilarious prose, she describes from a girl’s point of view a wild landscape of far-reaching beauty and a continent in the throes of a vicious political antagonism she cannot yet comprehend.

In Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness (The Penguin Press; August 18, 2011), Fuller returns to the place of her childhood in both a prequel and sequel to Dogs that tells more of her family’s story, namely that of her mother, Nicola Fuller. With unflinching honesty and humor, Fuller reveals Nicola in all of her complexity and captures her inimitable voice with remarkable precision. The New York Times Book Review describes Nicola as “surely one of the most memorable characters of African memoir.”

Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola’s unconventional early years spring to life. Here we meet her closest childhood friend Stephen Foster (a chimpanzee) and witness her plucky spirit as she rides a donkey named Suk to convent school. We see her come of age during the Mau Mau uprising and meet her future husband, the rugged wanderer Tim Fuller, who was in Kenya for just two weeks before seeing Nicola at the Nairobi airport and proposing to her less than a month later. And we marvel at the sense of adventure and stark fearlessness of this couple during their honeymoon years, drawn together by their love of and allegiance to this untamed land.

Alternating between past and present, Alexandra Fuller recalls her own childhood – priceless anecdotes such as her mother nicknaming her Bobo because she thought she looked like a little baboon, as well as the perilous years after the family moved from a brief stay in her father’s native England to the Burma Valley near war-torn Rhodesia. She reveals the hardships they endured to protect their farm against frequent ambushes and Nicola’s raw anguish and unraveling after the death of three of her five children in this unforgiving terrain. Fuller captures the absurdities amidst the chaos and her mother’s endearing whims despite her sorrows – from carting an Uzi in her Land Rover and clinging to her cherished Le Creuset pots, to piloting a plane while singing “Fly Me to the Moon” and declaring, “Drought!” whenever her cocktails ran dry.

Fuller brings her story full circle as she describes a recent reunion, sitting with her parents and sister under the Tree of Forgetfulness referenced in her book’s title. Located on her parents’ fish and banana farm on the Lower Zambezi River where they now live, the tree has long been known as the place for villagers to speak to the spirits of the dead and resolve disputes. Similarly, Fuller’s narrative summons the ghosts of her family’s past while embracing a place and lives unlike any others.

Fuller has written four books of non-fiction. Her 2004 book, Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier was on the New York TimesExtended Bestseller List and won the Ulysses Prize for Art of Reportage. In 2008, she published The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, the biography of a young Wyoming oil rig worker who fell to his death. She has also written for magazines and newspapers, including The New Yorker, National Geographic, Vogue and Granta Magazine.

Born in England in 1969, Fuller moved in 1972 with her family to a farm in Rhodesia. After that country’s civil war in 1981, her family moved first to Malawi, then to Zambia. In 1993, she married an American river guide in Zambia. They left Africa in 1994 and now live in Wyoming with three children.

To learn more about library programs, visit online at www.TCLib.org. Click on the calendar tab to see a Google calendar of the library’s monthly events. For more information about the evening reading, contact Education and Program Manager, Dimmie Zeigler, 733-2164 ext. 229, dzeigler@tclib.org.

New book by Gaydell Collier: "Just Beyond Harmony"

Limited edition signed hardcover copies available by pre-order from High Plains Press at 1-800-552-7819

Helen Schmill announces publication of three books

Helen Schmill

Casper writer Helen Schmill announces publication of three books through Xlibris:

"A Morning with God," an illustrated children's book
"Paradise Lost 2011," described as "a reading play for churches and schools"
"A Grandmother's Old Testament Hymns," a living autobiography

Order copies of Helen's books through amazon.com, xlibris.com or through http://www.wix.com/helenschmill/books#!contact

Cara Lopez Lee starts book tour for "They Only Eat Their Husbands" March 20 in Cheyenne

Colorado author Cara Lopez Lee will talk about her book "They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away" on Sunday, March 20, 2 p.m., at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. The event is free and open to the public.

Here's some info about the the author and the book:

Most new authors have one thing in common: no marketing budget, zero, zip, Zip A Dee Doo Dah, nada. But Cara Lopez Lee is turning her budget book tour into an opportunity to reinforce her memoir's themes: running away is underrated, the hardest journeys are the most rewarding, and going it alone leads to new friendships.

From March 20 to April 16, Cara is hitting the road with her new book, They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away (Ghost Road Press, November 2010). And I'm hitting it Girls Trek Too style...
Cara will stay in hostels and surf couches, as she drives her rattling '95 Honda Civic Hatchback through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. "I had a shoestring budget when I left Alaska to backpack solo around the world," she says. "So it makes sense to travel on a shoestring as I share my book about that experience." Although she's preparing a loose itinerary, she's leaving room for spontaneity. She hopes locals will suggest a few unexpected events. "Part of the fun will be in the surprise element, in getting people to ask, 'Where's Cara?' That's what my book is about: not having answers, but asking questions. Once your basic needs are met, life should be an adventure." 

If you're interested in learning to plan your own independent adventures, Cara will offer free Girls Trek Too workshops at several of her stops. If you want to know "Where's Cara?" during her Book Tour Adventure, please check her Events page. You can also follow the wanderings of  @CaraLopezLee on Twitter or on the Facebook Fan Page for They Only Eat Their Husbands.

Call for entries: Wyoming Writers, Inc., writing contest

Wyoming Writers, Inc., announces contest guidelines:

Hard copy entries much be postmarked by April 9, 2011.

Entry fee:  $10.00 for each entry from members of Wyoming Writers, Inc., $15.00 for non-members,

Member fee for poetry is $10.00 for 3 poems, non-members $15.00 for 3 poems. We encourage non-members to join the organization. Information and membership form are available on www.wyowriters.org. Contest entry forms are also available on the web site, and from flyers in libraries and bookstores, and in the WyoWriters newsletter.  You may photocopy an entry form.

No limit on the number of entries, but there is an entry fee for each manuscript and every 3 poems. Include one check for the total amount. No entry fees will be refunded. 

Eligibility: The contest is open to all writers. All works must be the unpublished and the original work of the   submitter. All works must be in English. Work accepted or under consideration for publication elsewhere, or entered in another contest simultaneously is not eligible. Work that has previously placed or received an honorable mention in a Wyoming Writers, Inc. contest is not eligible. Work may be submitted to other contests or for publication after the contest deadline.

Categories

Adult Fiction: (No horror or erotica) 3000 words maximum

Fiction for Children/Juveniles:  3000 words maximum

Non-fiction:  Personal experiences and Memoirs3000 words maximum

Non-fiction:  Articles and Essays., 3000 words maximum

Traditional Poetry:  28 lines maximum; up to 3 poems per submission.

Free Verse Poetry:  28 lines maximum;  up to 3 poems per submission

Prizes:   First place: $50, Second place: $30,  Third place $20. Each will get a certificate. There will be no Honorable Mentions.  Winners will be notified the latter part of May. Winners will be announced at the WWInc 2011 Conference to be held at the Ramada Plaza Riverside,Casper, WY June 3-5, 2011.

Writer and Pinedale native Kate Meadows sends greetings to Wyoming

A very talented group of Gen Y Wyomingites are finding their way in the world. Many of them are artists and writers and performers, weaned on visiting poets in the schools or Wyoming Shakespeare Company summer performances in the park or stints at the annual High School Arts Symposium. Many of them live in other states or other countries because, well, Wyoming doesn't have jobs for them. Now now, anyway.

Because the Wyoming Arts Council had a hand in some of the nurturing arts events noted above, we get many inquiries about our grants, fellowships and related programs. If you're over 18, and you live in the state, we can assist you. If you are an artist plying your trade in some remote enclave such as San Diego or Cape Cod or London, you can't apply for a WAC fellowship. But we still like to hear from you. We can also promote your work with the hope that one day you shall return to The Equality and/or Cowboy State to live and work. You may not have heard but Wyoming is an up-and-coming arts state. Skeptics may want to read the recently commissioned Wyoming Creative Vitality Index (CVI) on our web site.

So, until you come to your senses and return to your home stomping grounds of Torrington or Meeteetse, you can contact your trusty blog editors with news about your life as an artist. We had one such call today from a young woman who grew up in Pinedale. She had the benefit of growing up attending the myriad events sponsored by one of the oldest arts organizations in the state -- the Pinedale Fine Arts Council.

We'll let Kate Meadows tell her own story:

Kate Meadows is a Pinedale native and nonfiction writer specializing in journalism and personal essays. She was born in Jackson Hole and became the third generation of her family to call Sublette County home. She lived in Pinedale for 18 years, attending the same high school as her father and graduating Salutatorian of her class in 2002. She started her writing career at her two hometown newspapers, The Pinedale Roundup and The Sublette Examiner, where she launched profile sections that regularly featured true local characters. Her work has also appeared in national, regional and specialty publications, including Listen magazine, China Daily newspaper, No Body’s Perfect: Stories by Teens About Body Image, Self-Acceptance, and the Search for Identity and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks, Mom. She earned her MFA in Creative and Professional Writing through Western Connecticut State University in 2010. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and one-year-old son.

Meadows is the author of Tough Love: A Wyoming Childhood, a collection of personal essays that recounts her experience as an only child growing up in rural Wyoming. The essays explore how Meadows was influenced, both by the rugged and remote landscape and by the raw and gnarly characters that call Sublette County home. The collection probes what it means to be tough, especially in the sparse and lonely environment that is the true modern West. She is currently seeking a publisher.

Kate also said that she received her first writing award from Wyoming Writers, Inc., earning first place in the organization's annual statewide writing competition for her children’s poem, “The Winterland Fairy.”

She is obviously a talented writer. If you're a publisher and want to publish Kate's book -- or are an old Sublette County friend and want to say hi -- drop us a line at mshay@state.wy.us or lcoatn@state.wy.us and we'll make sure Kate gets the message.

Bell, Box and Jenkins at Albany Co. Library Oct. 13

Laura Bell of Cody, C.J. Box of Cheyenne and Laramie's Mark Jenkins are featured at "Wyoming Writers" event on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 5-6:30 p.m. at the Albany County Public Library in Laramie.

The event is free but pre-registration is required.

FMI: Marjorie Daley at 307-721-2580 x5456.

"Eay, Pray, Love" in a cabin by a Wyoming creek

“She’s touched the hearts of so many people around the world,” Ucross Foundation president Sharon Dynak said of Gilbert. “To think she was sitting in a little cabin by the creek here, we’re thrilled.”

Sharon was quoted in an Aug. 13 Casper Star-Tribune article about Elizabeth Gilbert's 2004 Ucross Foundation residency during which she wrote the first draft of the best-selling memoir, "Eat, Pray Love." To read the entire article, go to http://trib.com/lifestyles/weekender/article_f8ef4aec-8fab-5d7a-abb6-630f5c4e855c.html

Sudanese novelist Valentino Achak Deng at Teton County Library Sept. 16

From the Teton County Public Library in Jackson:

An evening with Sudanese author and refugee Valentino Achak Deng on Thursday, Sept. 16, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Valentino Achak Deng is a Sudanese refugee whose amazing life story is told in the best-selling novel, "What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng," by acclaimed author Dave Eggers. Tickets to this FREE talk are available beginning Aug. 16 at all local bookstores, including Valley Bookstore, Jackson Hole Book Traders and Main Event. Presented by InterConnections 21, Wyoming Humanities Council, Tatiana Maxwell & Refugees International, Teton County Library Foundation and Valentino Achak Deng Foundation. Cost: Free. Location: High School Auditorium.

Contact: InterConnections 21, 307-699-2787 or jenna@ic21.org.

Book signing June 30 in Sheridan for Jamie Lisa Forbes

Come to Sheridan Stationery Books and Gallery, 206 N. Main in Sheridan, on Wednesday, June 30, 11a.m.-1 p.m. for a booksigning with Jamie Lisa Forbes. Come down to get a copy of Unbroken and have it signed and personalized.

Jamie Forbes was raised on a family ranch in southeastern Wyoming. She obtained degrees in Philosophy and English from the University of Colorado, Boulder where she graduated with honors in 1977. She then spent a year in Israel studying and working on a kibbutz. She returned to Wyoming in 1979 where she ranched and raised a family for the next fifteen years. In 2001, she graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law and now practices in Greensboro, North Carolina. She enjoys spending time with her grandson and playing old time Appalachian fiddle. With her Arabian horse, Cody and her cattle dog, Reb, she still devotes part of her life to the outdoors.


From Unbroken, by Jamie Lisa Forbes

Ranching is a life of extremes, perhaps even more so on the high plains near Laramie, Wyoming. And no one knows that better than Gwen Swan, who married both her husband Will and his family ranch where she works hard beside the men and struggles to raise her two children. Meg Braeburn, who has broken away from her family's ranch, expects unrelenting hard work when she takes a job on the place neighboring the Swans'. She and her son face an uncertain future, but she is determined to leave the past behind and make a good life for them. Gwen, who understands the corrosive effects of isolation better than Meg, includes Meg in her family and community and wins Meg's gratitude and support. But there is little time for reflection on anyone's part as the wheel of the seasons grinds relentlessly onward bringing disasters and triumphs and a rough road for all concerned.

New blog post from Page Lambert -- of horses and landscape and Wyoming memoirs

Great to hear from one-time Wyomingite Page Lambert about her recent Literature and the Landscape of the Horse Retreat at the Vee Bar Ranch in Albany County. For an overview, and some insight into the new memoir by Cody writer Laura Bell, go to http://pagelambert.blogspot.com/2010/06/claiming-ground-with-snort-and-buck.html

New book by Laramie mother and daughter

From a UW press release:

A new book describes a Laramie mother and daughter's trek from stroke through rehabilitation and their return home.

Stacy Gupton suffered a stroke in 2003 while working on an art project. Stacy and her mother, Mona, said at that time they lacked the resources to deal with stroke and all the complications and said they wrote "A Piece of Her Mind" to help others.

"We felt Stacy's story could give someone else hope of finding life after tragedy," said Mona, who works in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "We did not write this book to simply tell a sad story. We want others to know that life truly does go on, and it is up to each of us how we choose to live each day.

"Once a day is gone, we can't get it back. We can laugh or cry. I tell Stacy all the time that every day she has now is a bonus."

Mona said she realized writing the book would be emotional.

"It actually took me nearly three years to complete the manuscript. There were times when I wrote with such anger and pain that it was exhausting," she said.

Writing was therapeutic. "By going back and reading my journal entries and Stacy's, I was able to visualize exactly how far she had come and how we had grown together as a family," said Mona.

Stacy said she's glad she wrote the book. "I had to relive everything, and that wasn't easy. Even though it was really hard, I am glad we did this because it showed me how much I have improved," she said. "On bad days, it made me remember why I never give up."

Order the book through your local bookstore or at amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ylm3wz9

Register for "Rural America" book discussion

Registration is underway for the Wyoming State Museum-hosted reading and discussion series, “Rural in America.”

A part of the Wyoming Humanities Council’s Reading Wyoming program, “Rural in America” is a discussion group scheduled to meet January 20, February 17, March 17 and April 21 at 6:30 p.m., at the Wyoming State Museum.

The program is free and open to the public. However, participants are asked to register as the group size is limited to 20. Rose Wagner will lead the discussions.

To register and borrow books, contact Sarah Ligocki at 777-7021. Participants are encouraged to register soon as the first book must be read by January 20.

Participants will read and discuss “The Memory of Old Jack, by Wendell Berry; “Winter Wheat,” by Mildred Walker; “The Egg and I,” by Betty McDonald; and “A Painted House,” by John Grisham. All of these books offer both romantic and realistic views of rural life.

The program is offered by the Wyoming Humanities Council. Reading Wyoming provides reading and discussion series’ to nonprofit organizations around the state and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

FMI: 307-721-9243 or www.uwyo.edu/humanities.

"Riding the White Horse Home" -- from the written page to the CD

Grady Kirkpatrick on KUWR's "New Music Wednesday" featured a song with a familiar-sounding name. It was "Riding the White Horse Home," written and performed by Salt Lake City musician Kate MacLeod. Wondered if it was based on the fantastic memoir of the same name by Laramie County, Wyoming, native Teresa Jordan (now in SLC). Grady noted on-air that indeed this was the case. But wyomingarts needed more info so looked up Kate MacLeod, which is the kind of stuff the Internet is for. We found this:

The song Riding the White Horse Home is based on the book by the same name. It is a memoir about rural family life in Wyoming, written by artist and author Teresa Jordan.

The song is on MacLeod's new CD, Blooming. Another amazing fact: the cover art was done by Denver artist William Matthews who also illustrated the first edition of Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx, back when she lived in Wyoming.

What would we do without real books by real writers?

Record an interview for StoryCorps' National Day of Listening on Nov. 27

This comes from Wyoming Public Radio:

Wyoming Public Radio encourages listeners to record an interview with a loved one for StoryCorps’ second annual National Day of Listening on November 27, 2009.

On the day after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2009, Wyoming Public Radio and StoryCorps are asking all Americans to start a new holiday tradition: Set aside one hour to interview a friend, a loved one, or someone in their community about his or her life.

The process is simple: select an interview partner, create a question list, and sit down to record a meaningful conversation. StoryCorps has created a free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) interview guide with step-by-step interview instructions, equipment recommendations, and sample questions available online at nationaldayoflistening.org.

Sponsored by Corporation for National & Community Service, American Library Association, National Public Radio and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Page Lambert wins nonfiction writing award

Long-time Wyoming Writers, Inc., member Page Lambert is the recipient of The AROHO (A Room of Her Own Foundation) Orlando Nonfiction Writing Award. AROHO is an organization dedicated to helping women writers and artists.

The award for unpublished poetry, short fiction, sudden fiction and nonfiction celebrates Virginia Woolf’s title character’s liberation from the restraints of time and gender. This new array of competitions is an invitation to women writers to manifest their own escapades "in gardens running down to the river, and in a pleasant grove of nut trees to walk in." Page Lambert’s winning essay is excerpted from her narrative nonfiction project, "These Things I Can Love."

Page, a senior associate with the Children and Nature Network, is also a writing coach and leader of creative writing adventures. Lambert is leading a May/June "Literature and Landscape of the Horse" retreat at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch in Wyoming and space is still available.

FMI: pagelambert.blogspot.com

Cobb & Slaughter photos at Open Range Images Gallery in Cody

Just talked to Elijah Cobb (shown at right), photographer and one-time WAC visual arts fellowship winner. He told me about new exhibits going up at the Open Range Images Gallery, a co-op space in Cody that he's a member of. The new show features new work by him and fellow member Randi Slaughter.

They invite everyone to come to an opening reception at the gallery on Friday, March 6, 4-7 p.m. The event is free and opoen to the public. The work will be on display through April 30.

"From My Mother’s Chair" by Elijah Cobb is a series of "photographic contemplations" shot from his mother’s chair. Here are comments from the artist:

After my mother’s passing, I received her writing table and chair. I found it unsettling that her chair and table were in my studio. It didn’t belong there -- so I had to sit in the chair until images came to me. The process has allowed me to accept her passing and the presence of her creative seat in my life. The images all include a window in Cobb’s log cabin studio wall and illustrate changing natural light and colored light playing across his still life subjects.

Randi's exhibition is "In a Different Light," which features "local scenery by infrared, dawn and moonlight to show familiar landscapes in unfamiliar ways, going beyond what our eyes can perceive."

Here's more:

Slaughter worked with black and white infrared film years ago but now is recreating the look and feel of that medium through digital interpretation. She has used hazy light around hot objects, higher contrast and more grain, to create penetrating and stark images. Slaughter also uses extended exposures to show us landscapes illuminated by moonlight and the early pink of dawn. Living in a rural area, she has access to clear dark skies that many people are no longer privileged to enjoy.

FMI: Elijah Cobb, 307-587-5218, ecobb@tritel.net; Randi Slaughter, 307-645-3358, rslaughter@nemont.net

Julene Bair is "Out in the cold"

During the years she lived in Laramie, writer Julene Bair won a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship, a Willa Award from Women Writing the West, a Mid-List Press First Series Award, the Wyoming Arts Council’s Blanchan Award, the Adler Short Story Award and an Individual Artist Professional Development grant. She also served as a mentor to other writers, and helped found Laramie’s Silver Sage writers group.

Alas, Julene moved south to Colorado. She’s as busy as ever. Her essay, “Out in the Cold: Selling the family farm severs connection with place and past,” is featured in the Dec. 8 issue of High Country News. Julene says that her original title was "Selling Out, Buying In." That's the way it goes sometimes. Her essay focuses on her decision to sell the family farm in western Kansas.

Here’s an excerpt:

Several inches of month-old snow sheathed the fields, and there'd been a fresh dusting the night before. Ground blizzards swirled across the interstate. I dialed in my hometown radio station. The man who'd owned it for as long as I could remember listed the closings caused by ice and near-zero March cold: livestock auctions, a senior get-together, even I-70. Had I left my home in Longmont, Colo., 10 minutes later, I would not have gotten through.

"But once again, folks," continued the voice from my childhood, "if you're looking for some good farm equipment, drive on out to the Harold Bair farm sale. We had a call from the manager out there and the roads are not bad."

There I was in one of the most anonymous places on earth, inside a car driving down the interstate, and I'd been accosted by the public announcement of an intimate betrayal. My betrayal, of my father. I imagined him bolting upright in his grave. If strangers traveling to places like New York and Chicago had heard that announcement, surely he had too.

Read the entire article at www.hcn.org/issues/40.22/out-in-the-cold

Julene’s web site is at www.julenebair.com/

Photo: Sale day at the Bair family farm in Kansas. Photo by Julene Bair.

"An Evening with John Byrne Cooke"

"An Evening with John Byrne Cooke" will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6-7 p.m., at the Teton County Public Library in Jackson. The event is free and open to the public.

John will talk about his late father, Alistair Cooke’s book, "Reporting America 1946-2004," the most comprehensive collection to date of the senior Cooke’s reporting for the (U.K.) Guardian newspaper and his weekly BBC radio broadcasts, "Letter from America."

He will also share how his father’s work influenced John’s own book, "Reporting the War: Freedom of the Press from the American Revolution to the War on Terrorism."

Book-signing to follow presentation.

Contact: 307-733-2164 ext. 135.