AWARD-WINNING OREGON AUTHORS AT NEWPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY
AWARD-WINNING OREGON AUTHORS AT NEWPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY
Newport Public Library
Thursday, April 24, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Four noted Oregon authors will read from their works and sign books at the Newport Public Library’s McEntee Meeting Room on Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. Tom Blood, Susan Fletcher, Monica Drake, and Kristian Williams were all nominated for the 2006 Oregon Book Award.
Tom Blood was the winner in poetry for The Sky Position. This collection of 71 poems in limited first edition has been called “provocative and surreal,” and “the delightful rumination of an enchanted wanderer.” Blood has read at open mikes across America for 15 years. Having toured the country as a poet, his staged performance is seasoned and erudite.
Susan Fletcher won in young adult literature for Alphabet of Dreams, a tale that reimagines the story of the Magi, and introduces a young man who knows the dreams of others. Fletcher also won the 1990 Oregon Book Award for Dragon’s Milk, and has received national recognition for many of her titles, including Shadow Spinner and Walk Across the Sea.
Monica Drake was a finalist for her first novel, Clown Girl, which has been called “a stunning blend of the bizarre, the humorous, and the gritty.” Drake teaches at the Pacific NW College of Art and writes reviews and articles for The Oregonian, The Stranger, and the Portland Mercury.
American Methods: Torture and the Logic of Domination by Kristian Williams was a finalist in general nonfiction. This work examines the role of the United States in underwriting human rights violations around the globe, and upsets the notion that excessive force by the state is an aberration. A writer on social issues, Williams has also published Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America.
Admission is free, and open to the public. This program is sponsored by Literary Arts and the Newport Library Foundation, with support from the Sylvia Beach Hotel. The authors will offer books for sale and signing. For more information, call the library at 265-2153 or check its website, at www.newportlibrary.org.