Category: Readings & Panels

PETRICHOR is here – a new Idaho writers’ publication

Margaret Koger has written to let us know that the group Boise Spoken Word will shortly be coming out with a new chapbook featuring the work of several Idaho writers. You’ll find several of Koger’s poems, including: “The Muses Sing,” “The Rosebud,” “Who Called Himself Black Sheep,” and “The Shoemaker’s Ashes”.

Read more about Boise Spoken Word and their mission, and download their previous publication Home Grown: An Anthology of Local Voices from their website.

Mark your calendar for a celebration of the new chapbook at Clairvoyant Brewing (2800 W. Idaho St. location, in Boise) on Monday 28 August from 7 to 9 p.m. (MT).

Fifteen Forever

As part of the Star, Idaho Writers Read program (which we recently posted about), Candy Priano will be reading from her completed memoir relating her story about why for two decades she has continued to challenge a police chase law that values apprehending nonviolent suspects above the lives of innocent bystanders — like Priano’s daughter, Kristie, who lost her life at age fifteen.

Following her daughter’s death, she became the Founder and Victims Services Advocate for PursuitSAFETY, a National 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization. PursuitSAFETY’s mission is to prevent innocent bystanders and police officers from being needlessly killed or injured as a result of police chase crashes to capture nonviolent offenders.

Writers Read is a program which hosts local writers reading from their works. Authors and audience members are both invited to reach out to Tina Johnson to learn more; her email address is in this first posting from December.

Hailey, Idaho Murder Mystery

Idaho author Julie Weston has a book presentation at 5:30 p.m. MT on Thursday, 2 February, at the Hailey Public Library. The book: MOON BONES, a Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery, the 5th in the series.

A book signing will follow.

The death of a Chinese man leads photographer Nellie Burns and Sheriff Asteguitoiri to Vienna, a ghost town in the Stanley Basin in 1920’s Idaho. Sammy Ah Kee, who taught Nellie to drive, found the man’s body and is accused of killing him.  With the help of Nellie’s dog Moonshine, they discover a conspiracy dedicated to enslaving Chinese immigrants. 

Find the book at Bookshop.org (supporting your local bookshop), Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Sunday, 6 November – be there!

Did you know that Ming Studios in Boise (corner of Myrtle and South 6th) hosts “7 o’clock” — a time to celebrate music, dance, literature, theater and on the first Sunday in November REBECCA EVANS and MARGARET KOGER will share the stage for readings from their work.

Margaret will read from her newly published What These Hands Remember. Rebecca will read from Tangled By Blood, to be published in 2023.

Portland Book Fest 2022

Portland Book Festival returns on Saturday, November 5, 2022. This daylong event features author discussions, pop-up readings, writing workshops for youth and adults, kids’ story time, an extensive book fair, local food trucks, and more!

Click here to view this year’s full author lineup. Day-of Festival schedule will be released in October.

You can find virtual and in-person writing workshops at our downtown Literary Arts space. Passes are only $15-25 (with free admission for high school students). There are also premium add-on events.

Read all about it.

Events at The Cabin

The Cabin in Boise is an active resource for both writers and readers. You might want to subscribe to their monthly newsletter (nicely not too frequent) to keep abreast of happenings, which this month include:

Scary stuff!

Read Freely vs. Banned Books

  • Success: $10,000 was raised and 1,000 banned or challenged books were distributed by 100 local volunteers

And there’s always more…

Like I said, you may want to sign up for their newsletter. (Scroll toward the bottom of their home page for a form.)

The Cabin’s Summer Program

Boise’s The Cabin has an extensive slate of activities and learning opportunities lined up for the summer and throughout the rest of the year.

Prices range from free to “pay what you can” and on up.

Upcoming writing workshop titles include:

  • Free drop-in writing workshops
  • “Solitude & Ourselves: Writing for Lonely Times”
  • Rainbow Poets: an LGBTQIA+ writing workshop
  • The Art of Nature: an environmental writing workshop
  • Building Worlds Word by Word (how to write great sentences)
  • Meet the Players (character)
  • Generating Flash (of course: flash pieces)

Summer writing camps for kids grades 3 – 12? Check these out:

  • Urban Ink
  • One Acts
  • Cabin Writers
  • Strange Lands
  • Picture This
  • Word Play

And watch their website for news on these upcoming Readings & Conversations with:

  • Reza Aslan
  • Rainn Wilson
  • Amor Towles
  • Patrick Radden Keefe
  • Joy Harjo
  • Ruth Ozeki

Your Writing Career

Past – Present – Future is a three-part seminar, part of the Sisters in Crime SinC Into Great Writing series, during which they’ll discuss the topic from different angles. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (MT) on Saturday, 5 March 2022.

Free to Sisters in Crime members. $25 for non-members.

The seminar includes three panels:

  • Things I Wish I’d Known: Jennifer J. Chow, Jennifer Hillier, Ausma Zehanat Khan , moderated by Wanda M. Morris
  • Publishing in the Present Tense: Michelle Addo, Jenny Chen, Samantha Fabien, moderated by Kellye Garrett
  • Structures for Success: Gigi Pandian, Alex Segura, moderated by Sandra S.G. Wong

Registration required. Read more about it.

TV Reads 2022

The featured title for this year’s Treasure Valley Reads is Anthony Doerr‘s Cloud Cuckoo Land. Doerr is a Boise resident and Pulitzer Prize winner* (for All the Light We Cannot See)

Read more on the Treasure Valley Reads website, which states, in part:

We encourage everyone in the community to read this engaging story and come together at events to learn and experience something new, be creative, and share ideas about themes in the book.

That page also includes an Eventbrite link to attend the free keynote presentation by Mr. Doerr on Friday, 11 March 2022.

*amongst many other awards