A look through Kitsap’s September literary calendar:
• Friday, Sept. 3, 9 a.m. through 4 p.m.: Stillwaters Environmental Education Center, 26059 Barber Cut Off Road in Kingston, begins its annual fundraising book sale. At least 15,000 new and used books, covering all genres and subjects, will be sold each Friday through Sunday, through Oct. 3. During the sale’s last weekend, books will be sold by the grocery bag ($5 on Friday, $3 on Saturday and free on Sunday). All proceeds go to support environmental education. For more information, contact Naomi Maasberg at (360) 297-1226 or at naomi@stillwatersenvironmental center.org.
• Sunday, Sept. 12, at 3 p.m.: Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge Island hosts Carol Cassella, the Bainbridge author whose second novel, Healer, will be in bookstores Sept. 7. Those wanting a signed copy can order it in advance through the bookstore. (Full disclosure: I was lucky enough to score an advance copy, am about 150 pages in, and can say it so far is every bit the equal of Oxygen … and probably a lot more than that. I’m working on an interview with Carol for this blog ahead of this reading; stay tuned for details.)
• Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m.: Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo hosts Erica Bauermeister, the Seattle author of the novel, The School Of Essential Ingredients. (Of the book, Publisher’s Weekly says: ““In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean indulgence…Delivering memorable story lines and characters while seducing the senses, Bauermeister’s tale of food and hope is sure to satisfy.”) Bauermeister is a founding member of Seattle7Writers, the literary-and-literacy promotion collective, and will participate in The Novel: Live! fundraising event in October.
• Thursday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.: The Kitsap Regional Library Foundation hosts Between The Pages, an evening with five authors — Eileen Goudge, Jane Smiley, Joshilyn Jackson, Josie Brown and Tatjana Soli — at the Bainbridge Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $50 for the event, a fundraiser for the foundation, and includes a copy of Brown’s novel, Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives. VIP tickets sell for $150; that price gets you an invite to a catered pre-event reception with the authors; the latest books bu all five authors and an opportunity to have them signed, among other good stuff. Click on the above link for ticket and other info; tickets can also be purchased through Eagle Harbor Book Co. and Liberty Bay Books. (If, like me, you’re wondering how Kitsap lined up so many literary rock stars for one evening, rest assured that I’m looking into the story behind this event and hope to have a blog soon on that subject. I’m dying to go to this myself, but that damned work thing appears to be getting in the way. Hint, hint, boss.)
• Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m.: Field’s End hosts Bainbridge resident Tom Tyner, aka The Latte Guy, who will speak on “The Ins And Outs Of Writing A Weekly Column.” A land-conservation lawyer, Tyner has written his humorous observations on coffee, parenting and island life on and off for The Bainbridge Island Review since 1993. His earlier columns were collected in a book called Skeleton From Our Closet.
• Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7 p.m. (and continuing for the next four Tuesday evenings): Field’s End hosts novelist and University of Washington English professor Shawn Wong, who will offer a workshop on “Beginning Fiction.” (From the website: “Nearly everyone says or overhears someone say, “I have a great idea for a novel.” How do fiction writers get from idea to written pages? How do you give yourself practical writing assignments to meet your goal? What tricks can you play on yourself to move your writing ability from one level to another? How can you be an objective editor of your writing? There is no tried-and-true path to writing fiction, but Shawn Wong’s students for the past 26 years at UW have gone on to write and publish short stories and novels and win writing awards. What he tells them will be compressed into four sessions. In other words, let’s skip the apprenticeship and get straight to the writing.”) Wong is the author of the novels Homebase and American Knees, both literary novels stemming from his Chinese-American experience. The latter book was adapted into Americanese, an independent movie being release this year. Cost for the four-week workshop is $160. For registration forms and other information on the classes, which take place at the Bainbridge Public Library’s meeting room, go to Field’s End online.
Know of any September signings, readings or other literary events in Kitsap County you’d like to publicize here? Drop me a line at thomsen1965@gmail.com.
