March 2016 – Writing and Book Events at Eugene Public Library
All events free. More information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Kids and Teens: Vote for Your Favorite Books
Starting March 1, all locations of Eugene Public Library
Kids and teens: vote for your favorites to win the Oregon Reader’s Choice Award and Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award. See this year’s nominees at Eugene Public Library or the Library website: bit.ly/19iqKF4.
Voting for the Oregon Reader’s Choice Award is open March 1 through March 30. Readers in grades 3 through 12 who have read or listened to at least two of the nominated books in their age level’s division are eligible to vote once.
The Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award is selected by kids who have read or listened to at least two of the nominated books. Vote once at the Library from March 15 through April 9. Free. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Talk: “And That Something is Music: Tchaikovsky and Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin”
Tuesday, March 1, 6:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
In connection with Eugene Opera’s upcoming production of “Eugene Onegin,” a talk by Susanna Lim titled “And That Something is Music: Tchaikovsky and Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin.” Lim will explore Piotr Tchaikovsky’s transformation of Aleksandr Pushkin’s novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, from a classic of Russian literature into a universally loved opera. She is an Associate Professor of Russian literature at the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College.
Eugene Opera’s 2015-2016 season at the Hult Center features four operas based on literary works: “Turn of the Screw” by Benjamin Britten (based on the novella by Henry James); “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti (“The Lady of Lammermoor” by Sir Walter Scott); “Eugene Onegin” by Piotyr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Alexander Pushkin); and “Little Women” by Mark Adamo (Louisa May Alcott). Accompanying events and exhibits will be held at Eugene Public Library, Central Lutheran Church, University of Oregon, and the Lane County Historical Museum. For more information about events at Eugene Public Library: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library. For more information about Eugene Opera: 541-682-5000 or www.eugeneopera.com.
Open Letter: A Writing Workshop with Kim Stafford
Saturday, March 5, 2:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
Acclaimed author and teacher Kim Stafford will lead a writing workshop for adults titled “Open Letter: Secret Manifesto to the World.”
Says Stafford, “What is it about the personal letter—that literary luxury from before the digital age? Private, friendly, revealing, resonant with both leisure and quiet urgency? Clearly, there is work to be done beyond the tweet, outside email, and wrought by hand.”
In this workshop, participants will read landmark letters from the past, then pen a suite of pages in this informal form: a letter to a long-lost friend, a letter-poem, a witness letter to the world. Sample letters, prompts, and envelopes provided.
Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, including “The Muses among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft: and “A Thousand Friends of Rain: New & Selected Poems.” His most recent books are “100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: How My Brother Disappeared,” and “Wind on the Waves: Stories from the Oregon Coast.” He has taught writing in dozens of schools and community centers, and in Scotland, Italy, and Bhutan. Free. For more information, call Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or visit www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Family Fun: Picture a Story
Sunday, March 6, 2:30 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
Kids and family: illustrate a scene from your favorite story – or one you make up on the spot! With art educators from the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Free. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Windfall Reading: Rosalind Trotter and Frank Rossini
Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
This month’s readers are Rosalind Trotter and Frank Rossini.
Rosalind Trotter moved from the United States to Italy when she was 11. Italy is the setting of her first novel, “Bruno Cassini: A Florentine Tale,” which explores a story of adultery against a backdrop of cross-cultural differences and historical shifts. Currently an adoption social worker in Eugene, she is working on a middle-grades fantasy about a girl and her dragon.
Frank Rossini has been writing poetry for about 50 years, with work published widely including in the Seattle Review, The New York Quarterly, and Chiron Review. His chapbooks include “sparking the rain” and “midnight the blues.” He taught at Lane Community College for many years and has read publicly often, including at Ken Kesey’s Hoo Haw.
Literary Arts’ annual Oregon Book Awards celebrate excellence in Oregon writing, support emerging and established writers, and build community. The Windfall Reading Series is sponsored by Eugene Public Library, Lane Literary Guild, Friends of Eugene Public Library, and Eugene Public Library Foundation. Refreshments served at intermission. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Writer Ron Rash
Saturday, March 19, 2:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
A talk and reading by Ron Rash, the critically acclaimed and international best-selling novelist, short story writer, and poet. His latest work is the poetic and haunting novel “Above the Waterfall,” a tale of lives shaped by violence and a powerful connection to the land in Appalachia. Admission is free; books will be available for purchase and signing courtesy of the UO Duck Store. This talk is sponsored with generous support by the Eugene Public Library Foundation.
Considered one of the most original and compelling voices in contemporary literature, Ron Rash has been honored with numerous national and international awards. He is a two-time PEN/Faulkner Prize finalist, two-time recipient of the O. Henry Award, and winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Fiction Award, the most prestigious literary prize available for short stories.
Ron Rash’s family has lived in the southern Appalachian Mountains since the mid-1700s. With a masterful command of language, his works explore the mystery and wonder of the region and the conflicts buried deep within the human heart. Critics have compared his epic narratives to Shakespeare, his compelling plotlines to Raymond Chandler, and his lyric sensibility to William Faulkner and Toni Morrison.
The New York Times’ Janet Maslin praised him as “one of the great American authors at work today.” Maureen Corrigan of NPR’s Fresh Air, “Expect to be good for nothing for a long time after you read Ron Rash. His writing is powerful, stripped down and very still . . . Rash’s spectacular stories may originate in the peculiar soil of Appalachia, but their reach and their rewards are vast.”
His previous works include the novels “Serena,” “The Cove,” “One Foot in Eden,” “Saints at the River,” and “The World Made Straight”; three collections of poems; and four collections of stories, including “Burning Bright” and “Chemistry and Other Stories.”
In addition, Rash’s poetry and fiction have appeared in over one hundred journals, magazines, and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Southern Review, Tin House, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, The Longman Anthology of Southern Literature, Sewanee Review, Yale Review, Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Shenandoah, and Poetry. Ron Rash currently holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Oregon Poet Laureate Peter Sears: Writing Workshop
Saturday, March 26, 3:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
Join Oregon Poet Laureate Peter Sears for a free poetry writing workshop. Sears’ work has been widely honored, including a Willamette Writers Award for Contribution of Oregon Writing, the Western States Book Award for Poetry, the Stewart A. Holbrook Award for Contribution to Oregon Literary Life, and his book “The Brink,” named one of Oregon’s 150 best books by the Oregon State Library.
Sears is the author of three full-length poetry collections, “Tour: New and Selected Poems,” “The Brink, ” and “Green Diver,” as well as chapbooks and books on teaching writing, including “Secret Writing.” His work has appeared nationally in publications including The Saturday Review, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, The Christian Science Monitor, and Rolling Stone, as well as in many literary journals.
Sears has taught at Reed College and served as Dean of Students at Bard College, community services coordinator for the Oregon Arts Commission, and director of the Oregon Literary Coalition. He currently teaches in Pacific University’s low-residency MFA department. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Print Your Book
Wednesday, March 30, 5:30 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
Get an introduction to the many self-publishing resources available online at this two-hour workshop. Whether you have written a book you want to print and sell widely, or you want to print just a few copies of a family history or recipe collection, self-publishing is now easier and more affordable than ever. Intermediate computer and Internet skills required. Free. Information: 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Teen Book Group
Thursday, March 31, 4:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
This month’s book is “Challenger Deep” by Neal Shusterman, with illustrations by Brendan Shusterman. This compelling novel follows a teen’s descent into schizophrenia. Outside of his head, Caden’s family and friends are noticing something’s wrong. Inside, though, Caden is a crucial crew member on a quest beneath the sea to the deepest place on Earth. For ages 13 – 17. Visit the Downtown Teen desk starting March 1 to pre-register and pick up your copy. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
Tween Scene Book Group
Thursday, March 31, 4:00 p.m., Downtown Eugene Public Library, 10th & Olive
This month’s book is “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones. This magical and funny novel stars Sophie, who is resigned to a dull life — until a witch turns her into an old woman, setting off a series of adventures in the castle of the feared wizard Howl. For grades 4 – 6. Pre-register and pick up the book at the Children’s Center starting March 1. Information: 541-682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library
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