Kathryn Trueblood on the Festival Circuit

An article titled, "Rising in the West: The Festival Circuit in Washington, Montana,
and Oregon," by Kathryn Trueblood, was published in the most recent edition of Poets & Writers Magazine (page 63).

Trueblood, is an Associate Professor of English at Western Washington University.

Susan Wicklund's Story: This Common Secret

Montana Public Radio News Director, Sally Mauk, recently talked with Susan Wicklund and Allan Kesselheim, co-authors of This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor. Mauk's interview was part of the February 22 Montana Evening Edition broadcast on Montana Public Radio.

Click here to listen to the interview.

From an article posted at Salon.com on January 22:
"Wicklund describes her work as a privilege and an honor. But it's also a job, often a dangerous one. She has donned disguises to get past the protesters who scream and wave signs outside both her home and her medical office. She's worn a bulletproof vest and carried a gun. In some states, Wicklund is required to read abortion patients misleading, politician-penned scripts that refer to an embryo as an "unborn baby" and warn that the procedure can be fatal (with no mention of the fact that wisdom tooth removal is far riskier)." more...

Greg Patent Wows NPR

Greg Patent - cookbook author and Montana Public Radio "Food Guy" - recently garnered a spot on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday.

Through the magic of technology, Patent talked with NPR national correspondent Daniel Zwerdling from a recording studio in Washington, D.C., while Patent whipped up a batch of Iraqi Cheese Sambouseks in his own kitchen. Montana Public Radio producer and recording engineer Beth Anne Austein captured the Missoula end of the conversation.

The following day, the Cheese Sambouseks arrived at NPR headquarters via FedEx. The program, broadcast January 27, includes sounds of Zwerdling and Liane Hansen biting into the Sambouseks, then moaning with delight. Here's a link to the story titled, "From Cannoli to Chapati: A Baker's Culinary Journey."

In addition to co-hosting "The Food Guys" on Montana Public Radio, Patent's considerable list of accomplishments includes writing eight cookbooks, appearing as a guest on national television and radio programs, hosting a long-term TV cooking show, contributing two columns a month to the Missoulian, and teaching classes.

Look for more information about Greg Patent, his recipes, and cookbooks at GregPatent.com
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Coming up on The Write Question during March:
March 2: Kim Todd
March 9: Roger Dunsmore
March 16: Swain Wolfe
March 23: Perri Knize
March 30: Rick Newby, publisher and Executive Director of the Drumlummon Institute

Listen to this week's program. Guest: Martin Kidston from Helena, Montana.

Thanks for stopping by. Send comments about The Write Question to Chérie Newman.

The Write Question is supported in part by The Greater Montana Foundation — encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. And by Humanities Montana, enriching intellectual, cultural, and civic life for all Montanans.

The Write Question Team: Chérie Newman, Producer; Michael Marsolek, Executive Producer and Program Director for Montana Public Radio; Academic and professional advisers: Prageeta Sharma, Director of Creative Writing at the University of Montana; Kim Anderson, Montana Committee for the Humanities; Barbara Theroux, manager of Fact & Fiction bookstore; Renee McGrath, Director of North Valley Public Library in Stevensville, Montana.

A Real Montana Winter

Last Thursday morning, as fierce winds whipped several inches of new snow across the icy highways of western Montana, my dad, a girl friend, and two co-workers suggested I postpone the trip I'd planned to Dillon and Helena. I thanked them for thinking of me and drove off into swirls of white.

It's been years, maybe more than a decade, since we've had a real Montana winter. I'm not foolhardy, but I do love an adventure. And I wasn't disappointed. In addition to white-knuckle driving, I got to experience the thrill of meeting a dozen bright and fascinating people.

Judy Ansley from Dillon convinced several brave Montana Public Radio fans to leave their warm houses on Thursday evening and go over to the Beaverhead Museum. I recorded each of them reading a legal I.D. - that list of transmitters we're required to broadcast near the top of every hour - and making comments about Dillon and Montana Public Radio. I thought they would rush off to do something else after they were done, but they all stayed to watch me record interviews with poet Roger Dunsmore and fantasy author Diana Pharaoh Francis. Even though I'd just met everyone, I felt like I was sitting around in a friend's living room listening to stories on a cold winter night. It was wonderful! Train noises and all.

The next morning, Friday, I met writer and professor Alan Weltzien at the library on the UM-Dillon (Western to you older foks) campus. He gave me some great "tape" for The Write Question.

By ten o'clock I was back on Interstate 15, which had blown partly dry, and made it into Butte in time to beat the lunch crowd at the Front Street Market (only five bucks for a tuna sandwich, a cup of seafood chowder, a cup of tea, and a chocolate chip cookie). I met Caroline Patterson, a writer and an editor for FarCountry Press, at the Fire Tower coffee house and she gave me the key to her office so I could use it for interviews. I talked with Jim Robbins, Rick Newby, and Martin Kidston - smart and articulate all, more great tape for TWQ.

Next time I'll check the extended weather forecast before scheduling a winter trip, but I'm glad I ventured forth.

And what am I reading this week? Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey, by Perri Knize; The Open-focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body, by Les Fehmi and Jim Robbins; Poems Across The Big Sky, edited by Lowell Jaeger; and Wind From An Enemy Sky, by D'Arcy McNickle.

Listen to this week's program. Guest: John Clayton, from Red Lodge, Montana.

Thanks for stopping by. Send comments about The Write Question to Chérie Newman.

Twelve Minutes A Week

The Write Question is broadcast over the Montana Public Radio network Sunday mornings at approximately 11:45.

We aim to air a mix of writers — female and male, fiction and nonfiction, narrative and poetry, local and far away — plus a few publishers, editors, illustrators, and photographers. Every year, tens of dozens of talented Montana writers, poets, illustrators, and photographers produce first-rate books. Add award-winning authors from Idaho, Washington state, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and California into the literary mix and... well, you get the point.

So, what's a lover of all things writerly to do with bushels of literary excess? Blog, of course. This is where you'll find extra information to supplement our weekly twelve-minute peek into the world of writing and publishing in the western United States.

Listen to this week's program. Guest: poet Kathleen Lynch from California

Thanks for stopping by. Send comments about The Write Question to Chérie Newman.

The Write Question Team: Chérie Newman, Producer; Michael Marsolek, Executive Producer and Program Director for Montana Public Radio; Academic and professional advisers: Prageeta Sharma, Director of Creative Writing at the University of Montana; Kim Anderson, Montana Committee for the Humanities; Barbara Theroux, manager of Fact & Fiction bookstore; Renee McGrath, Director of North Valley Public Library in Stevensville, Montana.