And Speaking Of Craig Childs...

This announcement came from University Relations, University of Montana:

Author To Share Tales Of River Adventure

Author Craig Childs, UM's Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer in Environmental Studies, will host a reading and slide show about his September 2007 first descent of a river in Tibet at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, in Turner Hall's Dell Brown Room.

At the presentation, titled "Lost in Tibet," Childs will share astonishing stories and images of running 200 miles of uncharted water through 17,000-foot mountains.

Childs is the author of "The Animal Dialogues," "The Secret Knowledge of Water," "House of Rain," "Soul of Nowhere" and numerous other books. His recent essays have appeared in Orion, High Country News and The Sun, and he is a regular commentator on NPR's "Morning Edition."

Reading It Real

Craig Childs, from Colorado, recently stopped by Fact & Fiction in downtown Missoula to read from his new book, The Animal Dialogues.

Rarely have I felt so completely drawn into a story read by its author. Somehow, Childs' voice and words conjured images of wild places and animals, and made the tension real, right there in the safety of a book store.

Childs is the author of nine books, including The Secret Knowledge of Water and House of Rain.

David Frey's review of The Animal Dialogues on NewWest.net

University of Montana English Professors Receive Awards

Congratulations to University of Montana Professor Deirdre McNamer, whose novel Red Rover won the 2007 Montana Book Award.

Penguin Group Red Rover reading guide.

A review of Red Rover from the New York Times.

A review of Red Rover in the Los Angeles Times.

McNamer was a guest on The Write Question on August 19, 2007:
http://www.mtpr.net/program_info/2007-08-19-308

And congratulations to Professor Casey Charles for receiving the Pantzer Presidential Humanitarian Award, and Professor Katie Kane for being awarded a research grant by the Montana Committee for the Humanities.

The Smoking Poet Spring 2008

The Spring Issue of The Smoking Poet is now available online. TSP publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, travel essays, book reviews, and interviews.

Russell Rowland, the new fiction editor, acknowledged the challenge of his postion: "I was a bit overwhelmed with how difficult it was to choose which submissions to include. Saying no is harder than I expected it to be."

But choose he did: Lynn Stegner, Mark Bastable, Kris Saknussemm, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, and Cynthia Graham, among others. He chose Sue Miller, author of The Good Mother, While I was Gone, and Family Pictures, as his "Feature Author" and posted a meaty interview with her.

(Russell Rowland was a guest on The Write Question November 25, 2007.)

The new issue also features a poignant nonfiction essay by R. A. Evans, a travel piece about Santorini Greece by Jeannie Dugan Sanders, and a review of Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men, by Lundy Bancroft. The Feature Poet is Harry Owen, first Poet Laureate for Cheshire (England).