Wednesday, October 23, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
Literary festival hits high note in Sisters
By Ceili Cornelius
Correspondent
Authors and book enthu-
siasts came together to cel-
ebrate writing, books and the
importance of a good story at
the inaugural Sisters Festival
of Books last weekend.
Authors of various genres
came from around the nation
to take part in the festival
events. Friday kicked off with
a special local-author recep-
tion honoring Sisters-area
authors (see story, page 1).
Saturday featured presen-
tations from various authors
throughout the day at Sisters
Middle School. Some of
the authors in attendance
included: David Oates, Kelli
Estes, Joe Wilkins, David
Joy, Megan Griswold, Molly
Gloss and many others. Each
author conducted a 40-minute
session that included read-
ing segments of their book,
as well as a question-and-
answer portion.
The downstairs of Sisters
Middle School became a
bookshop, with tables filled
with books by all the authors
in attendance, available for
purchase, and to have them
signed by the author.
A number of attendees
had shared similar thoughts
on the variety of presenta-
tions by authors, from one
author speaking on slavery in
Oregon, to poets using their
descriptive language to capti-
vate audiences.
Author Joe Wilkins, author
of <Fall Back Down When
I Die,= read a few chapters
from his novel as well as
from his poetry book, <When
We Were Birds.= Wilkins9
novel takes place in the Bull
Mountains in Montana, near
the area where he grew up.
Some of the characters and
lifestyle in the book come
from his experience growing
up in a rural community.
Wilkins read two chap-
ters from the novel, chapters
about two of the main char-
acters, Wendell Newman,
<a young ranch hand in
Montana, (who) has recently
lost his mother, leaving him
an orphan, as his father met
a violent end more than a
decade earlier.=
Wi l k i n s t r a n s p o r t e d
the audience to the Bull
Mountains, introducing them
to another world within his
novel. He also read from
his poetry book, containing
poems for his wife and chil-
dren. He read a poem for his
daughter about imagination
and other worlds. He used
descriptive words of a rural
landscape in a love poem for
his wife, making <the map of
love.=
Wilkins said he got into
poetry after taking a poetry
class in college while being
an engineering major.
The poetry influence
shows in his prose, with flow-
ing and descriptive sentences.
Wilkins is in the process
of writing another novel.
Wilkins was happy to see
an event such as the festival.
<It is cool to see a rural
community celebrating lan-
guage and words,= he said.
Wilkins ended his presen-
tation with a poem from the
title of his poetry book that
he had made up for his son,
<When We Were Birds.=
David Joy, author of <The
Line That Held U,= was one
of the Saturday-afternoon
presenters. Joy, from the
Appalachian Mountains of
North Carolina, is about as
country as you get.
<I wouldn9t leave my
mountains, but I think this
place is beautiful,= he said.
Joy met event director
Lane Jacobson at the book-
store Jacobson managed in
North Carolina, before mov-
ing west to take ownership of
Paulina Springs Books.
Joy and Jacobson instantly
became good friends, bond-
ing over their mutual love for
the same books and authors.
When Joy found out Jacobson
was moving out to Sisters, <I
knew I had to figure out a
way to get out there,= he said.
So, when the book festival
came to fruition, Jacobson
recruited Joy to be one of the
featured authors at the event.
Joy began his presenta-
tion with reading the begin-
ning chapters of his novel,
using lots of description of
the area in which he grew up
and where it takes place in the
mountains of North Carolina.
He introduces us to main
character Darl Moody during
a hunting trek where he acci-
dently shoots a man digging
ginseng, a golden crop that
grows in the mountains.
Joy grew up in a storytell-
ing tradition and was taught
to listen at family gatherings.
<I didn9t read much grow-
ing up, but I was obsessed
with story,= he said.
He grew up where people
and place were inseparable,
describing the importance of
one9s land, basing his charac-
ters and story off of some of
what he grew up with, includ-
ing having to be defensive
over your place.
Not only has Joy released
two bestselling novels, he has
essays published in The New
York Times and on NPR.
Joy, an avid fisherman,
wanted to be able to create a
program involving fishing.
<I can write a half-ass
story, but I am good at fish-
ing,= he said.
Joy participated in putting
out a book based on fishing
stories, <Gather at the River.=
He called up a number of fel-
low writers to produce their
own fishing-related essays
for the book. The royalties
for the book go to Cast for
Kids, which takes disabled
kids and their caretakers fish-
ing. Twenty-five authors,
including Joy, contributed
to the book with essays on
541-549-9388
SISTERS
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sisters Middle School turned into a book store during the Sisters Festival
of Books last weekend.
experiences with fishing and
with water.
Joy was able to get in
some fishing time in Sisters,
taking to the waters of the
Metolius River with former
Forest Service employee and
bookseller Rod Bonacker for
a guide.
The rest of the authors
offered similar presentations
throughout Saturday9s event.
Sunday9s events all took
place at Paulina Springs
Books, making a free fam-
ily- and community-focused
day. The events included
story hour with local authors,
history lessons, coloring
and singing with children
and community members.
Lisa Loving and Stephanie
Feldstein read from their
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world.
Jacobson, event director
says of the event9s future: <I
hope to bring in other diverse
authors, after we have the
track record of this year9s
event. We hope to have this
as an annual event at the same
time every year. The time of
year is perfect.=
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