Charles Shields, author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee and a forthcoming biography of Kurt Vonnegut, shared his insights on the use of details in biography at WriterHouse on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
Charles J. Shields spent four years researching and writing Mockingbird. Shields has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in American history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he was a James Scholar. He lives in central Virginia with his wife, Guadalupe.
On Friday September 25, authors Clifford Garstang and Josh Weil read from their new books at the New Dominion Bookshop in downtown Charlottesville. Garstang read a selection from his collection of short stories, In an Uncharted Country. Weil read from his book, The New Valley. They were introduced by David Reynaud.
(Unfortunately, the recorder failed in the middle of Josh’s reading so only Cliff’s reading is presented here.)
You can meet Westlack in person at the Cville Pie Fest on October 3. Suzy can always be found at her web site or on Twitter.
Kelly Corrigan, author of The Middle Place, spoke to an audience at the New Dominion Bookshop on September 15, 2009. She was joined by her father George (“Greenie”) and his brother Gene, who figure largely in her memoir of childhood, adulthood, and the places in-between.
Primeval Times by Russell U. Richards
Elizabeth McCullough of CvilleWords talks with artist, author, and filmmaker Russell Richards about how chronic illness and a recent accident have affected his approach to life and art. Richards is currently at work on a short horror film, Sins of the Fly, which will feature a pink Cadillac, a performing dog, and loads of local talent.
Richards can be found in his studio at the McGuffey Art Center surrounded by his colorful lithographs and etchings. He is the author of The Art and Innards of Russell U. Richards! A wide selection of his work can be seen at his website.
Joel Salatin
Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm appeared at New Dominion Bookshop on Wednesday, July 29, 2009, to read from his books, Holy Cows and Hog Heaven and Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal. Salatin, a well known figure in the local food movement, spoke at length on the politics of food safety regulations and the burden they place on family farms. He also took questions from the audience.
Libraries all over the country host summer reading programs for kids, complete with prizes — but why should youngsters have all the fun? This year, the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library plans to include the grown-ups in a program called Master the Art of Reading (pdf). In this podcast, Elizabeth McCullough of WriterHouse talks with Krista Farrell, the library’s assistant director and manager of the Central branch in downtown Charlottesville. Listen to find out how you can Master the Art of Reading.
Michael Malone presented his latest novel, The Four Corners of the Sky, to an audience at New Dominion Bookshop on Wednesday, May 27, 2009.
Michael Malone is the author of ten novels, one collection of short stories, and two works of nonfiction. Among his prizes are the Edgar, the O. Henry, the Writers Guild Award, and the Emmy. He lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, with his wife, Maureen Quilligan.
On Wednesday, April 29, 2009, columnist and author Faith Andrews Bedford read from her new book, Little Girls in Matching Dresses, at the New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville. Faith’s column “Kids in the Country” was a popular feature of Country Living Magazine. She currently teaches the course “From Memories to Memoirs” at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia.
Stephanie Wilkinson and Jennifer Niesslein, co-founders of the award-winning Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, gave the inside scoop on magazine publishing during a presentation at WriterHouse on October 30, 2008.
Stephanie Wilkinson is editor and publisher of Brain, Child. She lives in Lexington, Virginia, where she and a partner recently opened a new, local-foods fine dining restaurant, The Red Hen.
Jennifer Niesslein is the author of Practically Perfect in Every Way: My Misadventures through the World of Self-Help — and Back. Her work has appeared in The Nation, the Washington Post, Salon, and elsewhere.
Winn Collier read from his latest book, Holy Curiosity, on Thursday, October 16, 2008, at the New Dominion Bookshop in downtown Charlottesville. In this, Collier’s third book, he wrestles with the intriguing, disturbing questions asked by Jesus in the Gospels. Collier read from Holy Curiosity and took questions from the audience.
21:00 What was the most difficult question to write about?
22:30 How did you arrive at the title for the book?
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