Reserve free tickets for the Main Event, celebrating 20 years of A Novel Idea
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Twenty years ago, A Novel Idea began with Oregon roots, featuring David James Duncan’s The River Why. Since then, we’ve traveled to Mexico with María Amparo Escandón, the mountains of Colorado with Peter Heller, and to Ireland with Anne Griffin.
On Saturday, April 29, these four indelible authors return to celebrate 20 years of Oregon’s largest community read program.
Central Oregon has the chance to hear from authors Duncan, Escandón, Heller, and Griffin at the A Novel Idea Main Event at Bend High School on Saturday, April 29, at 6 p.m. Free tickets are required and are available at www.dplfoundation.org and at all library locations. Simultaneous American Sign Language and Spanish interpretation are available.
In addition, three limited-seating writing workshops with Duncan, Heller, and Griffin are offered as a fundraiser for the Deschutes Public Library Foundation. Tickets for the writing workshops can be purchased at www.dplfoundation.org. A fourth workshop, in partnership with Latino Community Association and led by Escandón, is free. This workshop will be conducted in Spanish. Space is limited and registration is required.
- Writing About Family in Fiction with Anne Griffin | Saturday, April 29, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Thinking Your Way to the Page with Peter Heller | Saturday, April 29, noon – 2:00 p.m.
- Tu Voz Escrita con María Amparo Escandón | sábado, el 29 de abril, de 11:30 a.m. a 1:30 p.m.
- Novelistic Voice & Ragtag Local Activism in the Novels of David James Duncan | Sunday, April 30, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m
Each year, A Novel Idea brings together thousands of Deschutes County residents to read, discuss, and attend a variety of free cultural and author events. Visit the A Novel Idea website for a complete listing of programs.
About the Donors
A Novel Idea is made possible by generous donors: Lonza; The Roundhouse Foundation; Hayden Homes;
Pacific Power Foundation; First Interstate Bank; RBC Wealth Management; E.H. and M.E. Bowerman Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation; Best Best & Krieger Attorneys at Law; Savory Spice; Bigfoot Beverages; Cascade Hasson Sotheby's International Realty; Deschutes Cultural Coalition; Chris Mahr + Associates CPAs; Oregon Arts Commission. This program is supported by funds from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the Book: The Brothers K
This touching, uplifting novel spans decades of loyalty, anger, regret, and love in the lives of the Chance family. A father whose dreams of glory on a baseball field are shattered by a mill accident. A mother who clings obsessively to religion as a ward against the darkest hour of her past. Four brothers who come of age during the seismic upheavals of the sixties and who each choose their own way to deal with what the world has become.
About the Author: David James Duncan
David James Duncan is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his bestselling novels The River Why, which was the inaugural Novel Idea selection, and The Brothers K. Both novels received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers award. The Brothers K was a New York Times Notable Book in 1992 and won a Best Books Award from the American Library Association. He has released several collections of essays including River Teeth, My Story as told by Water, and God Laughs & Plays. Duncan is widely renowned as an activist and expert fly fisher. He currently resides in western Montana.
About the Book: L.A. Weather
Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants a little rain. L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and he’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their daughters are left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.
About the Author: María Amparo Escandón
María Amparo Escandón is a New York Times bestselling bilingual author. She graduated from Universidad Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City and immigrated to the United States at age 23. She is the author of three novels: Esperanza’s Box of Saints, González & Daughter Trucking Co., and L.A. Weather. Her newest novel is a Reese’s Book Club pick and is featured in Oprah Quarterly Magazine. Amparo Escandón joined the A Novel Idea program in 2006. She was named as a Writer to Watch by Newsweek magazine and by the Los Angeles Times.
About the Book: The Guide
Kingfisher Lodge, nestled in a canyon on a mile and a half of the most pristine river water on the planet, boasts boutique fishing at its finest. Safe from viruses that have plagued America for years, Kingfisher offers a respite for wealthy clients, and now a second chance for Jack after a young life filled with loss. When he is assigned to guide a well-known singer, his only job is to rig her line, carry her gear, and steer her to the best trout he can find. But then a human scream pierces the night, and Jack soon realizes that this idyllic fishing lodge may be merely a cover for a far more sinister operation.
About the Author: Peter Heller
Peter Heller is a longtime contributor to NPR, and a former contributing editor at Outside Magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure. He is an award-winning adventure writer and the author of five books, including his most recent, The Guide. Heller’s debut novel, The Dog Stars, was the 2014 Novel Idea selection. It was critically celebrated and a breakout bestseller, and has been published in 18 languages. Heller was born and raised in New York and he now lives in Denver.
About the Book: Listening Still
Jeanie Masterson has a gift: she can hear the recently dead and give voice to their final wishes and revelations. Inherited from her father, this gift has enabled the family undertakers to flourish in their small Irish town. Yet she has always been uneasy about censoring some of the dead's last messages to the living. Unsure, too, about the choice she made when she left school seventeen years ago: to stay or leave for a new life in London with her charismatic teenage sweetheart. So when Jeanie's parents unexpectedly announce their plan to retire, she is jolted out of her limbo.
About the Author: Anne Griffin
Anne Griffin was born in Dublin, Ireland. She began writing in 2013, and earned an MA in Creative Writing. She was shortlisted for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award. When All Is Said, Anne’s debut novel published in 2019, was the 2020 Novel Idea selection, and received the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Irish Book Awards has been translated into twenty languages. Her second novel, Listening Still, was published in April 2021, and her third novel, The Island of Longing, will be published in 2023.
For more information about A Novel Idea, please contact Liz Goodrich at (541) 312-1032 or lizg@deschuteslibrary.org. Visit the A Novel Idea website at www.deschuteslibrary.org/novelideafor event listings as they are scheduled and for author information.
