Dear Literary Folk,
Even without Thanksgiving I’d be especially thankful to be alive right now and living in Sonoma County, while wary of climate change, storms, earthquakes, fire and other potential disasters, natural or man-made. Meanwhile here we all are, privileged to be living in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I hope you all have family or dear friends close by for the holiday, and any on the east coast are safe. (And all of you can get out and vote on Tuesday!)
I recently returned from a 3,000-mile road trip through the Southwest and am grateful to have experienced the magnificent rock formations, ancient Anasazi ruins and living pueblos, and to have learned more about the complex history of that region. My apologies for abandoning the Update for those 17 days. I was camping in the wilds, and mostly without an Internet connection. It seems to have done quite well without me. Which reminds me, would the nice person (or persons) who volunteered to help maintain the blogsite last year, please write to me again, as I’ve misplaced that email. We’d welcome the occasional guest blogger, too.
The literary scene is a tad quieter, though far from dormant. Of note upcoming: More 100,000 Poets for Change events on November 2 and December 7 at at Gaia’s Garden Restaurant in Santa Rosa. There will be book launch parties and readings for several Sonoma County authors throughout November: Dan Coshnear (Occupy and Other Love Stories), Laura McHale Holland (The Ice Cream Vendor’s Song), Christie Nelson (Dreaming Mill Valley), the Sonoma County Writing Practice anthology (Footnotes), Catherine Brankamp (Trash Out), and Juanita J. Martin (The Lighthouse Beckons). See below for details.
Dine with local authors at Gaia’s Garden International Vegetarian Buffet, 1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa on Monday, November 12, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Authors: Theresa Dintino, Camilla Gray-Nelson, Arlene Miller, Jennie Orvino, James Wills.
Take a look at the ongoing classes and workshops. In addition, on November 10, Quill Ink Productions presents New York Poet Lee Slonimsky giving a three-hour workshop in Healdsburg. Writers Forum of Petaluma presents Seré Prince Halverson on November 15 (My Long, Slippery, Uphill-Both-Ways Path to Publication). At Petaluma Community Center, 320 No. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. On November 14, Center Literary Café presents Word Pirates, a dynamic, edgy group of professional writers in the Bay Area, featuring Ken Weaver, Morgan Elliott, Joy Lanzendorfer, Kara Vernor and Marcia Simmons. Ana Manwaring’s workshop, The Narrator’s Tale: All About Point of View, is sponsored by Redwood Writers at the Flamingo Hotel, Santa Rosa, on the morning of November 17. Later that same day, catch Tellabration! Storytelling enthusiasts celebrate the art of storytelling around the world at the Glaser Center, 547 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa. On November 18, the Healdsburg Literary Guild’s Third Sunday Salon presents Susan Lamont, poet, editor, peace activist. At Bean Affair, 1270 Healdsburg Avenue. And there’s more. Check the Workshops and Calendar pages below.
I will close with a poem about November from Thomas Hardy.
Jo-Anne Rosen
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update
At Day-Close In November
The ten hours’ light is abating,
And a late bird flies across,
Where the pines, like waltzers waiting,
Give their black heads a toss.
Beech leaves, that yellow the noon-time,
Float past like specks in the eye;
I set every tree in my June time,
And now they obscure the sky.
And the children who ramble through here
Conceive that there never has been
A time when no tall trees grew here,
A time when none will be seen.
— Thomas Hardy
Note: A pdf of most of the pages on the blogsite may be uploaded here.
Sonoma County Literary Update 