Saturday, September 17, 2011

Excerpts, Covers, News

Some nice press this month has brought some amusing, uh, juxtapositions.

An excerpt from Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus appears in the Autumn 2011 issue of Portland: The Magazine of the University of Portland. This is a fabulous alumni magazine, regularly lauded as one of the best, edited by the indominable Brian Doyle, and the excerpt, from the chapter "Heroes and She-Roes" is fabulously presented. Since it's the scene of John Lewis' speech at the 50th anniversary of the Tallahassee bus boycott, a fine portrait of Congressman Lewis accompanies the text.

This excerpt appears in an issue for which the cover story is:"Why Be A Priest?"



Meanwhile an excerpt from Potluck appears in the Sept. / Oct. issue of Utne Reader. A section of the title essay, retitled "Pass the Populism," appears in the Gleanings section of the magazine, another fine publication with a wide distribution. The excerpt was even noted by a NY Times writer in the Dining section of the paper on Sept. 13. That is, by Stehekin standards - by any standards, I suppose - a big deal!

This excerpt appears in an issue for which the cover story is:
"21st Century Sex: What Are You Looking At?"



In neither case is the excerpt related to the cover story, but the contrast tickled me no end.

Then came Oregon Quarterly where an excerpt from Potluck, "Saw Chips in My Bra" appears in the Fall issue alongside an essay by Robert Leo Heilman about the legendary woods-working co-op, the Hoedads. This time, the cover photo fit with my story a little better, just right even. The only downside was the news that long-time friend, supporter, author, and OQ editor, Guy Maynard, will be stepping down this winter. He will be sorely missed.


Meanwhile, I have new short essays forthcoming in Bellingham Review and Matter 14: Animal, and a short story for kids in ColumbiaKIDS.

And ... in the best news of the month, Test Ride was named a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in biography / memoir. A fine honor.