Flight of Writers

Flight of Writers to Pair Wine with U-Idaho Creative Writers’ Work

 
In the same way wine is paired with food, the University of Idaho’s Department of English will pair wine with written work by some of the regions’ writers.

Fugue, a literary journal published by U-Idaho’s Department of English, will host a public event called Flight of Writers on Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m. at Bloom, 403 S. Main St. in Moscow. Featured readings will include stories and poems by Kim Barnes, Samuel Ligon, Ron McFarland, Daniel Orozco and Alexandra Teague.

As a prelude, Brett Woodland, owner of Bloom and Nectar, will pair individual wines with the moods of stories and poems. He says he’ll let the “flavors” of each guide his selections. His pairings will remain a secret until the readings begin, at which time he’ll reveal his pairings to the author and the audience. The audience then tastes each wine as each writer reads from his or her work.

“This event provides the opportunity for Fugue to celebrate regional writers and connect with the Moscow community,” said Laura Pizzo, editor-in-chief of Fugue Literary Journal.

Tickets are $35 per person, with a limited number of tickets available for students that cost $25. Tickets may be purchased at Book People in downtown Moscow.

Barnes’s first memoir, “In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country,” received a PEN/Jerard Fund Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the PEN/Martha Albrand Award. Her second memoir, “Hungry for the World,” was a Borders Books New Voices Selection. She is the author of three novels: “Finding Caruso,” “A Country Called Home” and “In the Kingdom of Men,” set in 1960s Saudi Arabia and named a Best Book of 2012 by The Seattle Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Barnes teaches at the University of Idaho and lives with her husband, the poet Robert Wrigley, on Moscow Mountain.

Ligon is the author of “Drift and Swerve, A collection of stories” and “Safe in Heaven Dead,” a 2003 novel. His stories have appeared in The Quarterly, Alaska Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, New England Review and elsewhere. He teaches at Eastern Washington University and is the editor of Willow Springs, a journal of poetry and prose.

McFarland teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Idaho. His most recent books are a critical study of regional memoir, “The Rockies in First Person” and a study of Longfellow’s “Evangeline.” McFarland’s fourth full-length book of poems, “Subtle Thieves,” was released in 2012. It joins his memoir of growing up in Florida, “Confessions of a Night Librarian and Other Embarrassments.” Current projects include a biography of Lt. Col. Edward J. Steptoe (1815-1865) and a study of biographical fiction in which Ernest Hemingway appears as an important character.

Orozco is the author of “Orientation and Other Stories.” He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and a Whiting Writers Award. He teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Idaho.

Teague is the author of “Mortal Geography,” winner of the 2009 Lexi Rudnitsky Prize and 2010 California Book Award, and “The Wise and Foolish Builders,” which will publish in 2015. Her poetry has recently appeared or is forthcoming in such journals as Gulf Coast, ZYZZYVA, Quarterly West, Willow Springs, New England Review and The Southern Review. A former NEA and Stegner Fellow, she is assistant professor of poetry at University of Idaho, faculty adviser for Fugue Literary Journal, and an editor for Broadsided Press.