National Library Week is this week, and, as I mentioned previously, in celebration of this, the Longmont Public library decided to create the “You Belong” anthology. This past Monday (April 9, 2012), the book was unveiled and went on sale, and the library held a public reading, which, my wife and I attended. Both of us were extremely impressed by the talent in that room! From the eight-year-old boy who read about the death of his grandmother’s dog, to all the adult readers (I won’t go into ages!), it was an entertaining and enlightening evening! We had to leave before the very end, but one piece of “performance art,” was an amusing sled dog song, called to “Run On To Nome,” by Sandy Erickson–and she’d gathered up the three children in the front row and had: 1) one wear traditional Eskimo garb, 2) one stand on the sled to “mush,” and 3) one “move the stuffed dog” in a running motion. It was quite entertaining! As Mr. Kenworthy, the book’s Point Man and MC noted, the collection of stories were quite varied!
And the library staff was so polite, courteous, and helpful–and even had a refreshments lounge set up, with mouth-watering cookies (unfortunately for them, I’d just downed a massive “Longmont” burger, at the Pumphouse, down the road–highly recommended)!
I haven’t read before the public in a few years, and I have to admit, it was fun being part of this group of talented writers and their audience! My wife and I sat up front, so we didn’t realize just how packed (SRO) the room had gotten over the course of the evening, but how cool that so many attended!
We each read about five minutes of our work, so my wife brought the video recorder and away she “taped”:
Thanks, again, Mr. Kenworthy, the panel involved in the story selection, and the staff of the Longmont library, for this opportunity! Here’s hoping the anthology does well!
Note: I will be attending a local author booksigning this Friday (there will be a ton of us!), April 13th, from 2 – 5 p.m., for my novel, Sleepwalkers. Hope to see you there!
Related articles
- The “You Belong” Anthology (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
- “Tail Gunner” accepted in Longmont Library Anthology (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
- National Library Week (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)