We are honored to welcome Scott Simon to Boise on April 23rd, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Egyptian Theatre.
Scott Simon is one of America’s most admired writers and broadcasters. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.
His radio show, NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, has been called by the Washington Post, “the most literate, witty, moving, and just plain interesting news show on any dial,” and by Brett Martin of Time-Out New York “the most eclectic, intelligent two hours of broadcasting on the airwaves.” Scott has won every major award in broadcasting, including the Peabody, the Emmy, the Columbia-DuPont, the Ohio State Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and the Sidney Hillman Award. He received the Presidential End Hunger Award for his coverage of the Ethiopian civil war and famine, and a special citation from the Peabody Awards for his weekly essays, which were cited as “consistently thoughtful, graceful, and challenging.” He has also received the Barry M. Goldwater Award from the Human Rights Fund. Recently, he was awarded the Studs Terkel Award. Scott has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Times of London, The Guardian, and Gourmet among other publications, and won a James Beard Award for his story, “Conflict Cuisine” in Gourmet. He has received numerous honorary degrees.
(http://www.scottsimonbooks.com/scottsimonbooks.com/BIO.html)

_  The Cabin is getting ready to host author Elizabeth Strout next week, March 14th, at the Egyptian Theatre here in Boise! Strout is an internationally recognized author for her collection of work including Amy and Isabelle, which when published was shortlisted for the 2000 Orange Prize and nominated for the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. In 2009 Strout was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge (2008), a collection of short stories about a woman and her immediate family and friends on the coast of Maine. While she is currently on the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte and divides her time between New York and Maine we are extremely lucky and excited to have her spend a little bit with us here in Boise. Call 208.331.8000 or visit our website www.thecabinidaho.org for tickets and more information!

Boise author Anthony Doerr’s short story “The Shell Collector” made excellent beach reading in Ambergris Caye, Belize. The story is featured in an anthology, The Beach Book, made out of waterproof synthetic paper that is upcyclable.

My memorable first encounter with waterproof DuraBooks took place in a Book Arts class at BSU, when late professor and bibliophile Tom Trusky opened an evening’s class session by showing us a copy of Cradle to Cradle. He stood at the front of the classroom and, without saying a word, poured an entire glass of water directly onto its open pages. The class was shocked and confused. We knew how he cherished his books, how careful he was with them. It was like watching an Apple fanatic light their new iPhone on fire.

The convenience and novelty of a book so durable it resisted ripping, water damage, dirt and grime seemed like a technological marvel at the time. This was all before e-book readers, of course. Digital readers and tablets take book convenience to a whole new level. There are even floating, watertight cases for Kindles, iPads and Nooks that effectively make every book in your collection a waterproof book.

Just think: next summer you could be reading The Cabin's upcoming digital anthology Writers in the Attic while you float the Boise River!

_ For our first Writers in the Attic anthology, we’ve asked you to write about a room. It could be your kitchen, a room you know so well you barely see it anymore; or it could be an imaginary room in an imaginary mansion on an island you've never seen before. The room could even be an eggshell or a computer screen, a drawing, a dance, an emotion. What’s important is that it means something to you, the writer. It’s not just a room to you. Show us why. Let the room help you tell the story.

The following excerpt is from a column on WritersDigest.com, “‘The How of Where’—The Importance of Setting in Your Fiction,” by novelist David Rocklin. The author talks about how to transform a room into a character in your writing, and offers this prompt:

Find a room you’ve never seen. It has no meaning to you and holds nothing of your past life. You don’t know its contours, or how it looks on a cloudy morning. You can literally find one and occupy it, or find a picture and imagine yourself into it. Describe it. Tell the readers what we see. What we could touch, if only we were really there.

Now, describe the same room a second time. This time, give the room a story. This is where someone died. That chair was where a husband sat as his wife told him that she was leaving him. Out that window, a single mother watched a moving van pull up after losing the house to foreclosure.

What just happened? The room’s physical description changed, didn’t it? That’s not merely a bed. That’s not simply a street outside. The walls and their peeled paint have something akin to a voice. This setting isn’t just an edifice or a space anymore. It bears witness.

_
Our Idaho Writing Camps anthology, Words Work Wonders, is back from Caxton Press and looking fabulous! There’s one free copy for every student who attended camps this year, and extra copies are available for $12 each. Stop by The Cabin anytime (Mon-Fri 9-5) to pick them up, or come to our anthology release party at Barnes & Noble this Saturday, December 10:

_ We have a whole day of free events planned to go along with the anthology release, featuring a gift wrapping table, three one-hour Writing Workshops at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, and three one-hour Camper Readings at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. You can order extra copies of the anthology by calling The Cabin at 208.340.2233 and we’ll have them reserved for you at the event.

_ In addition to the anthology release, December 10 is The Cabin’s Bookfair at Barnes & Noble, where 15% of every purchase will go to The Cabin. Just be sure to have your Cabin vouchers, or ask a volunteer for one at the event. Can’t make it to the store that day? You can make purchases online from December 10-15 by going to BN.com/bookfairs and entering Bookfair ID # 10602829 at checkout.

_ The Cabin is now accepting submissions for the first edition of Writers in the Attic, a new digital anthology that will showcase work from local authors. We're accepting fiction or nonfiction stories, 1,000 words or less, on the subject of a room. Entries will be accepted through January 31, 2012.

UPDATE 12/6/11: We are no longer charging an entry fee or awarding money for accepted entries. If you've already entered, we'll either refund your money or grandfather you in with the old rules, whichever you prefer. Please see updated guidelines. Manuscripts must be free of personal information to allow for blind judging. Entries will be read and considered by a team of professional writers and editors. A submission form along with the full list of rules and guidelines is available by clicking on WITA Guidelines and WITA Submission Form.

_  “This is my hope—to create an art that can catalog the phenomenon of our nature, all of it, without sentimentality, but rather by leaning into transformation…so that we can all have that terrible but necessary confrontation with all of ourselves.”

 -Chris Abani, from his essay “Ethics and Narrative: the Human and Other” (Witness)

_ We got the call Tuesday morning, 11 a.m.: Nicole Krauss, our scheduled Readings & Conversations speaker for that evening, was forced to cancel last minute due to a flight delay. That two-hour delay out of New York set into motion a series of events that brought author Chris Abani to Boise; and after seeing his performance, we would like to thank the weather, the airline, or whatever unforeseen force that allowed Mr. Abani to share his incredible warmth and eloquence with the audience.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the reading despite the entirely unexpected eleventh-hour author switch. We truly appreciate your flexibility and open-mindedness.  

Lives were changed by Mr. Abani’s words Tuesday night. The applause during his question and answer period was unprecedented; the standing, cheering ovation, extraordinary. The caliber of questions our audience generated and the quality of Mr. Abani’s answers--to quote a number of people who’ve called us with but one word for the night--“fabulous.”

We’ve received numerous requests for more information, for a link to the essay he read, and a general outpouring of enthusiasm. Carolyn Wolfe had this to share:

        There aren’t words to properly thank you for the gift that was/is Chris Abani. I’ve never been so moved as I         was by him last night. Everything about him – his eloquence, his humanity, his humility, his glowing presence         – made it a magical night.

        I have to think Nicole Krauss’ flight was delayed just to bring Chris Abani to Boise. We needed him. And I             think the Cabin should think of a way to bring him back again, perhaps this time to offer a class?

        I’m attaching the link to Chris Abani’s essay that he read last night so you could add that to your website if             you so desire.

        (Witness)

        And here are two other links of powerful interviews:

        (UTNE)

        (Ethan Zuckerman)

        Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Other attendees are spreading the word about Abani through social media. Here’s a blog post with notes from Nathaniel Hoffman at Paleomedia. Tracy Sidell had this to say:

        Thank you so much for bringing Chris Abani to Readings and Conversations last night as Nicole Krauss'                 substitute. He was truly inspiring. I have watched him on TED this morning and plan to read his books. I also         posted him on my Facebook page. Too bad others did not show up because of the cancellation as Mr. Abani         was truly one of the best speakers I have seen at The Cabin. Thanks again!

As Mr. Abani stated during his Q&A period, “Things we cannot say about ourselves we find in literature.” That’s why we’re all here; why we read, why we write, and why we’re so moved when someone like Chris Abani shows up unexpectedly and teaches us a thing or two about the human condition.

_ More responses from the audience, excerpted from the glowing emails and calls we’ve been pleased to receive: 

 “Ah, serendipity!”

 “I applaud your quick response in getting Chris to speak, and feel sorry for all the people who weren’t there last night…I left last night with lots of things to ponder. Chris did a fantastic job, and provided a huge amount of food for thought.”

 “One word about last night: Bravo!”

 “…such a surprise and such a thoughtful and thought-provoking speaker. I would say that he is one of the best we have had at Readings, and it seems it was pure serendipity! Thank you and the board for taking a deep breath and going with the unknown!”

“I have never been more touched nor understood something I’ve been trying to learn.”

 “What a memorable evening…a true reading and conversation. A big Wow!”

On November 8, The Cabin welcomes our next Readings & Conversations guest: Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love and Great House. There’s still time to buy tickets: call The Cabin at 331.8000.

The following snippets are adapted from interviews posted on her website, nicolekrauss.com.

Channeling Mister Geppetto

Nicole Krauss writes from a place of uncertainty. “Getting lost in the woods” she calls it, deeper and deeper with each novel she undertakes—sometimes 200 pages lost—so that she is just as doubtful and uncertain as the characters she discovers there. With so much free space to explore their identities, her characters capture what she calls “…the ‘Pinocchio Element’: the chance to become truly alive and real.” (image source)

Writing Hole

The desk in Great House is very much like the writing desk in Nicole Krauss’ attic. It’s an overbearing, masculine piece she inherited with the house and it was built specifically for the room, so to maneuver it down her narrow stairs (as she often considers doing) it would first have to be chopped to bits. To top it off, the desk was originally built around a painted panel, which was removed and taken with the previous owner. So she writes, each and every day, with a gaping hole above her head. (image source)

Abandon all hope, ye who author here

Writing’s tough, in case that’s news to anybody. Envisioning a time when the difficult periods shrink and the rewards come frequently is an exercise in optimism, not often a reality. Krauss keeps a framed quote at her writing desk (maybe to distract from the hole) which reads: “It’s not going to get any better. Resign yourself to this.” It’s a sad, strangely comforting little promise. She knows what she’s getting. (image source)

The Cabin will be at Idaho Book Extravaganza this weekend...will you? Friday (from 11-7) and Saturday (from 10:30-4) at Boise Centre on the Grove we’ll have a booth at the trade show, which is free and open to the public. The event features publishers, authors, book marketing experts, digital and print booksellers, freelance writers, editors, book designers, graphic designers, business owners, entrepreneurs, students and those who love reading, writing and books.

There will be more than 40 authors and exhibitors in attendance, lots of workshops, a student essay contest, and the “Top 50 Idaho Author Awards” Friday evening—a little birdie told us that a few of The Cabin’s author friends made the list!

This should be a great opportunity to get better acquainted with some organizations and businesses in the writing and reading community, meet interesting new people and make connections. We hope to see you there.