Yakima Valley Libraries announces an interesting lineup of authors for our special Authors Out Loud series. The series highlights four talented authors and a literary group from our local community and across the country. Featured book categories/genres include ecological history, graphic novel, manifesto/memoir, and poetry. Each interactive session will highlight an author talk with a following question and answer session. Join us this September through October for interesting and interactive gatherings.
JOSH TUININGA
Wednesday, September 18, 6:30-7:30pm
Yakima Central Library
Presented in collaboration with Humanities Washington
Josh Tuininga is an author, artist, and designer. After studying fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he founded an art and design agency, where he continues to work as creative director. Tuininga lives in North Bend, Washington.
Tuininga is the author of the graphic novel We Are Not Strangers, a true family story which follows a Jewish immigrant’s efforts to help his Japanese-American neighbors while they are incarcerated during World War II. In this talk, Josh Tuininga traces his family’s Sephardic Jewish roots as they flee their home in Turkey, discover opportunities in America, and forge a new community in the multicultural neighborhood of the Seattle Central District. Through a visually engaging presentation, Tuininga will share the intricacies of his research and his creative process, while unraveling the profound lessons embedded in these tales of allyship and unity amidst the turbulence of wartime.”
YAKIMA COFFEEHOUSE POETS
Saturday, September 21, 3:00-4:00pm
Yakima Central Library
Back by popular demand! Join us for an afternoon of poetry readings by some of Yakima’s finest poets. This event is hosted in collaboration with Yakima Coffeehouse Poets, a non-profit dedicated to supporting and representing poets and poetry lovers of Central Washington.
AMANDA JONES
Monday, September 23, 6:00-7:00pm
West Valley Library via Zoom (Join us at the Library or log in here from home.)
Amanda Jones has been an educator for 23 years. She has served as President of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians and won numerous awards for her work in school libraries, including School Library Journal Librarian of the Year. A sought-after keynote speaker, Jones is a frequent volunteer for state and national library associations, as well as a co-founder of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance and founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship. She lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
Jones will join us during Banned Books Week to discuss her book That Librarian: the Fight Against Book Banning in America. Part memoir, part manifesto, it is the inspiring story of a Louisiana librarian advocating for inclusivity.
BOYCE UPHOLT
Tuesday, October 1, 6:00-7:00pm
West Valley Library via Zoom (Join us at the Library or log in here from home.)
Boyce Upholt is a journalist and essayist whose writing has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and he lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Upholt will talk about his book The Great River: the Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi. The history is a sweeping narrative of the Mississippi River―and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America. Rich and powerful, The Great River delivers a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its power―a lesson that is all too relevant in our rapidly changing world.
SUSAN SUMMIT CYR
Thursday, October 3, 6:00-7:00pm
West Valley Library
Regional author Susan Summit Cyr is an artist and avid outdoorsman. When not painting or writing, she is usually exploring somewhere in the mountains, looking closely, and listening intently, trying to better understand the language of nature.
Tanum―her first full-length book―is about place: a hidden, little-known corner of Washington State depicted as a microcosm to a larger tale. In her book talk, Cyr will share that the story of the West is more than the tale of heroism and rugged individualism many believe it to be. It is also the tangled epic of chaotic water rights, special interest resource management, and the fight over both the pillage and preservation of the environment.