A new study by novelist and researcher Anesa Miller suggests that American literary prestige is far less geographically diverse than readers imagine. Examining a decade of fiction titles recognized by The New York Times Book Review, Miller finds that both publishing power and narrative attention remain heavily centered in New York. Miller will share her findings at the annual AWP Conference to be held in Baltimore, MD, this year, March 7, 9 AM, in room 315 of the Baltimore Convention Center.
Anesa has been invited to appear and discuss her new novel, I Never Do This, at the Public Library Association 2024 Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on April 4. Time and exact location TBD
Anesa has been chosen to take part in the beloved Tucson Festival of Books! Look for her in the Indie Authors & Small Press Pavillion at 10AM, Sunday, March 10, 2024 on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson AZ.
Poet Georgia Tiffany and the multitalented Ryan Lawconceived an unusual brain child in Endangered, a collaborative project of visual arts and poems by 30 participants. The poets and artists, all of whom live and work on the Palouse of eastern Washington and north-central Idaho, were asked to freely interpret the concept of being “endangered.” An exhibit of the resulting works opens on May 21st, 2015, at the Prichard Art Gallery under the auspices of the University of Idaho College of Art & Architecture. A reading and reception are scheduled for the 21st from 5 to 7 p.m. with music provided by John Paul Shields. The exhibit will remain open through June 6th.
Downtown Moscow, Idaho
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Poets and visual artists worked in pairs on Endangered, drawing inspiration from one another. Anesa Miller was assigned to work with the painting “Mexican Gray Wolf” by Jeanne Wallace. Anesa says, “It’s a remarkable portrait, just as one would see a commemorative likeness of a human face. I began to hear poetic rhythms the moment I saw this painting.” See this pairing of poem and artwork below.
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Listen to the poem Homo Sapiens Under Siege
by Anesa Miller (1 minute 16 seconds)
The wolf is at the door.
Keep your weapons near.
They’ll overrun
the land we love.
Our children shake with fear.
“Mexican Gray Wolf” by Jeanne Wallace
The wolf lurks just outside—!
They range around the yard.
We’ll know no peace
until they cease.
Be always on your guard.
Let’s take them from above,
from the safety of a plane!
We’ll lay them low
in fields of snow,
their fight and speed in vain.
Because—
They hound the innocents,
rapacious woodland gang.
The doe knows dread
till her throat runs red.
None can outpace the fang.
The wolf is on the prowl.
They howl beneath the moon.
They rip the sky
with yip and cry.
They’ll feast upon us soon!
Their hunger never ends.
They bound behind the sleigh.
Toss the baby overboard—!
to keep blood lust at bay.
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Click here for directions to the Prichard Art Gallery in Moscow, Idaho. Visit Endangered between the evening of May 21st, 2015, and June 6. Click here for hours.
“We like to think of our awards program as the ‘Sundance’ of the book publishing world,” says Catherine Goulet, Chair of the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards program.
Anesa Miller is seeking participants for a “launch team” to help publicize Our Orbit’s re-release from Booktrope Publishing in summer 2015 — Clickherefor details on this opportunity!
In an article at CNN.com titled “If it’s cool, creative, and different, it’s indie,” journalist Catherine Andrews wrote: “The term ‘indie’ traditionally refers to independent art — music, film, literature or anything that fits under the broad banner of culture — created outside of the mainstream and without corporate financing.”
Independent book publishing companies are independent of the major conglomerates that dominate the book publishing industry. The indies include small presses, larger independent publishers, university presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.
According to Goulet, “Like other independent artists, many indie book publishers face challenges that the industry giants don’t experience. They typically have to work a lot harder to get their best books into retail stores and ultimately into the hands of readers.”
“Authors and publishers in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards are serious about their books,” adds Goulet. “They aim to stand out from the crowd of millions of books in print.”
