Say hi to Amos Walker, the toughest talking PI in the City of Detroit.
A collection of 32 short stories by Loren Estleman featuring his hard boiled Detroit detective Amos Walker will be issued in September. Walker is the PI featured in 20 mystery novels by the Michigan author who still uses a manual typewriter to write his novels. The collection is titled aptly enough “Amos Walker: The Complete Collection”.
This collection should help Estleman reach even more readers especially those who may have missed his Detroit Noir excellence. Estleman is an expert at dark humor and tough talking dialogue. A recent review in Publishers Weekly of the book called it “just a notch below Chandler and Hammett”. Estleman will be one of the featured authors at the Kerrytown Bookfest in Ann Arbor Michigan September 12.
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Lev Rafael , who will join author Steve Luxenberg (“Annie’s Ghost”) and Steve Lehto (“Death’s Door” ) on the showcase panel “Remembering & Forgetting: The Art of the Memoir” at the 8th Annual Kerrytown BookFest. Raphael was recently added as a literary blogger on the Huffington Post daily blog. All three authors discovered secrets that had been buried prior to their investigations.
In his first post, Raphael, author of 18 books in a variety of genres, deconstructs and disproves the recent claims by a minor theatre figure in New York City that Shakespeare was a Jewish woman. Point by painful point Raphael destroys the argument of John Hudson who asserts that the English poet Aemilia Bassano Lanyer was the real Shakespeare and herself Jewish. Not so, Raphael, playing the literary sleuth, points out in so many ways.
The reason for Raphael’s post was a recent cover story in the magazine “Reform Judaism” on Hudson’s claims. In his post Raphael says, “ Shakespeare Denial in its newest, Jewish incarnation is another example of the rise of conspiracy theory to a respectable forum where people treat it seriously, instead of saying: Are you for real?”
Raphael has won numerous awards and his most recent book “My Germany” is a memoir detailing the discovery of lost details of his parents lives, both whom were Holocaust survivors. The book is a journey of discovery and dogged detective work by Raphael to learn who his parent’s were and who he is now. It’s to be expected that in some places the book takes on the feel of a detective story since Raphael is the author of numerous mystery novels.
Raphael is a winner of Amelia’s Reed Smith Fiction Prize and “International Quarterlies” Crossing Boundaries Prize for innovative prose, awarded by D.M. Thomas. That memoir appears in his collection of memoirs Writing a Jewish Life. His first book of short stories Dancing on Tisha B’Av won a Lambda Literary Award.
This fall Raphael will tour Germany to talk about his book “My Germany”.
Tags: Holocaust, Lev Raphael, My Germany, Steve Lehto, Steve Luxenberg
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Three authors appearing at the Kerrytown Bookfest have recently garnered some major attention. Kristina Riggle’s second book “The Life You Imagined”; William Kent Krueger’s “Vermillion Drift” and Deborah Diesen’s “The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Deep” drew some attention this past week.
Riggle’s book arrived in the mail from Avon with the notation it was an Indie Pick for September 2010. In her book, three high school characters arrive in their home town unexpectedly and must weigh in on their high school dreams. Riggle will be on the panel “Michigan Lit” along with National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell, Wendy Webb, and Michael Zandoorian. They will be interviewed by Eric Olsen.
Deborah Diesen, who will conduct a session at the 8th Annual Bookfest called “sing and read along”, had her newest book “The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Deep” reviewed in Publishers Weekly. They called her book “a spirited tale with light doses of humor”. Indeed it is. Her most recent book the “Barefooted, Bad-Tempered Baby Brigade” was reviewed by this blog. Diesen is from Grand Ledge Michigan and her newest book is a sequel to the “Pout Pout Fish”.
William Kent Krueger will join other mystery authors Steve Hamilton, and Bryan Gruley on a panel moderated by Craig McDonald. The panel will focus on what is being called “Northern Noir”. Krueger’s most recent book “Vermillion Drift” is the 10th novel featuring Minnesota PI Cork O’Connor and the discovery of six bodies in an old mine sets Cork on a course of a complex case. Publishers Weekly called the book “a thrilling read” and said the book “succeeds on every level” (no mine pun intended”.
All three of these authors will certainly be heard at the Kerrytown Bookfest which takes place in Ann Arbor Michigan on Sunday September 12. The Bookfest is one of the most successful single day book festivals in the country and this year the free event feature authors with a “bent” for Michigan. The event is free. A complete schedule of authors and events is available at the Kerrytown website.
Tags: children's book author, Deborah Diesen, Kerrytown BookFest, Kristina Riggle, mystery, William Kent Krueger
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The 8th Annual Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor Michigan will celebrate Michigan authors and books on Sunday, September 12, 2010. Authors in this year’s event include three National Book Award finalists; several Edgar Award and Anthony mystery award winners and nominees; a Caldecott winner and numerous Michigan Notable Book Award winners.
The Kerrytown BookFest is unique according to Gene Alloway president of the BookFest Board and owner of Motte & Bailey Bookstore in Ann Arbor. Kerrytown is an historic neighborhood in the city which includes the Ann Arbor Farmers Market where the event is held.
“The BookFest is the only festival of the book to celebrate both authors and the artists and crafts people who help create books.”
As a special attraction, mystery writer and Edgar Award winner Doug Allyn of Montrose will interview the Kerrytown BookFest’s Community Book Award Winner, Whitmore Lake mystery and western writer Loren D. Estleman. Estleman has been a National Book Award nominee, an Edgar Award finalist and has won the Spur, the Shamus and the American Mystery Award.
Alloway said that the Book Award is given each year to a person who exemplifies the spirit of the BookFest.
“Estleman is a major literary figure in the Ann Arbor community and goes out of his way to support local writers and literary events.”
Events this year include panels on Northern Noir; Paranormal Fiction; Children’s Literature; Memoirs; Historical Fiction; and Michigan literature along with hands-on demonstrations from local craftspeople.
National Book Award finalist Thomas Lynch from Milford Michigan will be interviewed by Keith Taylor, head of the University of Michigan Undergraduate Creative Writing Program; another National Book Award finalist and Caldecott Award Winner, David Small, will be interviewed by Nicola Rooney of Nicola’s Books and the third finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell will participate in the panel on Michigan literature.
This year’s event also will have a special focus on children’s literature. Best Selling authors Sarah Stewart, Mendon; Debbie Taylor, Ann Arbor; Susan Kathleen Hartung; Portage, Deborah Deisen, Grand Ledge; author and illustrator Michael Monroe and Colleen Monroe of Brighton and Lansing author-illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw will make presentations and do readings. A group of area teen poets will also do readings and story-teller Heather O’Neal of Ann Arbor will entertain with children’s stories from Nepal. Mother Goose will once again make an appearance.
Five Michigan authors at this year’s event have won the Michigan Authors Award presented by the Michigan Library Association. They are Steve Hamilton, Loren Estleman, Sarah Stewart, Thomas Lynch and this years’ award-winner John Smolens.
The Northern Noir panel is packed with award-winning mystery authors Steve Hamilton, Bryan Gruley and William Kent Krueger and moderated by Edgar and Anthony nominee Craig McDonald. Hamilton won the Edgar Award for his book “A Cold Day in Paradise” and Bryan Gruley’s book, “Starvation Lake”, was an Edgar Finalist. Krueger has won the Anthony Award three times. Gruley also was recently nominated for two Anthony awards for his first mystery “Starvation Lake”. Gruley’s most recent book, “The Hanging Tree” was selected as an Indie NEXT pick.
True crime writers Mardi Link and Gail Griffin a will discuss “Michigan Murders” –two cases about serial killers on college campuses. The University of Michigan Press also will release the updated version of the “Michigan Murders” a book by Edward Keyes about the serial killings in the Ann Arbor- Ypsilanti area during the late 1960s.
Michigan Notable Book Award winners on the BookFest program are: David Small, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Thomas Lynch, Donald Lystsra, Mardi Link, Steve Luxenberg, Loren Estleman, Steve Lehto, Steve Amick, Keith Taylor and Michael Zadoorian.
Also this year there are two literary arts competitions: the Book Cover Design and the Edible Book Contest. Entrants to the Book Cover Design Contest which is open to Michigan high school students are being asked to create a new cover design for Hamilton’s “A Cold Day in Paradise”.
Honorary chairs for this year’s event are Joe and Karen O’Neal (Kerrytown Market and Shops) of Ann Arbor. Last year more than 5,000 attended the one day event which includes more than 100 exhibitors, artists and book sellers.
Alloway said the BookFest will feature an outstanding array of illustrators, poets, letterpress printers, calligraphers, librarians, publishers, book artists and storytellers.
The BookFest also mounts a literary exhibit in the Ann Arbor District Library. This year’s theme is “Michigan Treasures” showcasing art, dust jackets and books that represent Michigan award-winning books.
The Kerrytown BookFest Board of Directors includes bookstore owners, retailers within the Kerrytown District and representatives from the media and community. This year four new board members were added: Lynn Yates of Zingerman’s Foundation; Kate Kehoe, Hatcher Graduate Library and artisan; Meg Brown, community representative and Lisa McDonald, proprietor of the Teahaus in Kerrytown.
Other Board members are: Gene Alloway, proprietor of Motte & Bailey Bookstore; Robin Agnew, proprietor of Aunt Agatha’s mystery bookstore; John Hilton, editor of the Ann Arbor Observer, Bill Castanier, literary critic and mittenlit.com blogger and Cindy Hollander¸ co-owner of Hollander’s, a Kerrytown shop specializing in decorative paper, bookbinding supplies and workshops.
For more information on the BookFest and for a complete listing of authors and programs visit www.kerrytownbookfest.org.
The BookFest is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council¸ Ann Arbor Bank, The Grand Hotel, Kerrytown Market and Shops, MAV Development and the Ann Arbor Observer.
Tags: Ann Arbor Michigan, Kerrytown BookFest, Michigan Humanities Council, Michigan Notable Book Award, National Book Award Winners
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