“What matters in a life? How does one savor life in the face of mortality and the challenges of these tumultuous times?”

Poet Ana Callan (Duet with Hummingbird) has been invited to present “The Gift of Aging,” as part of Multnomah County Library’s  monthly series, Perspectives on Positive Aging. Bring lunch and enjoy an inspiring hour with Ana.

Download the Library’s Flyer: Perspectives on Positive Aging (Ana Callan).

Wednesday, May 5, noon to 1:00 p.m.
Central Library
U.S. Bank Room
801 SW 10th Ave.
Registration not required

Today is Read Across America Day. We know you love to read, so how about fostering  a love of reading in the youngsters around you? The National Education Association sponsors this countrywide event celebrated with special classroom activities, pajama-party read-ins, readathons, and more. Buy a book for a young reader, sit down to share a story together, or perhaps just send a clever e-card from Reading Rockets. Read, America!

Pictured: The mothers of America’s Sufferage Movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Photo by Napoleon Sarony, National Woman’s Party Records, Library of Congress (See also the Ken Burns /PBS film Not for Ourselves Alone to learn more about these amazing women…)

Did you know that all but one of Ink & Paper Group’s authors are women? What better way to acknowledge them and their achievements—as well as their gender’s lineage—than by hosting a sale this month in honor of women everywhere?

With this in mind, you can buy ANY (or ALL) of the following titles for 50% off (+ $2.50/copy for first-class shipping). Just contact linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com or call 503.232.0103 to order (major credit cards accepted).

BOWLER HAT COMICS

• Visibility, by Sarah Neufeld = $7.50 (reg. $15.00)

DAME ROCKET PRESS

• Give My Love to Everybody, edited by Jennifer Weaver-Neist = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• Hate Mail, by m. m. garcia = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• Magic Gardens, by Viva Las Vegas = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)

THREE MUSES PRESS

• Duet with Hummingbird, by Ana Callan = $8.98 (reg. $17.95)
• Keeper of Secrets, by Anjuelle Floyd = $7.48 (reg. $14.95)
• nothing but squares, by t. litwinchuk = $6.48 (reg. $12.95)

CLICK HERE for more information on Women’s History Month.

Did you know that the Pacific Northwest is home to a thriving small press community? Join Ink & Paper Group and its imprints—Bowler Hat Comics, Dame Rocket Press, and Three Muses Press—in celebrating the compelling, diverse, and newsworthy literary voices being brought to you by small presses in our neck of the woods and across the nation. Small Press Month, sponsored by the New York Center for Independent Publishing (formerly the Small Press Center) and held annually in March, raises awareness about the work of independent presses across the United States.

Want to learn more about some small presses in our area? Check out the links in the list below.
Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. (Hillsboro, OR): www.beyondword.com
Bowler Hat Comics (Portland, OR): www.bowlerhatcomics.com
Cellar Door Publishing (Portland, OR): www.cellardoorpublishing.com
CoreWay Media (Portland, OR): www.coreway.com
Dame Rocket Press (Portland, OR): www.damerocketpress.com
Dancing Moon Press (Newport, OR): www.dancingmoonpress.com
Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR): www.darkhorse.com
Eberhardt Press (Portland, OR): www.eberhardtpress.org
Hawthorne Books and Literary Arts (Portland, OR): www.hawthornebooks.com
Hot Off the Press (Canby, OR): www.b2b.hotp.com
Ink & Paper Group (Portland, OR): www.inkandpapergroup.com
Microcosm Publishing (Portland, OR): www.microcosmpublishing.com
Nestucca Spit Press (Pacific City, OR): www.nestuccaspitpress.com
New Sage Press (Troutdale, OR): www.newsagepress.com
Oni Press, Inc. (Portland, OR): www.onipress.com
Ooligan Press (Portland, OR): www.ooliganpress.pdx.edu
Pinball Publishing (Portland, OR): www.pinballpublishing.com
Ringing Bell Press (Portland, OR) www.ringingbellpress.com
So New Media (Eugene, OR): www.sonewpublishing.com
Three Muses Press (Portland, OR): www.threemusespress.com
Timber Press (Portland, OR): www.timberpress.com
Top Shelf Productions (Portland, OR): www.topshelfcomix.com
Virtual Tales (Vancouver, WA): www.virtualtales.com
Wordcraft of Oregon (La Grande, OR): www.wordcraftoforegon.com

At long last, Morgan’s Pasture by Wallace J. Swenson is back on Three Muses’ production schedule. We look forward to seeing this wonderful YA coming-of-age story in print this May. Stay tuned for more details…

Join Three Muses Press and our parent company, Ink & Paper Group, in celebrating our region’s writers, readers, and small presses at the Multnomah County Library Writers Resource Fair this Sunday, February 28, from noon to 3:00 pm at Central Library in downtown Portland. We look forward to seeing you there!

• Central Library
• 801 S.W. 10th Ave.
• 503.988.5123

Attend this free fair to:

• Celebrate the region’s lively literary scene.
• Meet representatives of organizations offering support and opportunities for writers.
• Attend the Small Press Book Sale.
• Visit the Sterling Room for Writers and learn about this quiet space for writing and research.
• Tour the John Wilson Special Collections from 1–3 p.m. Hand-printed broadsides by noted writers will be on display, in addition to an exhibition of materials drawn from the collection’s papers of poet David Lee.
• Visit the Friends’ Library Store.
• Enjoy refreshments.

Learn more about:

writing for fun and profit

For more information, call 503.988.5473.

Participating organizations:

* selling books

• All Publications*
• The Attic Writers’ Workshop
• Bacon and Eggs Press*
• Bianco Publishing*
• Charlie Clark Books
• Creative Arts Community
• Declaration Editing & Design
• Four and Twenty Poetry Journal
• Friends of Mystery
• Friends of William Stafford
• Indigo Editing & Publications*
• Ink & Paper Group*
• Inkwater Press
• Katsura Press *
• Maya Angelou Writers’ Guild*
• Media Weavers, L.L.C.*
• The Mighty Pen
• Northwest Independent Scholars Association
• Northwest Writing Institute
• NW African American Writers Workshop*
• Ooligan Press*
• Oregon Humanities*
• Oregon Authors, OLA
• Oregon Writers Colony*
• Ringing Bell Press*
• Sisters in Crime*
• Society of Childrens Book Writers & Illustrators Oregon*
• VoiceCatcher
• Willamette Writers
• Wordstock
• Write Around Portland*
• The Write Stuff & Creative Print Services
• Writers’ Dojo

A new year and a new vision—and it’s time for Three Muses Press to shine once more. During the past six months since Ink & Paper Group’s relocation and reorganization, TM’s publisher, Linda M. Meyer, has channeled much of her time and energy into behind-the-scenes business, all the while supporting Dame Rocket Press’s 2009 releases, Give My Love to Everybody and Magic Gardens, and Bowler Hat Comics‘ spring 2010 release, Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland. The dust has settled, our new books are gaining ground, and Linda is eager to get back to her literary love, Three Muses Press.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010*
Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances, and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 4323 NE Fremont (Portland), 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. This show is for ages twenty-one and over.

Ana Callan will read from her poetry collection Duet with Hummingbird (Three Muses Press). Other readers presenting are Alissa Nielsen, Lauren Schmidt, Bennett Huffman.

CONTACT Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com for more information.

Seventy-seven works of fiction will be honored throughout the National Book Foundation’s Book-a-Day blog event. From July 7 to September 21, a National Book Award winner and his or her award-winning book will be featured daily. Visit the National Book Foundation for the full list of winners. Click on a cover image to view the blog entry for that book.

You may have some of these great books on your bookshelf, but if not, visit your local library or favorite independent bookseller for a book or two…or 77?

Happy reading!

Ink & Paper Group is proud to live in Portland, one of the best library towns in the nation, and was delighted to hear that our county library system has once again been honored for its excellence. Library Journal, a national library publication, recently named Multnomah County Library as an “American Star Library.” A press release on the Multcolib site says, “Multnomah County Library was the only library in the Pacific Northwest (and one of only a handful of U.S. libraries of its size) to receive five stars — the highest ranking possible.” Read the full article here.