Extra credit JN201 Valley Writers Series

On Wednesday, April 18, students at Linn-Benton Community College had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from three local authors. The Valley Writers Series features area writers describing their writing styles, reading from their work and then answering questions people might have. This week's writers, Marjorie Sandor, George Estreich and Charles Goodrich, all shared small portions of books they have written. Goodrich introduced the session, telling the packed Fireside Room that the three authors were very happy to be there to share their work. Two, Sandor and Estreich, are both nominees for the Oregon Book Award, given annually to Oregon writers for their work in poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature. Goodrich noted he hoped the award would have two winners. (During the April 23 awards announcement, Estreich won the Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction for The Shape of the Eye: Down Syndrome, Family and the Stories We Inherit). 

Following the theme of "home", the authors all read from one of their books that spoke of home, values and community. Goodrich read first from his book, The Practice of Home, which featured Goodrich's words about his family making a place for themselves in their community. In Sandor's reading from The Late Interiors, those present learned about the author's time spent in her beloved garden. Sadly, I had to leave before Estreich read so can not say for sure which of his books he read from. His latest, The Shape of the Eye: Down Syndrome, Family and the Stories We Inherit, tells the story of how the family adapted to their daughter Laura's Down Syndrome. 

In my opinion, the readings themselves didn't apply too much to Media and Society but the fact that the authors were there and sharing their words did apply. I believe the three authors, through their written and spoken word, let their audience know that the written word is still very important and a great way to connect- or reconnect- with other people who share a common interest.
Getting the word out about your product, in this case books, is a great way to share what you want to share. These writers were obviously passionate about their work and willing to share it with others. The fact that they all appeared with physical copies of their books proves that books are not as obsolete as some people might believe they are. Of course, the fact that all three authors have web pages shows that they are aware that the Internet is good for publicity!
I believe the Valley Writers' Series is a great service to the students at Linn-Benton, not only for students in classes such as Media and Society but also for writing classes. The Fireside Room was filled to capacity, with several classes arriving together. Students paid close attention to the words of all three authors and seemed to be truly interested in each book's passages.