Last night I went to our local bookstore for their autumn book symposium. At these events the staff quickly reviews about 50 books that are coming out and then usually has a speaker.
Last night's speaker was Bonnie Jo Campbell show here. She read from her latest book "Once Upon a River." I've met Bonnie Jo a few times before and always admire her writing. She lives about an hour away in Kalamazoo, but she and I have another connection too.
The river she is writing about in her book is the St. Joseph River, and the reason she knows about it so well is that she spent her summers at her Grandparents' cottage that was located on a small island in the river. That cottage was only about 1/2 mile away from my Grandparents' farm - which is where I spent most of my time in the summer while I was growing up.
I'm about nine years older than Bonnie Jo, so she wasn't someone I played with during that time period, but it's a small town neighborhood. We would know a lot of the same people.
Bonnie Joe teaches at the low-residency MFA program I'm applying to. If I get accepted and if I get the chance, I'll tell her about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment