The Bookplate may have odd hours at the moment due to their floor renovations, but they are continuing their 2024 season of author lectures on February 7th with James Conaway for a 6pm event at The Kitchen at The Imperial. His beautifully illustrated book Tio and The Blue Witch is out in both paperback and hardback, and available at The Bookplate.
A witch gifted with extraordinary powers, a talking mule, a vegetative knight from the ancient Celtic world, King Arthur’s early court, a band of reformed bandits, the frog with a hundred eyes and other characters: Dancing Man, Moon Leaper, Horned Woman, the Questing Beast, Unseen, Miraculous Stone, and Weeping Ghost. Tio and The Blue Witch brings together folklore, legend, romance, and humor in one compelling story for imaginative readers aged 6 to 96.
James (Jim) Conaway grew up in Memphis but lived in Europe for several years before moving to Washington, D.C. A former Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford University, he’s the author of three novels including, most recently, Nose, set in northern California, which the Wall Street Journal reviewer said “offers a burst of hearty comic notes and finishes with a lingering penumbra of bittersweet nostalgia,” and Kirkus reviewer that “the cheerful complexity of Conaway’s novel rivals the richest, most nose-worthy, palate-pleasing Cabernet.”
Jim is also the author of nine books of nonfiction, including Vanishing America: In Pursuit of Our Elusive Landscapes, described by writer Tracy Kidder as “an enthralling, lovely tribute to a lot of what is precious in America.” His previous book, The Far Side of Eden, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year in 2002 and a sequel to his best-selling Napa: The Story of an American Eden, described in the New York Times Book Review as “an important story, emblematic of our time.”
His other books include the memoir, Memphis Afternoons, and The Kingdom in the Country, a personal journey in a van through the public lands of the American West and described by Stegner as “a very lively book… He got into places and activities that most westerners never even get close to.” Author Jim Harrison called it “a wonderful, well-considered evocation of the New West.”
Jim’s first novel, The Big Easy, is based on his experiences as a police reporter in New Orleans; his second novel, World’s End, is a Louisiana coastal saga of politics and crime described as “a combination of All the King’s Men” and “The Godfather.”
Jim has written for many magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Republic, Gourmet, Smithsonian, and National Geographic Traveler. He divides his time between Virginia and Washington, D.C.
For more event details contact The Bookplate at 410-778-4167 or [email protected]. These events are free and open to the public. The Bookplate will continue their event series with an author lecture and tarot readings at Sultana’s Lawrence Wetlands Preserve on February 14th. Washington College professor Elizabeth O’Connor will be discussing her book about artist Pamela Coleman Smith, with skilled readers Tara Holste and Kayce Martin offering their services for both couples and individual readings. The Kitchen at the Imperial Hotel is located at 208 High Street in Chestertown, Maryland.
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