Northwest Montana Book Festival in Kalispell to Welcome Readers, Writers and Book Lovers
On Nov. 17, a series of speakers will deliver talks on subjects ranging from how a graphic novelist depicts history, to the connections between “The Great Gatsby” and the American West
By Mike Kordenbrock
Margaret Davis is, admittedly, a book lover. But while that might suggest an ulterior motive for organizing a book festival, the Northwest Montana History Museum director said that she thinks it’s obvious that there is a more widespread demand for this kind of free community event.
The idea first came to her after attending the Friends of the Library’s first annual Flathead Valley LitFest last spring on the grounds of the Conrad Mansion. The May event was well attended, despite the pouring rain. The sight of so many people with umbrellas in hand seemed a testament to the commitment and hunger of Flathead Valley book lovers.
Having a similar, roofed event in the fall seemed like a logical move to Davis, and it also dovetailed naturally with some of the museum’s other programs and assets, like its history book club and its collection of research and writing from the 19th and 20th century writer Frank Bird Linderman.
The gears started turning, and after checking with the Friends of the Library to make sure she wasn’t overstepping, and securing a $4,000 matching grant from Humanities Montana earlier this fall, Davis went public with her festival plans and started promoting the event.
This Sunday, the Northwest Montana History Museum will host the first Northwest Montana Book Festival, an event geared towards readers and writers that Davis said is focused on showcasing regional writing, and regional writers.
From noon to 5 p.m. on Nov. 17, a series of speakers will deliver talks on subjects ranging from how a graphic novelist depicts history, to the connections between “The Great Gatsby” and the American West. Meanwhile, in an adjacent room, about 30 authors will be exhibiting and selling their books. The lineup of authors bringing books for sale spans genres and encompasses a range of authors, from those early in their career to more recognizable authors like the famed wildlife biologist Diane Boyd whose new memoir “A Woman Among Wolves” is in high demand.
Davis said that Boyd sold every book she had at a recent Whitefish Review event, and noted that the author has even recently appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
Food and drink will also be sold on site, and Davis is excited to bring people together. “I’m just a huge believer of gathering people in a room and kind of getting off the screen. I feel like there’s so much wellbeing that goes with that, just getting out of your house, and the surprise and delight of new ideas.”
She also feels that with winter beginning to take hold over the valley, now is a great time to stock up on books.
“A place with a long dark winter like this really needs the life of the mind, and we’re here to celebrate that,” Davis said.
The lineup of speakers starts with a 12:15 p.m. talk called “Picturing History” from Somers-based graphic novelist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm. Fetter-Vorm’s works include “Trinity: A Graphic History of the Atomic Bomb,” “Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War,” and “Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight.”
At 1:30 p.m., Bigfork novelist Leslie Budewitz will give a talk called “‘Stagecoach Mary’ Fields at the Juncture of History and Myth.” Mary Fields is believed to be the first Black woman to be employed as a postwoman, and she delivered mail in Montana in the late 19th century. Fields was born into slavery, and eventually settled in Cascade, Montana. She is the subject of Budewitz’s recent historical fiction collection of short stories “All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories.”
At 2:45 p.m., Melissa Barker and Stewart Wilson will deliver a talk called “Gatsby at 100: It’s a Story about the West After All.” The famous novelist spent time in Montana growing up, and even used it as a setting for his short story “The Diamond as Big as The Ritz.” Barker and Wilson, two F. Scott Fitzgerald scholars who live in Columbia Falls, will present on the Montana themes present in Fitzgerald’s work ahead of the 100th anniversary of the publication of his most famous work, “The Great Gatsby,” in 2025.
The keynote speaker will be Missoula-based author and University of Montana creative writing professor emeritus Debra Magpie Earling. Earling, the author of “Perma Red” and the 2023 novel “The Lost Journals of Sacajewea,” will begin her talk at 4 p.m.
In a writeup, the New York Times described “The Lost Journals of Sacajawea” as “a formally inventive, historically eye-opening novel.” Earling was in Kalispell in early October for the Flathead River Writers Conference hosted by the Authors of the Flathead. During that conference, Earling hosted craft workshops and delivered a keynote lecture on how personal experience and geography can become part of a writer’s “greater mythology” for creative work.
For more information, go to https://www.nwmthistory.org/programs/northwest-montana-book-festival/.