Northwest Montana History Museum features authors during book festival

Readers and writers are invited to attend the first Northwest Montana Book Festival featuring regional authors and books Nov. 17 in Kalispell. 

A slate of presenters is scheduled during the free festival, which runs from noon to 5 p.m. at the Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell. Books will also be available for sale. 

Presenters include graphic novelist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, mystery writer Leslie Budewitz, Stewart Wilson, Melissa Barker and author Debra Magpie Earling. 

Fetter-Vorm, whose presentation is titled, Picturing History, has depicted the complexities of history in an accessible way through powerful graphic novels including, “Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight; “Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War and his debut novel,“Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb.” 

Budewitz, author of the “Spice Shop” mystery series, will speak about Stagecoach Mary Fields, the first African American woman to become a U.S. Postal Service contract mail carrier. Fields’ exploits protecting stagecoaches became the source of legend. Budewitz will present on the Stagecoach Mary Fields at the Juncture of History and Myth, drawing from her experiences researching and writing her latest book, “All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection.” 

Festival attendees learn about Montana themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing on the eve of the 100-year anniversary of “The Great Gatsby,” from Wilson and Barker in their presentation, Gatsby at 100: It's a Story About the West After All. 

Fitzgerald, who spent a summer in Montana in 1915, had a front-row seat for the struggles of the time, which are the focus of his only story set in the West and figured in his later work, according to a press release from the museum. 

In Fitzgerald’s “ledger,” a shorthand diary, “Butte's payroll,” is listed. Miners had won a 25% raise, while state politics became controlled by industrial interests. Bringing in editorial cartoons and other research, Wilson and Barker highlight Fitzgerald’s references to government, class warfare and monopolies while countering Western mythologies about Fitzgerald’s “cowboy summer.” 

Barker holds a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology and labor relations and has taught at the university level. Wilson holds a master’s degree in art history and undergraduate degrees in history and art history. For 25 years he worked with libraries and coordinated 200-plus author programs, overseeing the Minnesota Book Awards and the Minnesota Center for the Book. 

The final speaker of the festival will be Earling, the award-winning author of “Perma Red” and “The Lost Journals of Sacajawea.” According to her bio, Earling, who is Bitterroot Salish, was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Montana Book Award. She is also a retired University of Montana professor.

There are still some spots available for people who would like to exhibit their work at the festival. People may submit applications at nwmthistory.org. 

The book festival received financial support from Humanities Montana.

For more information call 756-8381 or visit nwmthistory.org. 

Speaker schedule 

• 12:15 p.m. — Graphic novelist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm on Picturing History. 
• 1:30 p.m. — Historical fiction writer Leslie Budewitz on Stagecoach Mary Fields at the Juncture of History and Myth. 
• 2:45 p.m. — Stewart Wilson and Melissa Barker on Gatsby at 100: It's a Story About the West After All. 
• 4 p.m. — Debra Magpie Earling, author of “Perma Red” and “The Lost Journals of Sacajewea.”