BOOKS

Past letters from Mark Twain and other Missourians

Saucy prose expose Missouri’s past

Behind dusty bookshelves, underneath yellowed posters and between tattered pages lie American lives. People have poured out their hearts, souls and deepest, darkest thoughts on postcards, diaries and letters. And they are all available to read at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection on the MU campus.

Mid-Missouri writers persevere through rejection

For an aspiring writer, opening the mailbox elicits a mix of exhilaration and fear. Inside lies one of two things: a lifetime dream come true or the dreaded rejection letter. Although most of the time it’s the latter, a few mid-Missouri writers persevered to find their golden tickets.

Storyteller teaches art of storytelling at Columbia Public Library

Donald Davis is scheduled to teach a workshop on Monday

Davis is scheduled to give a workshop at the Columbia Public Library on Aug. 23 to provide expert tips to storytellers. Davis says not to skimp on the details of the story; let the fish you once caught at sea be 2 inches or 5 feet. Color the story with as many details as can be remembered or made up. “As soon as we try to shorten it, we leave out the most important things,” he says.

Bookbinder Jim Downey brings new life to old books

Using old school techniques to keep old books alive

Jim Downey has a guillotine in his office. He also has a steel cutting table with a 300-pound lever blade, and there’s a bottle of lighter fluid sitting on his worktable. The workshop of a murderer? Hardly.

Read this: White Sky

(Web Exclusive) It’s not often that Columbians get to read about themselves, and Mike Trial takes Midwesterners far from home in White Sky: A Year in Saudi Arabia. The book tells the fictional story of Mark Exner, a construction engineer from Columbia who is assigned to an engineering project in the Middle East. Trial’s descriptions of Exner’s experiences in Saudi Arabia allow readers to explore a part of the world they might never see otherwise while maintaining an at-home feel, thanks to Exner’s Columbia ties.

Missouri artists craft greeting cards

Handmade hellos are the way to go

A friend’s birthday usually means a run to a local store to search through hundreds upon hundreds of cards. Not anymore. Local greeting card makers have cut, pasted and sewn their way into the hearts of Columbia with quirky, original verses and handmade cards. Local artist Kay Foley makes her own cards. A counseling psychologist, Foley wasn’t happy at her job. She and her sister decided greeting cards would be a great way to unleash their creativity and make some money. That afternoon, she sat down and penned her first 50 greeting card verses for what would become Ampersand Cards.

Alternative uses for that English degree

Take those writing skills to the bank

So, you followed your passion for Kafka, haikus and analyzing poetry and got an English degree. If you haven’t made it as a Pulitzer Prize winning writer or a New York Times best seller, it might be time to reassess your life and make some money. Never fear: not all of your options are gone. Vox gives a few ways to jumpstart your career.

New federal restrictions help students save money on textbooks

The Higher Education Opportunity Act benefits students and professors

(Web Exclusive) Along with back-to-school bashes, college students now have something else to celebrate: Overpriced textbooks have met their doom. On July 1, the federal government approved new restrictions on textbook publishers.

Summer reading with Columbia schools

Poolside reads for Columbia’s students

Some students spend their summer vacations pursuing more than a great tan. Check out these summer reading picks from area schools — they’re sunscreen for the brain.

On the Nightstand: Columbia educators

Most educators enjoy reading as much as introducing great books to their students. Check out these recommendations from local administrators.

Travel guides overlook Columbia staples

Vox magazine edits the Exploring Columbia and Driving Across Missouri guidebook

Guidebooks will only get a person so far, especially in a town such as Columbia. Vox found the treasures that are MIA from Exploring Columbia and Driving Across Missouri, so visitors won’t be missing out.

Don’t miss David Sedaris in CoMo

Tickets go on sale for the author’s October visit

(Web Exclusive) The wit and quirkiness of David Sedaris will be on full display in Columbia this fall. The popular author and humorist will speak, answer questions and sign books on Oct. 13 as part of the University of Missouri Concert Series. His last visit to Columbia was in April 2009 at Jesse Auditorium. This year’s talk will take place just weeks after the Sept. 28 release of Sedaris’ fiction book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.

Mobile applications indulge inner bookworms

Pocket-sized libraries for your mobile device

(Web Exclusive) There’s no lack of mind-numbing smartphone apps (here’s looking at you, iTan and FatBooth), but some actually feed bookworms’ appetites for reading. With the following mobile applications, users can stay blog-savvy, unleash their inner comic book nerds and get cultured with poetry — all on the go.

Dogs with Blogs digs into CoMo

Man's best friend gets a say on the Internet

Whether they’re chasing squirrels, licking their butts or sitting under the chair at the dinner table begging for scraps, dogs seem to be simple creatures with basic needs. However, bloggers around the world are delving into the minds of their mutts and using their human abilities to type on the computer with those handy opposable thumbs to voice the words dogs can’t exactly speak — besides barking and growling, of course.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" turns 50

Atticus and Scout continue to captivate readers

(Web Exclusive) In the coming school year, ninth-graders at Columbia Public Schools will read To Kill a Mockingbird, the American classic that confronts racism in a small Alabama town. On July 11, the coming-of-age story written by Harper Lee celebrates its 50th birthday.

Columbia writing groups get the ink flowing

Brush up your writing skills with Columbia Fiction Writers, Reflections Poetry Society and the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild

“Begin!” an instructor says. The participants in the room write frantically, their eyes fixed on the paper in front of them. After 10 minutes of secretive scribbling and scratching, everyone puts down his or her pencils. The free-writing session is over, and an unedited piece of the mind sits in front of each group member. Although writing groups have their stereotypes, there are no finger-snapping, beret-wearing poets at the following Columbia writing groups, which offer constructive criticism of works written by locals and provide exercises for improving your writing.

Tips for turning a rough draft into a publishable manuscript

Missouri authors Deborah Zemke, Gabriel Fried and Mark Tiedemann offer best-selling wisdom

Getting published is hard work. Best-selling author Robert Pirsig was rejected 121 times before a publisher accepted his now-popular novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,/em>. For all the frustrated writers out there, Vox offers some tips from Columbia writers Gabriel Fried and Deborah Zemke and St. Louis author Mark Tiedemann to help with the process.

July 01, 2010

Reconnect with Missouri’s past through Columbian Jeanie Stewart’s first book

Round robin letters inspire Flagland memoir

Believe it or not, people once survived without e-mail, Facebook and Skype. Social networking is a concept that started long ago — via pen and paper, of course. Although the practice might be fading, letter writing was an important social connection for generations past. Local author Martha Jean Hubbard Stewart’s first book, Flagland: The History of a Swamp Farm, tells the true story of growing up in rural Missouri through a series of family letters.

Read this: Flagland

(Web Exclusive)

June 24, 2010

Local authors offer LGBTQ literature picks

Open a chapter with LGBTQ literature

(Web Exclusive) Local writers, biographers and academics offer up their favorite summer reads about LGBTQ experiences and people for LGBTQ Pride month.

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