Persistence: What It Takes to Publish a Book, featuring Ellen Michaelson, Joanna Rose, and Suzy Vitello

We are thrilled to present (virtually) on Monday, June 7th, at 5 PM PST a multi-author reading and in-conversation with local Portland authors Ellen Michaelson, Joanna Rose, and Suzy Vitello discussing the topic “Persistence: What it Takes to Publish a Book.” Each of these authors had rather long and winding paths toward the publication of their novels. They also were all students of Tom Spanbauer in his original Dangerous Writing group.

This event is free but does require preregistration at this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K44ozcbDS1ysmlmXQ1KJhA

Ellen Michaelson is a physician in Portland and an MFA graduate from Pacific University. Currently an assistant professor of Medicine at OHSU and vice president of the board of the NW Narrative Medicine Collaborative, she was an NEH Fellow in Medical Humanities and attended Breadloaf Writers Conference. Her work has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Portland Monthly, Women in Solitude (SUNY Press), and Literature in Medicine. The Care of Strangers, published by Melville House and winner of the 2019 Miami Book Fair de Groot Prize, is her first book.

Joanna Rose is the author of the award-winning novel Little Miss Strange, winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Prize and finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Her poetry, essays, and short fiction (as well as other pieces that don’t fall into any of those categories) have appeared in Story Magazine, Oregon Humanities, High Desert Journal, VoiceCatcher, Calyx, and Bellingham Review, among others. Her essay “That Thing with Feathers” was cited as Notable in 2015 Best American Essays.  Joanna works with youth in Portland Public Schools on writing and cohosts the long-running critique group Pinewood Table. When she’s not at the beach, she lives in Portland with her husband and, at any given time, several dogs. Her new novel is A Small Crowd of Strangers, published by Forest Avenue Press.

Suzy Vitello’s award-winning short pieces have appeared in The Rumpus, The Southampton Review, Mississippi Review, Plazm, Tarpaulin Sky, various anthologies, and other literary journals. She has been a prize winner in The Atlantic Monthly Student Fiction Contest, and has been a recipient of an Oregon Literary Arts grant. Suzy works as a book coach and editor through her company wordsinahurry.com. Her young adult novels include The Moment Before, The Empress Chronicles, and The Keepsake. Her new novel, Faultland, is written for adults and is published by Ooligan Press.