Methow Valley Authors Library Grand Opening at Casia Lodge:

Shelves Stock Hundreds of Titles from Dozens of Local Writers and Artists

For this celebration of the Methow Valley literary scene, over 40 local writers will be on hand to celebrate the opening of the Methow Valley Authors Library, a collection of books and journals from every author who has ever lived in, worked in, or wrote about the valley. The program of events includes book signings and author readings every 20 minutes.

Visit https://methowpress.com/index.php/mval/ for program details.

Free. Visit https://tinyurl.com/MVAL-MEALS to prebook your boxed meals.

Presented by Methow Press. Sponsored by MethowArts and The Confluence with support from The Shafer Museum.

On April 14, Casia Lodge plays host to an all-day celebration of the Methow Valley literary scene. Over 30 local writers will be on hand to celebrate the opening of the Methow Valley Authors Library, a collection of books and journals from every author who has ever lived in, worked in, or wrote about the valley. The collection itself, hosted on Casia Lodge’s shelves, will be open all day. Authors will be on hand to greet their fans and the general public in the lodge’s Cascade Room, with many titles available for purchase and signing, while a program of fireside readings will take place in the great room off the Lodge’s lobby. Casia’s pub will offer beverage service, and catered box meals will be available for advance purchase. The day’s events will begin at 1 PM and conclude

at 8 PM. The Authors Library has been curated by Greg Wright, publisher at Methow Press, and is sponsored by MethowArts and The Confluence. The idea for a central collection of valley authors originated with Methow Press’s publication of the Methow Authors card game late in 2022. Not long after its release, Wright met with the event staff at the newly-opened Casia Lodge to plan a poetry event. Walking into the lodge’s library that afternoon, he was stunned. “When Eric and Beth Blank sold Twisp Terrace and turned it over to the Casia team,” Wright says, “Eric took his books with him—and that cleaned out the library.” So when Wright saw all that empty shelf space, the event-planning meeting took on a whole new dimension. “If a person can get an adrenaline rush from the idea of books, I’m that guy. I pretty much improvised a pitch on the spot,” he recalls. “‘I’m pretty sure I can fill your

shelves for you,’ I told them.” Casia’s management jumped at the chance, eager to take a lead in developing literary tourism in the valley. For close to a year now, Methow Press and Casia Lodge have been working diligently to recruit support for the project, not only from the book authors and

publishers themselves, but from the local arts community in general. “The response has been phenomenal,” says Wright. By the time of the Library’s opening

on April 14, there will be over 200 volumes on the shelves contributed by over 100 individual writers. For the most part, authors have donated works from their own personal collections—many of them out of print or from limited-edition print runs. “The Methow’s libraries and Trail’s End Book Store are outstanding,” says Wright. “But there’s just no way for them to make all of these titles available for hands-on browsing. So the Authors Library fills in those gaps.” Titles all have bookplates telling readers where they can find their own copy for purchase. Sponsorships from MethowArts and The Confluence have also helped with acquisition of certain hard-to-find titles, and also a complete collection of The Methow Naturalist, published quarterly by Dana Visalli. “To be honest,” offers Wright, “the scope of the project has been a bit grander than I originally expected.” At the time of his first meeting with Casia, he was aware of roughly 60 authors working in the Methow. Over the last year, the list of authors has grown to over 200. Some of them, such as Holocaust scholar John K. Roth, have authored as many as 50 titles. Wright expects the library to take more than a year to flesh out after next month’s opening. As it does so, valley residents and visitors alike will have the chance to discover the vast depths of the local literary talent in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, history, biology, politics, photography, and art. While the Methow Valley Authors Library will be continuously available to guests staying at Casia Lodge, it will also be open to the public. Hours will be announced upon the Library’s opening. For a full list of valley authors, a schedule of readings on April 14, and for info about booking boxed meals for the event, visit MethowPress.com/index.php/MVAL/