Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District's newsletter,
featuring the events, stories, and people of our community

Thu, Sep 3 / 5-7pm
North Star House
12075 Auburn Road, Grass Valley

We'll be enjoying the last bits of Summer at the beautiful North Star House. Attendees will get a tour of the iconic Julia Morgan building— including the unfinished upstairs—along with updates on upcoming events and ways to get involved with our creative community!

RSVP

A tingle of Fall in the air announces open enrollment for creative writing workshops with Nevada County Poet Laureate Kat Terrey, opportunities for High School students to participate in Poetry Out Loud, and the annual Truckee Block Party Sept 17th!

The Tangled Roots Open Mic & Reading Series is Sept 10 at 6 pm at Alibi Ale House in Truckee. Our featured reader this month is Author Liz Collins from Nevada City who has just published her debut novel Whalespeak. Join us for some food, a mesmerizing reading, and a community open mic. Share your voice!

Sept 11th at The Truckee Library Kat will be leading a creative writing workshop for all ages and experience levels. Join our supportive community for this free event. 10:30-Noon.

On Saturday, Sept 12th, poets Ingrid Keriotis, Rooja Mohassessey, and Kat Terrey will gather for a reading and workshop at the Mountain Bounty Farm in Nevada City for Poetry on Preserves, supported by the BYLT. Join us!

Sunday, Sept 13th is the Glenshire Porchfest, a neighborhood festival featuring local music, bands, and poets on front yards and back porches throughout the neighborhood of Glenshire, Truckee. 1-5 pm, free.

The Truckee Block Party is the street fair for locals with art, food, and organizational booths downtown Truckee. Kat will read a poem on stage to speak towards the community and environmental connections in our town. 5-7 pm.

GVNC: Tell us about your creative process.

Collins: Writing a beautiful line is not that different than painting a beautiful picture. Both give me so much pleasure. Writing a novel takes on a life of its own. First and foremost, the line-level writing is what draws me in, both as a reader and writer, then plot: how can I turn this story into something that keeps people turning the pages? I really love a challenge like that.

GVNC: What inspires you?

Collins: Reading a really good book inspires me more than anything. I will always ask the question, “how did they draw me in, and how did they keep me there?” but on top of that, finding a way to express what sometimes feels like the unexpressable, or catching someone’s subtle movement, or your own thoughts, the ones that could so easily have passed you by. Catching those and writing them down is an art form I will always be working on.

GVNC: What are you most proud of?

Collins: The publishing of this upcoming novel Whalespeak!

GVNC: What do you love best about our creative community?

Collins: I always tell people who come to visit, how much goes on in this county, art-wise. If only they could read Sands Hall’s regular Facebook post with a many-page list of happenings from music to plays, to fine art, to talks, and dance. This is not a county you can get bored in.

GVNC: Name two Nevada county artists you admire and why.

Collins: Molly Fisk, our ex-poet laureate. I’ve admired her poems for so many years. She writes with an emotional acuity that astounds me with every poem. And now she’s stretched herself to write a novel in verse which is just as gorgeous as her poems.  And Julia Park Tracy’s fairly recent book Silence had me on the edge of my seat, not only for each line of exquisite writing but for the historical content and plot. 

GVNC: What’s coming up for you?

Collins: This Friday is my second book launch for Whalespeak at the Book Seller in Grass Valley (Sept. 4 at 4:00). My first one (this past Sunday, August 30) was a great success and filled up to capacity so quickly we had to do another. I will be doing two Truckee events, one for Tangled Roots Reading  Series, and the other for Porchfest poetry.

For the next two years, I will be promoting my novel, Whalespeak on both coasts, as well as writing a new novel about a young adult who suffered PTSD from a cult, and ten years after she gets out, she lays eyes on the cult leader she’s been running from.

GVNC: Please share how our readers canlearn more about you!

Visit my websites lizcollinswriting.com and lizcollinsart.com, email me at lizstudio123@gmail.com or follow me on Instagram: @lizcollinsart Facebook: liz collins

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Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District
PO Box 1833
Nevada City, CA 95959-1833