Chaparral Books

This Saturday, December 13th at 2 PM: treat yourself to a peaceful hour in the middle of the holiday scrum. We've got three poets reading: Anson Wright, Abigail Brandt, and John Brehm!

With a career spanning over three decades, multi-talented master guitarist, composer, novelist, poet, activist, and educator Anson Wright “may not be a household name, but he should be.” (All About Jazz). After graduating with honors from Princeton, he studied at Columbia before beginning his pursuit of both music and literary careers. In addition to three feature jazz CDs and a spoken word CD, Anson has authored three books. Anson wrote his novel, Jericho, at the age of twenty-six. Openings, his second book, was published with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. His latest offering, Sandstone Monastery, is a full length poetry book. . www.ansonwright.com

Abigail Brandt was a co-founder of the Santa Barbara Poetry Festival. She led a writing group of award-winning poets in Carpinteria for 10 years. Abigail is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and she has won statewide poetry contests in California and Oregon. In the words of Joanna Macy, “Her poems pulse with life.” Her book, Bones of My Life, is available at dharmaseeds.org.

John Brehm is the author of four books of poetry: Sea of Faith, Help Is on the Way, No Day at the Beach, and Dharma Talk, as well as a collection of essays, The Dharma of Poetry: How Poems Can Deepen Your Spiritual Practice and Open You to Joy. He is the editor of the bestselling anthologies, The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy, and The Poetry of Grief, Gratitude, and Reverence. He lives in Portland.

Dianne Stepp and Bill Siverly
Poets in Conversation
Saturday August 30, 2:00 PM

A native Portlander, gardener-poet Dianne Stepp is the author of three chapbooks: Half-Moon of Clay, Sweet Mercies, and The Nest's Dark Eye. Her poems have been published in many journals and anthologies including Tar River Poetry, Cider Press Review, Comstock Review, Windfall, and Cirque. She will read from Sweet Mercies and a new unpublished manuscript, Splitting Fruit for Jam.
"Dianne's stunning poems open doors on the world and let us stand for a moment on the threshold of everything," says Diane Fisher, author of Kettle Bottom.

Bill Siverly grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, and has lived in Portland since 1972. He holds a Master of Arts degree from San Francisco State University, and taught literature and creative writing at Portland Community College for twenty-five years. Bill has published seven books of poems. His most recent books, Steptoe Butte (2013), Nightfall (2018), and Starry Night (2022) were published by Windfall Press. He was co-editor with Michael McDowell of Windfall: A Journal of Poetry of Place, 2002-2022. Bill will read from Starry Night and a new unpublished manuscript, tentatively titled Night Rain.

As always, copies will be available for signing,
event is free, and there is plenty of street parking.

Hi everyone! We're full up, bursting at the seams, playing a lot of catchup -- so we are not currently buying books till -- well, now it's end of April. Thanks for understanding.

Chaparral Books is closing at 2 PM on New Year's Eve, closed all day for New Year's.
See you at 10 AM Thursday Jan 2!
Happy New Year, friends!

We're on for this Saturday July 20 at 1 PM! Join us as we welcome Bettie Denny and her WWII family memoir, "In the Wake of Madness."