Check this out.

From the lyriccinemacafe.com:

This Earth Day, Monday, April 22nd, 2013, the day after Tim DeChristopher will be released from the prison system, we are going to celebrate with a countrywide, simultaneous theatrical screening of the award-winning documentary, BIDDER 70, followed by an hour-long discussion with Tim (who will be attending the Salt Lake City screening) that will be broadcast to theatres via Skype, and a Q&A that everyone can participate in via Twitter (you can Tweet a question using a Twitter hashtag, from wherever you’re attending)!

Bidder 70 centers on an extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability. In 2008, University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher committed an act which would redefine patriotism in our time, igniting a spirit of civil disobedience in the name of climate justice.

This is a no passes special event. Free Ticket passes, membership discounts, and living social vouchers are not accepted for this event.

We are pleased to announce a new program in our literacy outreach efforts at Wolverine Farm.  One of our volunteers is offering free tutoring sessions every Monday from 4-6pm.  Please meet Evan in the loft if you would like help with reading or writing.  Help is offered on a first come, first served basis.

Writing Help-Elementary through College:
-Generating Ideas
-Picking a Topic
-Outlining and Organizing
-Researching and Citing Sources
-Revising and Editing
-Creative Writing

Speech Help:
-Organizing
-Making Notes and Visual Aids

Reading Help-Beginning to Advanced:

Especially help with understanding and analyzing literature that students may find difficult, for example Shakespeare, Beowulf, Chaucer, modern poetry, etc.

Speaking Practice for English Learners:
-Grammar
-Spelling
-Vocabulary
-Pronunciation

Help with Cover Letters and Resumes

 ***

Evan has a MA in English Language and Literature.  He has experience working with students of all levels from elementary school through college.  His previous teaching and tutoring roles have included three years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English as a second language to high school students and adults, private middle school level one-on-one language arts tutoring, and adult literacy tutoring with the Sacramento Public Libraries.  Additionally, Evan has organized and facilitated various workshops and trainings on academic, professional and creative writing.  He currently teaches English to middle and high school students at the JMJA … Read More »

When I was a junior in college, I got on a plane with one carry-on bag and a backpack, bound for Spain. I was studying abroad in a city on the outskirts of Madrid, called Alcalá de Henares.

Unbeknownst to me until my arrival, Alcalá is well known throughout Spain for being the birthplace of the renowned author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes. The city’s town square, Plaza de Cervantes, was constructed in the 1600s. The town center drips with pride for the hometown author: a statue in the square’s center depicts Cervantes alongside scenes from his famous novel.

Spain is aggressively proud of its authors, and any Spaniard—especially after a glass of wine or two—will happily recite you a poem or give you a lesson on why their favorite author is clearly the best.  (This website gives you a quick rundown on Spanish literature, from the 16th century until the present day.)

Eager to celebrate their country’s literary heritage while promoting book sales, 1923 saw Spanish booksellers claiming April 23 as a regional holiday honoring Cervantes, who died on April 23, 1616.

Coincidentally, April 23 had been a holiday in the Catalonian (southern) region of Spain since 1436. This holiday was known … Read More »

Books and Blood Money: The Strange Case of Joseph Anton.

From the opening passages of Joseph Anton, by Salman Rushdie:

“How does it feel,” she asked him, “to know that you have just been sentenced to death by the Ayatollah Khomeini?” It was a sunny Tuesday in London but the question shut out the light. This is what he said, without really knowing what he was saying: “It doesn’t feel good.” This is what he thought: I’m a dead man.

I can’t think of another living writer who has been forced into the role of defending Free Speech in the way Salman Rushdie has. That’s probably a good thing. His adversaries are not imaginary cultural warriors on different points of the political spectrum, but religious fundamentalists who would burn him in effigy and take his life for the art that he has created. I also can’t imagine a writer better suited for the role. That might be a cruel thing to say.

A few years back Rushdie visited the campus of the University of Wyoming. We made the drive up to Laramie and enjoyed his lecture. At one point, reflecting on the evening and on the moment when he was thrust into the world’s … Read More »

The next issue of Matterhorn—our first ever BOOKS issue—is here.

In preparation for this project we asked readers to share with us pictures of their bookshelves. It was just the kind of glimpse into your intimate collections we enjoy. What do our books say about us? How do they speak to different viewers? What does beautiful bric a brac belie? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

Marlee Keeven

Nick and Whitney Janzen-Pankratz

John Romeo Alpha

Paul Binkley and Maria Rodriguez

Vince Black

Josh Zaffos

Shea, Milwaukee

Matthew Sage

Anonymous

Jessica Rigney

Coleman Morris-Goodrick

Anna Fagre

Julia Morrison

Charlie Malone

The world may never know.

Two years ago, author Neil Gaiman proposed a new sort of tradition via his blog.  The proposal was just this:  Buy a scary book for someone during the week of Halloween.  That’s it.  Pretty simple.  And his website has lots of suggestions (and so do we!).  At the bookstore right now, we have a display of spooky books that would make perfect gifts.  Of course, their are a few Neil Gaiman titles like these:

But also this great new one:

and a selection of used books full of vampires, ghosts, witches, and all the Halloween standards. Wouldn’t it be fun to put a book in a trick-or-treater’s bag this year?  Chocolate is great and everything, but books last longer and don’t cause cavities.  Happy Halloween all you book lovers!

We are constantly redesigning, moving, shifting, and changing things at Wolverine Farm Bookstore.  One new(ish) part of the store is a bookshelf near the front dedicated to staff picks and recommendations.  Volunteers, managers and Bean Cycle baristas take turns picking their favorite books to fill up a shelf for a few weeks.  We have also given shelves to valued customers and community members so if you have some titles you’d like to share, let us know!  Here’s a little peek at my shelf, which (fair warning) changes daily.

1.  A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr  This little novel was one of our recent book club picks for the Year of the Craft Book Club.  It tells the story of a war veteran who travels to a little town in the  English countryside to take a summer-long job uncovering an apocalyptic mural in the local church.  It’s both funny and heart-breaking and well worth the short time it takes to read.

2.  The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath  I’ve read this book a few times and I’ll probably read it again.  Sylvia Plath writes some of the most incredible passages about life and depression in this semi-autobiographical novel.

3.  Jane Eyre … Read More »