Local Author Panel

A Skylark Bookshop One Read Event

Five fantastic local authors will discuss genre, process and place, inspired by this year's One Read book, Daniel Mason's "North Woods." Join us to learn from these authors from across genres and backgrounds: Lynne Lampe (poetry), Phong Nguyen (historical and experimental fiction), Jill Orr (mysteries), Donald Quist (nonfiction and short stories) and Nandor Fox Shaffer (comics). Adults.

Skylark Bookshop is thrilled to host five fantastic local authors to discuss genre, process and place, inspired by this year's One Read book, Daniel Mason's "North Woods." Join us to learn from these authors from across genres and backgrounds.

Adults. Find out more about One Read here.

• Lynne Lampe writes poetry about family, mental illness and societal expectations. Lynne’s poems appear in the Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, One, Yemassee, Many Nice Donkeys, The Inflectionist Review, Rise Up Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Small Orange, LIT Magazine and elsewhere. Her debut collection, "Talk Smack to a Hurricane" (Ice Floe Press, 2022), was a 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Award winner and a finalist for the 8th annual McMath Book Award. A Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize finalist, she edits academic writing and reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal.
• Phong Nguyen is a writer of historical fiction ("Bronze Drum"), experimental fiction ("Roundabout: An Improvisational Fiction"), spin-offs ("The Adventures of Joe Harper"), alternate history ("Pages From the Textbook of Alternate History"), dirty realism ("Memory Sickness") and more. Nguyen teaches fiction-writing at the University of Missouri, where he is the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature and Writing. 
• Jill Orr is the author of the Riley Ellison mystery series and "How Not To Be Old (Even If You Are)." Her work has earned a Silver Falchion nomination, a starred review and Best Book of the Week from Booklist, a Midwest Connections pick and a feature in People.com’s holiday gift guide. She lives in Columbia, Missouri.
• Donald Quist is the author of two essay collections, "Harbors," a Foreword INDIES bronze winner and International Book Awards finalist, and "To Those Bounded." He also has a linked story collection, "For Other Ghosts." He is creator of the online nonfiction series "PAST TEN" and an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Missouri.
• Nandor Fox Shaffer grew up with superheroes, Star Wars, movies, video games, music and comic books coursing through his veins and spinning about in his imagination. Inspired by the likes of George Lucas, Jonathan Hickman, Steven Moffat, Ed Brubaker, Scott McCloud and others, he couldn't resist the power of the art of storytelling. At the age of 28, he's published seven titles — "Man-Child #1-3," "The Fabled Offering," "SEASONS Volume 1: Spring," "SEASONS Volume 2: Summer," and "Lifeline" — which won him the 2021 Indie Volt Comic Book Award for Best Writer and Best Comic. He lives in Missouri and plans to write and create for as long as he lives.

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