Author's Table
There's nothing like a good book.
Oregon Authors Return to State Fair
By William L. Sullivan (For info contact: Bill Sullivan, sullivan@efn.org, 541-335-9433)
With a record 58 Oregon authors appearing at the State Fair in Salem from August 25 to September 4, this year there’s something for everyone to read –literally.
For a sampling, check out the following selection of six local authors – all of them new to the fair this year, and all of them with books that have been released recently.
The Oregon Authors Table is located in Columbia Hall, between the fair’s quilts and cakes. Unlike those exhibits, however, the authors take turns, so only a dozen authors are on hand at a time. For a complete schedule of the 58 authors and their booksigning times, open up each day on the list below!
Click on each day to see the
full list of that day's Authors!
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Jennifer Chambers (Oregon history)
10am-8pm, Craig Comer (fantasy)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Gary Hartman (build-it projects)
10am-8pm, Jason Kilgore (fantasy, horror)
10am-8pm, Lisa Lowell (fantasy)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-4pm, Cheryl Smith (mystery, goats)
2-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
4-8pm, Gary Cullen (historical novel)
10am-12noon, Katherine Munson (fantasy)
10am-2pm, Jerry Sutherland (Oregon history)
10am-4pm, Dan Liberthson (spy novel, poetry)
10am-6pm, Pat Edwards (Oregon history)
10am-8pm, Dan Armstrong (novels)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, Jennifer Chambers (Oregon history)
10am-8pm, Craig Comer (fantasy)
10am-8pm, Gary Hartman (build-it projects)
10am-8pm, Jason Kilgore (fantasy, horror)
10am-8pm, Lisa Lowell (fantasy)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-6pm, Dorcas Smucker (farm life)
4-8pm, Curtis Condon (children’s)
10am-12noon, Lauren Kessler (biography, memoir)
10am-2pm, Paul Neville (novel)
10am-2pm, Kay Runyan (memoir)
10am-8pm, Dan Armstrong (novels)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, Patsy Brookshire (history, mystery)
10am-8pm, Craig Comer (fantasy)
10am-8pm, Gary Hartman (build-it projects)
10am-8pm, David Hascall (historical fiction)
10am-8pm, Caroline Holm (nature poetry)
10am-8pm, Jason Kilgore (fantasy, horror)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-4pm, Cheryl Smith (mystery, goats)
2-4pm, Eva Seyler (historical novels)
2-6pm, Deena Lindstedt (history, mystery)
4-8pm, Veronica Esagui (historical fiction, health)
4-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s books)
10am-12noon, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-6pm, Sarah Munro (Timberline Lodge)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, Patsy Brookshire (history, mystery)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Craig Comer (fantasy)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Gary Hartman (build-it projects)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
4-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-2pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-4pm, Jean Moule (essays, fiction)
10am-6pm, Sarah Munro (Timberline Lodge)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, Patsy Brookshire (history, mystery)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Craig Comer (fantasy)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Gary Hartman (woodworking)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
2-8pm, Mary Jo Nyssen (children’s)
4-8pm, James Ragon (historical fiction)
4-8pm, Tania Wall (Christian)
10am-2pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-4pm, Tom Alkire (fishing)
10am-4pm, Tania Wall (Christian)
10am-6pm, A. Lynn Ash (adventure memoirs)
10am-6pm, Arlene Sachitano (quilt mysteries)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, Patsy Brookshire (history, mystery)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Barry Craft (science fiction)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
2-8pm, Mary Jo Nyssen (children’s)
4-8pm, Doug Beisley (children’s)
4-8pm, James Ragon (historical fiction)
6-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-noon, Patsy Brookshire (history, mystery)
10am-2pm, Bob Crites (memoir)
10am-4pm, Valarie Anderson (WWII, early radio)
10am-4pm, Jean Moule (essays, fiction)
10am-6pm, Donna McFarland (children’s)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-6pm, Dorcas Smucker (farm life)
2-8pm, David Buzan (historical fiction)
2-8pm, Mary Jo Nyssen (children’s)
4-8pm, Doug Beisley (children’s)
4-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-12noon, Katherine Munson (fantasy)
10am-2pm, Catherine McGuire (fiction, poetry)
10am-6pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Kurt Cyrus (children’s books)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, J.R. LaMar (children’s)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, Mike Salt (horror novels)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-4pm, Michael Pace (historical novel)
2-8pm, Mary Jo Nyssen (children’s)
4-8pm, Lisa Lowell (young adult fantasy)
10am-12noon, Katherine Munson (fantasy)
10am-2pm, Catherine McGuire (fiction, poetry)
10am-4pm, Paul Fattig (memoir, biography)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Kurt Cyrus (children’s books)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, J.R. LaMar (children’s)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, Arlene Sachitano (mysteries)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
12noon-6pm, Sharleen Nelson (novels)
2-6pm, Francesca Varela (science fiction)
4-8pm, Kesha Ajose-Fisher (stories)
10am-2pm, Sharleen Nelson (novels)
10am-2pm, Mary Jo Nyssen (children’s)
10am-4pm, Jerry Sutherland (Oregon history)
10am-6pm, J.R. LaMar (children’s books)
10am-6pm, Sarah Munro (Timberline Lodge)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Kurt Cyrus (children’s books)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
2-4pm, Eva Seyler (historical novels)
2-8pm, Bob Welch (biography, adventure)
4-8pm, Veronica Esagui (historical fiction, health)
4-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-12noon, Katherine Munson (fantasy)
10am-12noon, Paula Wart (children’s)
10am-4pm, Jean Moule (essays, fiction)
10am-6pm, Sarah Munro (Timberline Lodge)
10am-8pm, Joe Blakely (Oregon history, novels)
10am-8pm, William Burt (Christian fantasy)
10am-8pm, Barry Craft (science fiction)
10am-8pm, David Espinoza (sports, memoir)
10am-8pm, Julie Kooch (Wallowa memoirs)
10am-8pm, Solber Martinez (fantasy)
10am-8pm, William Sullivan (hiking, novels)
2-8pm, Paula Wart (children’s)
2-8pm, Bob Welch (biography, adventure)
Arlene Sachitano worked for 30 years in the electronics industry, but she also learned to knit, quilt, and write cozy murder mysteries.
Now she lives alternately at homes in Portland and Tillamook. The 13 books in her popular “Loose Threads” series, including “Quilt By Association,” reassuringly intersperse dead bodies with tea and scones. New this year is “Louie’s Knit Shop,” where a stranger turns up dead in Portland with a knitting needle in his ear. Sachitano will be at the fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 2.
Born in Chicago and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Kesha Ajose-Fisher now lives in Oregon with her family.
Her short story collection, "No God Like the Mother," won the Oregon Book Award for fiction. Set in Nigeria, Paris, and Oregon, the stories focus on the lives of women who have been “tasked with holding up the sky.” She’ll be at the fair from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 2.
Curtis W. Condon of Forest Grove won a coveted Western Writers of America award this year for “Wish Upon a Crawdad,” a moving children’s novel (ages 9-12) set at the end of the Great Depression.
A 12-year-old tomboy in the fictional rural town of Crossroads, Oregon, earns pocket change by catching crawdads – but also believes that wishing on a crawdad can help her achieve a “secret surprise.” Condon will be autographing his book from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 26.
Eugene author and University of Oregon writing instructor Lauren Kessler is famed for her works of narrative nonfiction and biography – for example, “Stubborn Twig,” an Oregon Reads selection about the internment of Japanese Oregonians in World War II.
Her latest book, “Free”, won the Oregon Book Award for nonfiction this year. It tells the stories of six formerly incarcerated people who return home, a subject Kessler hit upon while teaching writing in Oregon prisons. She’ll be at the fair from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on August 26.
For a dozen years Dorcas Smucker wrote a popular column in the Eugene Register-Guard about life on her Harrisburg farm.
This year she published a collection of heart-warming, commonsense essays based on those articles, "Coming Home to Roost: A Mennonite Mom Reflects on Life Choices, Adult Children, and Country Living.” Smucker will be at the fair from 12 noon to 6 p.m. on both Saturday, August 26 and Thursday, August 31.
What’s the true story behind Bayocean, the city on the Tillamook Bay spit that fell into the sea?
Jerry Sutherland of Portland reveals all in his new nonfiction book, “Bayocean: Atlantis of Oregon.” He’ll attend the fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 26, and again from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 3.
