The eighth annual University of Idaho Hemingway Festival held a Sneak Peeks Reading Friday with local authors.
The writers gave short readings from their unpublished, upcoming work.
The event was held at BookPeople of Moscow and featured readings from Kim Barnes, Mary Clearman Blew, Peter Chilson, Sayantani Dasgupta, Debbie Lee, Paul Lindholdt, Michael McGriff, Alexandra Teague and Joy Passanante.
The nine local authors read from poetry, essays and novels — all of which had never been heard publically.
UI English professor Kim Barnes said she had not originally considered writing, but credits her career path to a love of reading and an isolated upbringing that allowed her to be surrounded by the works of a variety of authors, like Louisa May Alcott, Daniel Defoe and Ernest Hemingway.
“I had always been a reader, but it never dawned on me that I could write,” Barnes said. “It wasn’t until my college years that I realized not only could I read these creations, but I could create them myself.”
Barnes said she never saw herself within the stories she read, so that is what led her to create a world that expressed her perspective through writing.
Barnes said she has published a variety of essays and short stories, as well as two memoirs and three novels. She also said she has read much of her writing, yet she was nervous to read at the Hemingway Festival’s event.
“The Sneak Peek is really contrary to how published authors work, we do not trot out our green ponies because what if it’s a flop,” Barnes said. “I’ve given readings all over the world and what I read has always been published, it’s been vetted and deemed worthy, so when I get up there to read something that hasn’t been heard publically, I can’t help but feel nervous.”
Barnes said despite the nerves, she does love the chance to get up there and share her work with the public. She said she’s been working with the Hemingway Festival since its inception.
“It’s not just exciting because it’s material that’s never been published or read before, but because it creates a community of vulnerability,” Barnes said. “I think it is a great experience for our students or other emerging writers to see us get up there and take the chance of just bombing.”
UI English professor Sayantani Dasgupta said it was her first time reading at the Hemingway Festival.
“The opportunity to read was really fun and nerve-wracking — it was nice to hear the variety of voices UI, as well as WSU, has to offer,” Dasgupta said. “I thought I needed 500 glasses of water before going up, but now that it’s done, I am relieved that that wasn’t the case.”
Dasgupta said she wrote a version of her piece a few weeks prior, but put in the final revisions the night before the reading.
UI junior Abby Tesnohlidek said she did not know what to expect from the reading and was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of pieces she heard.
“I originally attended the reading because it was required for a class, but now I think I would definitely go again,” Tesnohlidek said.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia