Local writers look no further. Roan Press is a two-year-old, non profit, small Sacramento publisher run by husband and wife Bradley Buchanan and Kate Washington. The couple wants to foster the local literary community so they choose books that would not normally be published by bigger companies. They publish one to two books per year, so far falling under the categories of poetry, anthology and memoir. They are currently on their fourth paperback book: “Peach Farmer’s Daughter” by Brenda Nakamoto. “‘Peach Farmer’s Daughter’ appealed to me because Brenda tells a story of growing up on a peach farm in Gridley, and I'm from Chico, just half an hour up the road – my dad is an almond grower,

“I love to eat, obviously.” Maryellen Burns makes a motion with her arms, indicating that she’s talking about her figure, then laughs. Her eyes are bright, excited. Burns is wearing a colorful, souvenir apron that reads “Mallorca Island” and large, painted wooden pigs dangle from her ears. She’s addressing the group of individuals who have shown up for her and Lynn Gowdy’s FoodTalk@Cafe Bernardo, the first in a four-part series running every Saturday this June. The talk is entitled “Blind Tasting.” And who’s in attendance? A man with no sense of smell, a man with poor sense of smell, a women who says she gets hives every time she enters the kitchen and, of course, plenty of foodies. “Wh

Beginning June 5, Sacramento’s Arden-Dimick Library will host “Hearing Voices – Author, Character and Narrator in Audiobooks,” a summer book club sponsored by the Sacramento Public Library and the California Center for the Book. At the first meeting, participants will meet the Audie and Audiofile Earphones award-winning Simon Vance, narrator of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and King’s Speech audiobooks. Vance will discuss his experience of what makes good literature and what makes good audio and how those two may differ. Registered participants will receive audiobooks and series materials, including author biographies and discussion questions. At each of the four remaining meetings, pa

Local writers and budding wine enthusiasts gathered at the Sacramento Press office Thursday evening for a workshop on how to write about wine presented by author and former Sacramento Bee columnist Rick Kushman. “We generally associate wine knowledge with ‘class’ or as a social status of some kind,” said Kushman as he opened the workshop. “Really, people just want to know what wine to choose for dinner.” As more than 20 eager writers listened and took notes, Kushman gave the class his “Three Rules of Wine Tasting:” * Wear dark colors. * If you love it, you’re right; if you hate it, you’re right. * Always bring a swimsuit. “That last one doesn’t have anything to do with wine, but it see

The Sacramento Press office was packed Wednesday night as Dianne Heimer presented the 45 attendees with tips on how to write better leads – the opening sentences in articles. Before the workshop began, guests enjoyed sandwiches and chips from Dad’s Kitchen. Heimer has been a professor of journalism at Sacramento City College for 17 years. She has a BA in English and an MA in English/journalism. She is currently a freelance magazine writer. “I was excited, ’cause this is exactly what I needed help with,” Keilah Woodard said. She has a blog about places to go with kids called Sacramento Side Tracks. This is the second workshop Sally King has attended at The Sacramento Press. “I really ca

     On May 11th, the doors of Curtis Park's eclectic Tangent Art Gallery will open to admit Sacramentans who would like to explore the world of professional screenwriting. From May 11th through July 27th, Los Angeles writer-actor-producer Gary Weinberg will guide Sacramento students through the ins and outs of the art of screenwriting in his class entitled "Screenwriting: An Eight Week Intensive." Students who take the class will learn the craft and business of screenwriting, with an emphasis on how these manifest in the current Los Angeles film and television industry.      "Screenwriting: An Eight Week Intensive" will begin with the basic elements of narrative, and then move to story st

Here are some photos of the panel from Monday night at the Sutter Square Galleria. The Sacramento Press and the UC Davis Extension Center collaborated to present "Making it as a Writer: How to Succeed in Challenging Times."  More than 30 people showed up to hear insights from panelists JT Long, Sacramento-based freelance journalist; Peter Grandbois, published author and California State University, Sacramento, creative writing professor; Cinamon Vann, a freelance writer and editor specializing in environmental topics; Kate Washington, contributing writer for Sactown magazine and a freelance food and travel writer; Jennifer Basye Sander, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Publ

Sunday, January 17th, 2010, marked the last book signing and presentation by an author at Amicus Books Literary Arts Center and Community Bookstore, located in the older part of Marysville, California, on 413 D Street. Author Michael Don Hubbartt presented his newly published book, The Sutter Buttes (Arcadia Publishing, 2010), to a large turn-out in spite of the weather forecast of a major storm. Mr. Hubbartt offered a comprehensive history of the Sutter Buttes, known as the world's smallest mountain range, a familiar landmark to residents of the Sacramento Valley. Since its inception in 2005, Amicus Books' primary purpose was as a community literary arts center serving readers, writers,

  Cynthia Linville’s poems blend images and personal story to create pieces that stay in the reader’s mind. When the narrator of one of the poems encounters a lover from long ago, the conversation’s real, the setting is real: "Yeah, I heard." And now over greasy bacon and sticky orange juice, no more guilt. The poet weaves detail and commentary together deftly in Nevermore, again as the narrator reflects on an acquaintance from the past: Pasts like ours (filled with wooden crosses and beatings in schoolhouses) require a greater escape velocity than other pasts do. Cynthia Linville teaches English at California State University, Sacramento and serves as poetry editor of Poetry Now and

County Lines: The Poetry of Sacramento You may not know this, but Sacramento is full of poets. From Elk Grove to South Natomas, from Folsom to downtown, there are hundreds of people who write, read, and share their poems. Teenagers in Oak Park, retirees in Citrus Heights, college students, state workers, people young and old share this ancient art form. If you know where to look, you can find them, working on their craft, because Sacramento is full of poets. As the new Poet Laureate of the city and county of Sacramento, my goal is to help people find a little poetry in their lives. I'm already working on organizing readings and workshops around the region, and want to help writers learn

This is a great week for book-minded Sacramentans, with plenty of literary events taking place in libraries, movie theaters, community centers and museums.  Read on. Monday, June 29, 7:30 p.m. Poetry reading -- Dorine Jennette and Valerie Fioravanti. Sacramento Poetry Center. Hosted by Frank Graham Dixon. Davis resident Jennette has published poems, essays, and reviews in The Journal, Ninth Letter, Coconut, Court Green, Memorious, Puerto del Sol, and the Georgia Review. She has a poetry collection, Grace by Degrees, coming out in 2010. Valerie Fioravanti writes fiction, essays, and prose poems. Her story collection, The Brooklyn Shuffle, was a finalist for the Tartt First Book Award. Her

It was suggested by one of the users of and contributors to the site that the Sacramento Press create a section where people can access the materials from the workshops that we hold. Many people who have been unable to attend the workshops have also requested copies of the handouts from the various workshops. In order to better arm our readers with the tools that will help them write, there will be a section where all of the materials from the past workshops can be found. If you type in "SP workshops" in the search field, all of the articles and handouts dealing with our workshops will come up. Also, in the future we will upload a video feed of the workshops, if people are interested, so

For those of you who missed our first Interviewing Techniques workshop, given by Sactown Magazine's Senior Editor, Martin Kuz, we'll be having another one on Wednesday, April 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Molly Dugan, an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at Sacramento State, will discuss how to tailor your interviews toward articles that you would be writing for Sacramento Press. Attendees will learn the art of interviewing and the types of articles that work best for our site. We'll serve food at 6:30 p.m. and the workshop will start at 6:45 p.m. Our office is located at 431 I Street, Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as the Starbuc

Ballpoint pens wiggled, keyboards clicked and seven community members fought writer's block during the Intro to Journalism and Article Composition workshop at the Sacramento Press office Thursday evening. Holly Heyser, faculty adviser for The State Hornet and professional journalist in residence for the Communication Studies Department at Sacramento State University, was on hand to help writers develop their stories and flesh them out onto paper. Attendees brought ideas such as how to get a motorcycle license, what it's like to be a delegate for the Democratic National Convention, the Assembly bill that would legalize marijuana and the positive aspects of RT, among others. Heyser gave b

One big resource that The Sacramento Press provides all of our writers, are all the workshops that we will be hosting. The first of those workshops is this Thursday. In order to attend you must sign up for the site as a writer and email us that you are interested in coming, it's very simple. This workshop will be one of many that we will put on. This first workshop will focus on meeting the people who run The Press and how to best use our tools. The workshop will be from 6:30pm - 8:00pm Thursday, December 4th at The Sacramento Press office. We'll start off with a little bit of food and introductions and move on to an interactive talk about how to use our site and what it can do for you