News from Heidi

I'm excited to be part of the Beverly Hills Literary Escape taking place Oct. 22-24, 2010. What a line-up! I'll be appearing along with Aimee Bender, Abraham Verghese, Robert Goolrick, Dani Shapiro and Tatjana Soli and many more. Learn more about the event here.

I'm so excited that The Girl Who Fell From the Sky has been chosen as a 2010 Great Group Read by the Women's National Book Association.  The list includes Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Michelle Huneven's Blame, Chris Cleave's Little Bee, and Tatjana Soli's The Lotus Eaters. 

A writer's retreat is heaven! Particularly if you are a writer who has been talking about writing for several months on a book tour and not doing much writing. I am so excited to spend the next couple of weeks in this bucolic setting, Hedgebrook. I'll be staying in a little cottage just like this one--no internet at my desk, no television distractions.  Just me and the pen or computer and hopefully also my muse.

As it happens, I've come full circle. I worked on The Girl Who Fell From the Sky at Hedgebrook --the first sentences came to life there for me--and it was the first time I'd received an affirmation that I was a "real" writer even though I hadn't published a word. I am grateful to go back. Wish me many (good) words. P.S. The deadline is upcoming I believe: so check it out--www.hedgebrook.org.

Answer: Laguna Beach! Yay! I couldn't be more thrilled and honored. Thank you to Laguna Beach Books and co-sponsor St. Mary's Episcopal Church. Find out more about Laguna Reads here. And if you're in the neighborhood I sure hope you'll join us for a special reading and talk on Oct. 21 at 7pm.

This is going to be a great event, Miami. Christofle in Bal Harbour is hosting along with Books and Books a champagne reception for the lucky winners of a book club contest where I'll do a meet-and-greet. Read more about the event here.

I'm headed off to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference today. Very excited. I will do my best to keep you updated on the happenings and doings of the next couple of weeks--and there will be many. And if you find yourself in Vermont, why not come to my reading on Aug. 19? It's going to be fun!

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky has been chosen as City-Wide Read for a certain city in October 2011! Tune in again on September 1 with the announcement of which city it is! The big event will be held on October 21. Save the date.

Naomi Benaron is the 2010 Bellwether Prize winner for her manuscript Running the Rift! Yay! Barbara Kingsolver says of the manuscript:“It engages the reader with complex political questions about ethnic animosity in Rwanda and so many other issues relevant to North American readers. For one, it conveys the impossibility of remaining neutral within a climate of broad moral compromise—even for purportedly apolitical institutions like the Olympics.” I can't wait to read the book which will be published by the wonderful Algonquin Books (my publisher as well as the publisher of the 4th Bellwether Prize winner and writer extraordinaire Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.)  Learn more about Naomi here.  Publication date to be announced soon!

I had so much fun listening to this Q & A again after all this time. The Green Toad Bookstore is a really magical place in Oneonta, NY--perfectly, perfectly put together and very "hyggeligt"--you'll have to listen to the audio to learn what that word means.

Thank you so much Flavorwire for including me on this list! I'm thrilled!

"Why we love her: Durrow deftly navigates the fluidity of racial identity and cultural connections in her honest, absorbing debut. (She was also the winner of the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction, an award established by Kingsolver.)
Best known for: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
The line that made us fall for her: “I feel my middle fill up with sounds that no one else understands. Then they reach my throat. What if these sounds get stuck in me?” "