LITERARY LOCALS: What Have We Learned So Far?

So, I’ve finished with the first batch of authors for this series—and before we take a break while I work on a second batch, I thought I’d see if I’ve learned much about writing in Southwest Idaho.*

* Yes, there’s the one outlier in Eastern Oregon—which may end up being part of “Greater Idaho” in the next few years. But I’m not going to take the time to add that disclaimer throughout here. Can we just agree it’s implied?

Of the nine people I’ve talked to, two have been native to Idaho and most moved here young enough to be “as close to being a native Idahoan as you can get without getting your eye wet,” as Danielle Higley put it, with a couple of people who came later in life. I honestly expected the native/close-enough to be closer to 50%, to that’s nice. The beauty and the people are what keep people here.

Almost everyone is involved in (or wants to get back involved) with a local writers’ group—Idaho Writers Guild being the most popular, but some good stuff has been said about others. The outliers do have friends they can turn to for support, though. No lone wolves here.

Rediscovered Books in Boise and Caldwell is far and away these authors’ choice for local events—the Boise Library’s Comic Arts Festival, Gem State Comic Con, Books and Brews, Nampa’s Festival of the Arts, plus miscellaneous arts and crafts fairs, got some good representation, too. As did LTUE in Utah and Montana’s MisCon.

One thing I found interesting is that essentially authors said their audience was very local, or it’s not very local. I’d expected some sort of mix. With those who are still starting out, it makes sense that local readers would make up the bulk of the audience (along with the all-important friends-and-family base)—but I’d figured those who were more established would have a decent local following in addition to sales in other areas of the country/world.

Everyone said essentially the same thing when it came to strengths/weaknesses about writing around here—the smallness of the market and distance from bigger markets is a hindrance but not that much of one thanks to the internet. Also, local writers and local people are the strengths of writing here.

When it comes to “do you bring an area-specific sensibility or feel to your work, most say no—other than subconsciously. It’s where they live and who they’re around, so sure…but no one’s doing it deliberately (other than setting the occasional book in this area).

The last question I ask is for recommendations for books “that embody Idaho/the Idaho spirit.” Here’s what we’ve gotten so far:
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown
The How and The Why by Cynthia Hand
Into The Darkness by Marlie Harrs and Troy Lambert
Big Jim Turner by James Stephens
Incidents in Idaho: A Monster Marshals Collection by Troy Lambert and Danielle Parker
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Educated by Tara Westover
Fearless: The Story of Farris Lind, the Man Behind the Skunk by Rick Just
And then a few authors were mentioned without specific books: Ivan Doig, Hemingway (“it’s like reading about the romanticized version of Idaho that I have in my head,” said Jeremy Billups), Craig Johnson, and Norman Maclean.

So, I don’t know that I’ve learned a lot—it’s a small sample size, for one thing. But, there are some themes—and a lot of exceptions to those themes. Which feels pretty Idahoan to me.