Upcoming Events

November 2, 2024 – Diane K. Boyd Book Release

A Woman Among Wolves

Debut memoir from one of the first women in the United States to study wild wolves in their natural habitat

Whitefish Review will host author Diane K. Boyd on Saturday, November 2 at 101 Central for a reading and discussion about her newly released book, A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery (Greystone Books, 2024).

“This event will be a lovely evening celebrating a local author who is now dancing on the national stage with her new book,” said Review editor-in-chief Brian Schott. “There will be a lot of howls in the room as we celebrate Diane’s stories and research.”

Called the Jane Goodall of wolves, world-renowned wildlife biologist Diane Boyd has spent four decades studying and advocating for wolves in the wilds of Montana near Glacier National Park. When she started in the 1970s, she was the only female biologist in the United States researching and radio-collaring wild wolves. With her two dogs for company, she faced the rigors of the Montana winter in an isolated cabin without running water or electricity.

“This is a book about a courageous woman,” says Dr. Jane Goodall. “Often alone in wild country, she endures hardships and faces danger in many forms …. It is a book I highly recommend: informative, fascinating, and beautifully written.”

Boyd fearlessly forded icy rivers, strapped on skis to navigate thick stands of lodgepole pine, and monitored packs from the air in a tiny bush plane that skimmed the treetops so she could count wolves and see what they were feeding on. She faced down grizzly bears, mountain lions, wolverines—and the occasional trapper—as she stalked her quarry: a handful of wolves that were making their way south from Canada into Montana. Resilient and resourceful, she devised her own trapping methods and negotiated with locals as wolf populations grew from the first natural colonizer to more than 3,000 wolves in the West today.

From the early days of wolf research to the present-day challenges of wolf management across the globe, Boyd takes the reader on a wild ride highlighting her interactions with an apex predator that captured her heart and her undying admiration. Her writing resonates with her indomitable spirit as she explores the intricate balance of human and wolf coexistence.

Boyd holds a PhD in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. She divides her time between her home in Kalispell, Montana, and her beloved cabin in the North Fork. She is the author of numerous scientific papers on wolves.

The event is held at The Second Story, 101 Central in downtown Whitefish. Doors open at 6:30 pm with live music from 7 to 8 pm with David Noftsinger. Readings and discussions begin at 8 pm and include special guests Douglas H. Chadwick, Jim Williams, and Michael Jamison who will pose questions to the author. An audience Q&A will conclude the event. The evening is supported by Greystone Books and will be live-streamed on Whitefish Review’s YouTube page.

Whitefish Review is a literary journal that explores the landscapes of the human condition, our connection to the natural world, and illuminates the confluence of art, storytelling, society, and science. As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants.
For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org.

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Previously Held

Whitefish Review Launches the Music Issue 

September 13 Event Features Rob Quist and The Montana Project’s Magic Guitar, Plus a Band of Merry Writers from the Newest Issue

WHITEFISH, MONT. (September 2, 2024) — Whitefish Review will celebrate the publication of its 29th issue, “The Music Issue,” on Friday, September 13, with an event featuring singer and songwriter Rob Quist and writers featured in this special issue. The celebration will be held at the Tent Pavilion at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.

Legendary musician Rob Quist will perform with Dave Griffith and the magic Black Ram guitar created by The Montana Project and commissioned by actor Jeff Bridges as part of his and their “All in This Together” sustainability campaign with Breedlove Guitars. The guitar was built from a 315-year-old spruce destroyed by a logging road built to the edge of a giant clearcut in Montana’s Yaak Valley.

“This Black Ram guitar has spoken to me and told me her story, as well as the plight of the entirety of the Black Ram Forest. In light of our discovery of how trees communicate and send nutrients via mycelium to keep neighboring trees from perishing, we must understand that they are sentient beings vital to the health and survival of all living inhabitants of our Mother Earth,” says Quist. “I am deeply honored and committed to contributing to the preservation of the Black Ram forest, and I will use my voice to bring its attention to my audiences whenever and wherever I perform.”

Black Ram is a remote ancient forest in Yaak, Montana, home to an endangered population of grizzly bears. It contains 600-800-year-old larch trees nestled alongside giant subalpine fir, spruce, red cedar, and western hemlock trees. A 95,000-acre logging project known as Black Ram was approved in 2022, which was set to destroy this majestic old-growth forest. A federal judge subsequently halted the project, but the U.S. Forest Service has now appealed the decision. The purpose of The Montana Project is to preserve, promote, and connect Montana’s craft, artisan, and nature communities to nurture and protect the natural resources, open spaces, clear skies, clean water, and wildlife that foster and inspire them.

“The Music issue is a concert created by our team inside our journal pages,” said Brian Schott, founding editor of Whitefish Review. “It sings both of the celebration of life even during the hardest of times, as well as the protection of our ancient forests that can hold carbon in defense of a warming planet.”

The Music Issue features 33 writers and artists, including The Montana Prize for Fiction winner, awarded to Jeff Guay by author Rick Bass. The cover image is a custom screen print by Mike Tallman, a graphic artist and printmaker known for creating famous rock and roll posters for iconic bands like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and The Allman Brothers Band.

Live music begins during cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m., with readings and discussion starting at 8 p.m. Whitefish High School student Bjorn Bungener will read from an essay about the physics of music, and Glenn Schiffman will read from his essay about Janis Joplin and his time on the road as a rock and roll sound equipment truck driver. Jeff Guay will read from his prize-winning story, and Natalie Storey will read fiction about dreams of a rock and roll star. Editors will talk with Toby Scott about his life as a sound engineer for Bruce Springsteen for over 35 years and a gift he gave Springsteen. After the speakers, Quist will perform a new song he wrote in honor of the Black Ram. The event will also be live-streamed on the Review’s YouTube page.

The issue contains special features, including interviews with Raven Chacon, the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music, singer/songwriter Jerry Joseph, who has over 30 studio records, 400 songs, and countless live performances around the globe to his name, and Mark A. Rodriguez, who has created sculptures from a collection of more than 27,000 Grateful Dead live tapes.

Additional features include art by Pearl Jam bass guitarist Jeff Ament and Italian artist Mario Loprete, short interviews with musician Huey Lewis and climate scholar Bill McKibben, and poetry by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón. 

Photography features include fan photography by Nirvana photographer Charles Peterson, guitars made from salvaged wood by Dan Strack, a portrait project by Mike Hipple of famous 80s musicians, music-related photos by Robert Millis from India, and anonymous found music and snapshot photography by Mark Sullo.

Also featured are essays by Chrysti “the Wordsmith” Smith and Ellen Sollinger Walker, excerpts from Diane K. Boyd’s new book, A Woman Among Wolves, and poetry by Rebecca A. Durham, Mary Beth Hines, Rebecca Ramsden, Shyla Ann Shehan, John Miltimore Wolff, and songwriting by Deidre Corson, David Noftsinger, and Rob Quist.

Whitefish Review is a literary journal that explores the landscapes of the human condition and our connection to the natural world. It illuminates the confluence of art, storytelling, society, and science. As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants. Since its founding in 2007, Whitefish Review has published over 1,000 artists and writers from 46 states and 25 countries. Copies of Whitefish Review are available by subscription or in bookstores and can be ordered online.

The evening is sponsored by The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. A $20 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal. The Lodge is offering a 20% discount for guests of the Whitefish Review launch party on the nights of September 12, 13, or 14. For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org.

On September 28, Whitefish Review will join The Montana Project for Climate Aid at the Wilma in Missoula to celebrate the Breedlove Black Ram Guitar and the forest that made her. The evening features music legend James McMurtry; writers Rick Bass and Bill McKibben; violinist Pico Alt; singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault; musicians Nate Biehl, Caroline Keys, and Gibson Hartwell; award-winning singer-songwriter Siri Sæteren; poet Beth Ann Fennelly; Native leaders and representatives from Our Children’s Trust. Visit www.blackramguitarfest.org for tickets.

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Whitefish Review Hosts Ceramic Artist Stephen Braun on May 3 for Book Release Event

WHITEFISH, MONT. (April 15, 2024) – Whitefish Review will host ceramic artist Stephen Braun for a slideshow and conversation about his newly released large-format art book, Hindsight & Foresight is 20/20, on Friday, May 3, 2024 at 101 Central in downtown Whitefish.

“We’re honored to have published this groundbreaking book by a true artist of our time,” said Whitefish Review founding editor Brian Schott. “Stephen’s art provides a deep commentary on the times we are living in as a society and can be a guidepost for the future as we wrestle with environmental, social, and political issues.”

“We lost our power when we stopped being citizens and became consumers,” says Braun. “This change has empowered corporation rights over human rights.”

Stephen Braun has been making environmental, social and politically-themed ceramic sculptures for over 40 years. While studying at the University of Montana in the late 1970s he became smitten with ceramics. UM was a ceramics powerhouse with Rudy Autio and Ken Little teaching. Museums and galleries throughout the US and world have displayed his work and hosted his lectures and workshops. 

In addition to commentary by the artist, the 142-page book contains essays by Michael Jamison, Lucy R. Lippard, Peter Koch, and Cory Walsh. Chris Autio was the lead photographer on the project and Ian S. Griffiths served as art director for the book. Leading up to the event, selections of Braun’s work will be displayed at Underscore Art Gallery in downtown Whitefish, owned by Monica Pastor, a lead art editor on the publication.

Doors open at 6 pm with live music from 6:30-7:30 pm by Blue Avenue, a 3-piece jazz combo featuring Jordan Reese on keys, Zach Ronish on the drum kit, and Matt Carper on bass.

The main event kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with a slide show of Braun’s art and commentary from the artist. Braun will also have a conversation with Montana Quarterly editor and author Scott McMillion, writer and conservationist Michael Jamison, and Underscore Art gallery owner Monica Pastor, followed by audience questions. Personally signed copies of the new book will be available for purchase.

The evening is sponsored by The Whitefish Community Foundation and 101 Central.

For more information and to purchase copies of the book online, visit www.whitefishreview.org.

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Whitefish Review and Explore Whitefish present “Powder Days” by Heather Hansman

Whitefish Review and Explore Whitefish present “Powder Days” by Heather Hansman Literary event also features songs on the Montana Project guitar WHITEFISH, MONT. (Jan. 8, 2024) – Whitefish Review and Explore Whitefish present author Heather Hansman at 101 Central on Friday, January 19, 2024. The event will include live music, an interview with the author, a reading from her book “Powder Days,” as well as a conversation with audience members.  “I’m so excited to come to Whitefish and have a conversation with the community about the past and future of skiing and ski towns,” said Hansman. In her new book, Powder Days, veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history of American skiing, offering a glimpse into an underexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider. Along the way, she reckons with skiing’s problematic elements and investigates how the sport is evolving in the face of the existential threat of climate change. “Explore Whitefish is proud to partner with Whitefish Review in hosting Heather,” said Julie Mullins, executive director for Explore Whitefish. “Her visit is timely as our community faces the reality of the COVID economic bubble bursting, remote workers returning to the office, and unprecedented low snow levels resulting in a slow start to our winter season. Heather’s research on inherent issues found in ski town life will be of interest to our business members and residents as we work together to protect our way of life.” The event will also include the magical “Montana Project” guitar conceived by author Rick Bass, made from a 300-year-old spruce. The old-growth tree was felled by a storm at the edge of a logging road on the proposed Black Ram logging project in the Yaak Valley. The musicians who play the fabled instrument seek to raise awareness and support efforts to save old-growth forests, as they are some of the most effective tools for combatting human-caused climate change.  The featured musician for the evening is Deidre Corson, executive director of the North Valley Music School, joined by musician Ryan Wickland. Rick Bass will also speak about the Montana Project and his quest for the designation of the nation’s first climate refuge in the Yaak Valley. Local journalist Maggie Neal Doherty will also present questions during the live interview. “We are honored to present this event which combines art, science, journalism, music, and literature, along with a discussion about relevant cultural issues in our ski town and beyond,” said Brian Schott, founding editor of Whitefish Review. Doors open at 6:30 pm with live music from 7-8 pm. The featured author and more magic on the guitar begin at 8 pm. ###

Read the Whitefish Review interview by Maggie Neal Doherty with Heather Hansman.

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David James Duncan on December 7, 2023 for the new novel SUN HOUSE

Whitefish Review will host author David James Duncan for a reading and conversation about his newly released book, Sun House (Little, Brown, 2023) on Thursday, December 7 at 101 Central in downtown Whitefish. 

“Miss this event at your own peril,” said Whitefish Review founding editor Brian Schott. “We’re in the field of pure genius here. Duncan will be compared in history with the greats of American literature and beyond. And he’s a pretty funny guy too.”

Duncan is the author of the classic novels The River Why and The Brothers K, the story collection River Teeth, the nonfiction collection and National Book Award finalist, My Story as Told by Water, the best-selling collection of “churchless sermons,” God Laughs & Plays, and, the new novel Sun House that legendary editor Michael Pietsch “will immodestly call David’s magnum opus” and writer William deBuys calls “one of the greatest imaginative achievements I’ve encountered in a lifetime of reading.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. with live music by HOTDäYUM!’— a unique brand of “electric funk rock” that has been lighting up stages with crafty, original tunes, energetic, infectious grooves, and free-spirited, improvised jams for the past three years. The Whitefish, Montana 7-piece band is driven by Vincent Rannazissi on drums, Brian Birdwell on bass, Sam Bassett and David Noftsinger on guitars, Eric Gates on keys, Rebecca Nelson on flute and sax, and powerhouse Shyamali Malakar on vocals.

The event will also include the magic Montana Project guitar conceived by Rick Bass and built from a 315-year-old spruce destroyed by a logging road built to the edge of a series of giant clear-cuts in Montana’s Yaak Valley. The guitar sings the songs of climate and the protection of our natural world.

The conversation and reading will begin at 8 p.m. A $15 suggested donation is requested to support the non-profit literary journal. After the reading, personally signed copies of SUN HOUSE will be available for purchase as HOTDäYUM!’ plays a second set. The event will also be streamed live.

Whitefish Review was founded in 2007 and explores the landscapes of the human condition, and our connection to the natural world, and illuminates how the confluence of art and science, alongside the complex issues of our planet and people, is vital for the health of all beings. 

The evening is sponsored by Little, Brown Publishing, The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, and Whitefish Mountain Resort. A $15 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal.

A 2023-24 season pass to Whitefish Mountain Resort will be raffled off in honor of the opening day of ski season, which coincides with the event.

For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org or call 261-6190.

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Into the Unknown – Issue #28 Celebration
Featuring the photography of Susan Bridges and an interview with Susan about “Inside Heaven’s Gate”

Thursday, September 28, 2023 – 101 Central – Second Story
(formerly Casey’s)

Music: 7 pm | Event: 8 pm | Art poster signing: 9 pm

Also featuring:
Rick Bass and the songs of old growth forests
Live Music with the Montana Project Guitar

Musicians include Gibson Hartwell, Nate Biehl, Ben Palmer, and Angelo Chiavarini, as well as Review fiction editor Matt Holloway and his daughter Harper. 

Also features Badge Busse and the Montana climate case
Poet Craig Thomas Naylor
Ashly Ananda, winner of the Montana Prize for Humor in non-fiction.

Whitefish Review Celebrates the Publication of Over 1000 Artists and Writers with 28th Issue “Into the Unknown”

September 28 Event Features Susan Bridges and her Photography from the Epic “Heaven’s Gate” Movie 

WHITEFISH, MONT. (Sept. 19, 2023) — Whitefish Review will celebrate the publication of its 28th issue on Thursday, September 28 with an event featuring the photography of Susan Bridges. The celebration will be held in the Second Story at 101 Central (formerly known as Casey’s) in downtown Whitefish.

“Artists and writers have a special way of helping us better find our way in these unknown times, and we are thrilled to present such a variety of creative spirits at this special event,” said Brian Schott, founding editor of Whitefish Review.

Issue #28 “Into the Unknown” features 40 writers and artists including winners of the Montana Prize for Fiction and the Montana Prize for Humor. Emily Collins was awarded the fiction prize by author Rick Bass. Humor writing prizes were awarded by judge Garrison Keillor in three categories, Ashly Ananda for nonfiction, Kathleen Laufenberg for fiction, and Mark Valentine for poetry.

The cover image is from The James Webb Space Telescope. What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of the Carina Nebula called the “Cosmic Cliffs” roughly 7,600 light-years away where new stars are being born.

Susan Bridges is an accomplished photographer and philanthropist who has spent her life championing many causes. An interview with Susan is featured in the newest issue where the editors discuss a wide range of cultural and environmental issues with her including food insecurity, grizzly bears, community, and family—as well as the near-death scare and illness of her husband, the actor Jeff Bridges.

During the event, Susan will discuss her collection of black and white photographs taken on the set of the American Western epic, Heaven’s Gate, written and directed by Michael Cimino and filmed in and around Glacier National Park in 1979. The story revolves around a dispute between wealthy cattle ranchers and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s.

The event will also feature live music. Author Rick Bass will introduce The Montana Project and a guitar built from a 315-year-old spruce destroyed by a logging road built to the edge of a series of giant clearcuts in Montana’s Yaak Valley. Musicians include Gibson Hartwell, Nate Biehl, Ben Palmer, and Angelo Chiavarini, as well as Review fiction editor Matt Holloway and his daughter Harper. The players will sing songs of celebration as the guitar speaks for the health of old-growth forests.

Badge Busse is also a featured guest, one of the youth representatives in the recent landmark climate case, where the court re-established the people’s constitutional right to a healthful environment and that the state must consider potential climate damage when approving projects. Additional poets and authors who will share their work include Craig Thomas Naylor and Ashly Ananda.

Whitefish Review has also announced that with the publication of this issue, the journal has now published over 1,000 artists and writers since its founding in 2007.

“Over time and a lot of hard work by our team, we have formed a creative community of more than 1,000 artists and writers from 46 different states and 25 different countries,” says Schott. “We are also happy to have published the first piece of work for 23 different writers.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. with live music. The featured authors and artists will take the stage at 8 p.m. At the conclusion of the speakers, Susan Bridges will sign special art posters that will be offered for sale. Additional music will wrap up the evening. The event will also be live-streamed on the Review’s Facebook page.

The evening is sponsored by The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, and The Firebrand Hotel. A $15 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal.

Whitefish Review is a literary journal that explores the landscapes of the human condition, our connection to the natural world, and illuminates the confluence of art, storytelling, society, and science.

As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants. Copies of Whitefish Review are available by subscription or in bookstores, as well as for order online.

For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org.

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Whitefish Review Hosts Author Chris Dombrowski on November 18 at Casey’s in Downtown Whitefish
Reading & Conversation about The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water

Whitefish Review will host author Chris Dombrowski for a reading and conversation about his newly released book, The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water (Milkweed Editions, 2022) on Friday, November 18 at Casey’s in downtown Whitefish. 

“We are thrilled to bring Chris to the stage in Whitefish for his beautiful new book that explores family in the modern West and asks what a meaningful, mindful, sustainable inhabitance on our small planet can look like today,” said Whitefish Review founding editor Brian Schott.

Dombrowski answers this fundamental question in his memoir by listening to rivers and the land as he raises a young family around a community of friends—river-rafting guides and conservationists, climbers and wildlife biologists—who seek to cultivate a way of living that moves beyond the mythologized West.

From the basic realities of changing diapers, to paying the mortgage with a threadbare bank account, to conjuring the metaphysical realms of time, memory, and how to live a life of integrity, Dombrowski presents heartfelt stories of family life and fatherhood in wild places.

USA Today called it, “A poignant rumination on marriage, parenthood, friendship, and what it means to connect with nature.”

Whitefish Review was founded in 2007 and explores the landscapes of the human condition, our connection to the natural world, and illuminates how the confluence of art and science, alongside the complex issues of our planet and people, is vital for the health of all beings. 

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with live music by Lander Busse. The conversation and reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. A $10 suggested donation is requested to support the non-profit literary journal. After the reading, personal signed copies of The River You Touch will be available for purchase. For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org or call 261-6190. The event will also be broadcast live on Whitefish Review’s Facebook page.

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Read an excerpt from Orion Magazine.

Read an interview with Chris Dombrowski from BOMB magazine.

Whitefish Review Presents Legendary Author Doug Peacock September 23, 2022

Whitefish Review will present a reading and discussion with author Doug Peacock on Friday, September 23. He will read selections from his new book, Was it Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home, published by Patagonia Book

Author, Vietnam veteran, filmmaker, and naturalist, Doug Peacock has published widely on wilderness issues. Peacock was a Green Beret medic and the real-life model for Edward Abbey’s George Washington Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang. Peacock is best known for his book Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness, a memoir of his time observing grizzly bears in the western U.S. in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

In this new collection of gripping stories of adventure, Peacock reflects on a life lived in the wild, asking the question many ask in their twilight years: “Was It Worth It?”

Recounting sojourns with Abbey, but also Peter Matthiessen, Doug Tompkins, Jim Harrison, Yvon Chouinard and others, Peacock observes that what he calls “solitary walks” were the greatest currency he and his buddies ever shared. He asserts that “solitude is the deepest well I have encountered in this life,” and the introspection it affords has made him who he is: a lifelong protector of the wilderness and its many awe-inspiring inhabitants.

The event happens at Casey’s in downtown Whitefish, Montana, 101 Central Avenue. Doors open at 6:30 pm with live music by local singer/songwriter David Walburn and legendary local multi-instrumentalist and slide guitarist, Michael Atherton. Walburn recently released his sixth CD, “My Embrace,” a collection of fifteen songs, all written and recorded in David’s home studio in Whitefish, Montana. Readings and Q/A begin at 7:30 pm with Doug and editors of Whitefish Review. Book signing and more music will conclude the evening from 8:30 to 9:30 pm.

A $10 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal.

If you can’t attend in person, watch the live stream sponsored by Patagonia Books starting at 7 pm with live music and moving into the reading event.

Let us know you are coming by responding to our event post on Facebook.

PREVIOUSLY HELD

“The Vortex” Launch Party
The Lodge at Whitefish Lake | Whitefish, Montana
June 23, 2022 • 6:30 PM – 10:30 PM

Whitefish Review Launches Issue #27, “The Vortex”
June 23 Event Features Legendary Montana Writers and Local High School Student

WHITEFISH, Mont. (June 14, 2022) — Whitefish Review will launch its 27th issue “The Vortex” on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake tent pavilion on the shores of Whitefish Lake. The event will feature readings by the Poet Laureate of Montana, Mark Gibbons, Montana Book Award winner, Chris La Tray, and Whitefish High School student, Gracie Hickman.

“The past two years have certainly stirred things up, spinning us all around in circles and creating a lot of confusion,” says founding editor Brian Schott. “In this issue, we seek center spaces inside the storm where there is calm. What is lost and what is found? Ultimately, we seek to use the power of art and literature to bridge boundaries and provide community.”

Issue #27 features 40 writers, artists, and photographers from 13 different states, as well as international submissions from Finland, Germany, and Switzerland. The issue also features a short essay and interview with Garrison Keillor, as well as an interview with retired NFL hall of fame quarterback Drew Bledsoe, conducted on the chairlift at Whitefish Mountain Resort this winter.

Mark Gibbons’ custom “Vortex” poem sets the pace for the issue, including a merry band of Montana poets that includes Robert Lee, Sheryl Noethe, Kurt Sobolik, and David E. Thomas. Poets Ana Maria Spagna and Ron Smith also contribute work. A 1919 poem by W.B Yeats, one of the leading Western poets of the 20th century, is also featured.

Chris La Tray’s essay dives into the echoes of displacement from land stolen from the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in the modern day. Gracie Hickman shares an essay about growing up and mental health.

Gibbons is the author of eleven collections of poetry. He received an Artist Innovation Award from the Montana Arts Council in 2013 and is the current poetry editor of “The Montana Poets Series” for FootHills Publishing. His latest book, In the Weeds, was published by the Drumlummon Institute in 2021.

La Tray is a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North, and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. His first book, One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award. His third book, Becoming Little Shell, will be published by Milkweed Editions in 2023.

Hickman is a student at the Whitefish Independent High School and fifth generation of Whitefish. She won the Jobs for Montana’s Graduates essay contest, from which her essay is adapted.

Other features include an excerpt from Doug Peacock’s new book, Was it Worth It: A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home (Patagonia Books, 2022), and an excerpt from Butch Larcombe’s book Montana Disasters: True Stories of Treasure State Tragedies and Triumphs (Far Country Press, 2021). Chrysti “the Wordsmith” Smith opens the issue with a dive into the language of the vortex and its word origins.

Local singer/songwriter John Dunnigan will provide live musical entertainment at the event. Doors open at 6:30 pm for cocktails and music and readings begin at 8 pm. A season pass to Whitefish Mountain Resort will be raffled, as well as a silent auction for framed photography by Sean R. Heavey. The event will also be live-streamed on the Review’s Facebook page.

The cover of the issue is a composite photo created by overlaying two images of a supercell thunderstorm building in intensity, shot one hour apart in 2010 on the Hi-Line near Hinsdale, Montana by Sean R. Heavey.

The evening is sponsored by Humanities Montana, The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. A $10 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal.

Whitefish Review publishes art and literature that explores the landscapes of the human condition, our connection to the natural world, and illuminates how the confluence of art and science alongside the complex issues of our planet and people is vital for the health of all beings.

As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants. Copies of Whitefish Review are available by subscription or in bookstores, as well as for order online at www.whitefishreview.org.  ###