The newest issue of Whitefish Review will be released Dec. 19 and features a conversation with part-time Montana resident David Letterman in his most in-depth interview since ending his 33-year Late Show career.

Letterman, who retired from television in May, talks with Whitefish Review founding editor Brian Schott about retirement, raising his son, his love of Montana, his own childhood and growing a “wildman beard.”

“I’m in love with the publication and I feel stupid because prior to a month ago I don’t think I was aware of it,” said Letterman, who owns a working ranch on the Rocky Mountain Front. “It’s a delightful project.”

The interview with Letterman is also featured on the journal’s web site.

“We are grateful that Mr. Letterman was so kind to speak with us,” Schott said. “The conversation with him was a perfect blend of Montana and its powerful landscape, insights into raising children, and the process of growing up.”

Editors of the journal will host a launch party at Crush Lounge in Whitefish on Saturday, Dec. 19 featuring a reading by guest editor Rick Bass and emerging local writer Jason Forrest. Doors open at 7 p.m. with live music by Matt Seymour. Readings begin at 8 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Whitefish Community Foundation, Montana Arts Council, and Glacier Bank. A $10 donation is requested.

Bass served as the guest editor of the 18th issue that features 39 contributors from 18 different states, fielded from nearly 1,000 submissions in fiction, essays, poetry, art, and photography.

Bass is the author of over 30 books of fiction and nonfiction. His most recent novel, All the Land to Hold Us, received France’s Prix Laure Bataillon for the best book translated to French, and his memoir, Why I Came West, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In March of 2016, Little, Brown will publish For A Little While: New & Selected Stories.

Bass selected Juliet Hubbell’s “The Owl” as the 2015 winner of the Montana Prize for Fiction, winning a $1,000 prize.

“As with the best literature, you can’t really describe this story to someone, when trying to share your enthusiasm,” Bass said. “What you find yourself saying is, in that most time-honored and ancient of traditions, simply: ‘You’ve got to read this.'”

Bass also included two runners-up in the fiction contest-Jay Woodruff’s “Good” and Horatio Potter’s “Love Machine.” The cover of the journal features a photo montage by photographer Tom Chambers (“Daybreakers”) and the back cover features a photograph by Ansley West Rivers (“Disappearing Trees”).

Honoring its tradition of seeking young, previously unpublished authors, the editors selected two essays for publication by high school students Sarah Ward and Ben Sachrison.

Whitefish Review is a non-profit journal publishing the literature, art, and photography of mountain culture. As a recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations, grants and subscriptions. Past issues have featured David James Duncan, William Kittredge, John Irving, Tom Brokaw, Terry Tempest Williams, and many other of the finest thinkers and writers of the modern day.

Copies of Whitefish Review are available in bookstores and for order online at www.whitefishreview.org. Cost is $12, with back issues and subscriptions also available. A new e-Book will be available soon.