By now we hope you know all about the vibrant community of writers living and working in our town. Skylark supports these writers by hosting regular local author nights and keeping a well-stocked Local Authors section in the shop - if you haven’t checked it out yet, come by and do so. You’ll be astonished at the range and quality of the work.
As part of this commitment to our local writers, we also host a regular session of the Columbia Writers’ Guild Quarterly Reading Series. The next reading will be on Thursday, June 12 at 6:00 p.m. The following writers will be participating:
Carolyn Mulford, Novelist. Carolyn grew up on a farm near Kirksville, earned an M.A. in Journalism, and worked as a magazine editor and freelancer on four continents. Twelve years ago she moved back to Missouri to focus on fiction. The Missouri Center for the Book named her first published novel, The Feedsack Dress, Missouri’s Great Read at the National Book Festival, and the Missouri Writers’ Guild has honored books in her Show Me mystery series with Major Work and Best Novel awards.
Deb Sutton, Novelist. Deb, a social worker, publishes as D.K. Sutton. She writes slightly flawed characters in compromising situations and has a passion for LGBTQ+ stories, because honestly we need more of these characters. Her love of mysteries, romance, and John Grisham novels inspired her Trials of Love series. Trial & Error, just published, is the first in the series. The first in her Broken series, Broken Sidewalks, centers around the struggles of falling in love while being gay and religious. Her writing style focuses on creating slow burn tension. Deb is currently president of the Columbia Writers’ Guild, a member of the Missouri Writers’ Guild.
Sheree K. Nielsen, Author/Photographer. Sheree believes that every picture tells a story. Her books combine her love of photography and writing with colorful visual descriptions and healing messages. She is Author/Photographer of 2015 Da Vinci Eye Award Winner Folly Beach Dances (inspired by the sea and her lymphoma journey), Montaigne Medal Finalist and Chanticleer Little Peeps First Place Award Winner for Midnight the One-Eyed Cat (a picture book), Ocean Rhythms Kindred Spirit – An Emerson-Inspired Essay Collection on Travel, Nature, Family and Pets, and an upcoming poetry and photography collection, Mondays in October.
Barbara Leonhard, Poet. Having retired as an Instructor of English as a Second Language, Barbara is now able to devote more time to her poetry, which focuses on metaphysical, metaphorical, and mystical themes. Find her work on the blog - extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog. She also just started Poetry Speaks, a poetry group that meets at the Columbia Senior Center the first and third Mondays each month from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.
Alice Anna Reese, Poet. Anna’s poems and short stories have been published in Prince Edward Island’s literary magazines, blueShift and Common Ground, and in the collections Confederation Bridge, TWiG Anthology, and TWiG Branches Out. She has written and published one book: Show Me Famous Missourians. In an effort to make countries self-sufficient in food production, she has a Ph.D. in Animal Production and has conducted research projects in Tabasco, Mexico; Sumatra, Indonesia; and Mali in West Africa. She sings with the Columbia Chorale and writes with the Bloomin’ Writers.
