The Pen and the Key: 50th Anniversary Anthology of Pacific Northwest Writers [Paperback]

Nigel Loring (Editor), Ann Rule (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

A new anthology from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) includes a foreword by best-selling true crime writer, Ann Rule, and previously unpublished short stories, nonfiction and poetry by 23 acclaimed Northwest writers. Contributing authors include Kathleen Alcalá, Peter Bacho, Marvin Bell, Terry Brooks, Stella Cameron, Meg Chittenden, Robert Ferrigno, Elizabeth George, Phyllis Hollenbeck, J.A. Jance, Kay Kenyon, Bharti Kirchner, Craig Lesley, Mark Lindquist, Don McQuinn, Fred Melton, Jim Molnar, Marjorie Reynolds, Daniel Sconce, Anna Sheehan, Indu Sundaresan, Stephen Walker and Shawn Wong.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ABOUT THE WRITERS Kathleen Alcalá is the author of a short story collection, Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist (Calyx), and three novels set in 19th Century Mexico: Spirits of the Ordinary, The Flower in the Skull, and Treasures in Heaven. Her work has been favorably reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, and has received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the Governor's Writers Award, the Western States Book Award for Fiction, and the Washington State Book Award. She is a co-founder of and contributing editor to The Raven Chronicles, a magazine of multicultural art, literature and the spoken word, and has been a writer in residence at Seattle University, Richard Hugo House, and most recently a visiting lecturer at the University of New Mexico. A play based on her novel, Spirits of the Ordinary, was produced in 2003 by the Miracle Theatre of Portland, Oregon. She recently completed a collection of essays called The Skeleton in the Closet. A long-standing member of Los Norteños, a group of Latino writers in Western Washington, Kathleen has published fiction and nonfiction in numerous magazines, and has provided the introduction to two anthologies — Cracking the Earth (Calyx, 2001), and Fantasmas – Supernatural Stories by Mexican American Writers (Bilingual Review Press, 2001). Kathleen is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Human Language, and the University of Washington with an M.A. in English. She lives on Bainbridge Island with her husband and son. Peter Bacho, a Tacoma-based author, is the Distinguished Northwest Writer in Residence at Seattle University (Winter 2005). He is the author of five books. His awards include an American Book Award for his novel, CEBU, The Murray Morgan Prize, and a Washington Governor's Writers Award for his collection of short stories, Dark Blue Suit. His newest novel, Entrys will be published next year by the University of Hawaii Press. Marvin Bell delivered the PNWA 2000 Conference keynote in Tacoma. His seventeen books of poems and essays include Rampant (2004) from Copper Canyon Press and Poems for a Midsummer Night's Dream (74th Street Productions). He recently retired from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop after forty years on its faculty. His Arts and Humanities poem included here was written while serving as Iowa's first poet Laureate. He and his wife Dorothy live half the year in Port Townsend, Washington. Terry Brooks was born in Sterling, Illinois, in 1944. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University. A writer since the age of ten, he published his first novel, The Sword of Shannara, in 1977. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List, where it remained for over five months. He has written twenty-one novels, two movie adaptations, and a memoir on his writing life. He has sold over twenty million copies of his books and is published worldwide. He lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Stella Cameron is the New York Times/USA Today/Washington Post/Booklist best selling, award-winner author of sixty historical and contemporary novels and novellas. She has won the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense and the Romantic Times best Romantic Suspense of the Year Award. She has been a RITA finalist, and is the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement enhancing the stature of the Northwest literary community. Stella and her husband live in Seattle, Washington. They are the parents of three children. Meg Chittenden, has published over a hundred short stories and articles, and 35 books in various genres, in the 34 years this nationally acclaimed author has been writing. These include three books for child

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: 74th Street Productions (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965570258
• ISBN-13: 978-0965570251
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,449,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anna Sheehan can be reached at annasheehan.com

To tell of myself:

As Walt Whitman said, "I am large, I contain multitudes!" The epigraph of every writer, really.


I was conceived in northern Alaska, and was born to a bohemian veterinarian mother in a hospital on the shores of Lake Michigan. I endured numerous hellish years of school, and I can say with reasonable veracity that I have forgiven all my teachers and even the poor children who had to figure out how to deal with me.

Instead of a social life, I swam in books. I became a devoted follower of Diana Wynne Jones and Douglas Adams. I studied acting and Shakespeare with the Young Shakespeare Players of Madison, Wisconsin, and it deeply impacted my direction in life. I then discovered historical re-enactment, where I hung about in velvet, idly strumming a harp while men in plastic armor hit each other with sticks. That too was most enlightening. Despite collecting a technical degree in commercial goldsmithing I instead pursued writing as my primary means of unemployment. I moved with my family to a tiny ranch in rural Oregon, where I still live with my daughter, my mother, and assorted Irish Wolfhounds.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A compendium of short stories, nonfiction, and poetry drawn from twenty-four contributors, November 12, 2005

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pen and the Key: 50th Anniversary Anthology of Pacific Northwest Writers (Paperback)

The Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) is one of the largest and oldest writers organizes in the United States. Compiled and edited by Nigel Loring, The Pen And The Key: 50th Anniversary Anthology Of Pacific Northwest Writers is a compendium of short stories, nonfiction, and poetry drawn from twenty-four contributors who participated in this acclaimed organization's conferences and contests in celebration of PNWA's fiftieth anniversary. From J. A. Jance's "Signore Bianco", to Kay Kenyon's "The Loyal Order of Beasts", to Kathleen Alcala's "Cities of Gold", to Stephen John Walker's "The Yoke", this is an impressive collection of genuine literary gems. Of special note is the section dedicated to "Writing About Writing" which consists of Marvin Bell's "The Case for the Arts and Humanities", Terry Brooks' "Facing Down the Monster", Elizabeth George's "Born to Write?", Mark Lindquist's "Bridget's Kitchen", and Bharti Kirchner's "The Kettle Boils--Out Pours A Novel". The Pen And The Key is a welcome showcase of first class literary talent and a highly recommended read for those who appreciate the craft of well honed writing.