Book Launch Celebration, Reading & Signing "Sidle Creek" by Jolene McIlwain

104 North Main Street,Zelienople PA 16063

17 May, 2023

Description

Join us at The Little Green Bookstore to celebrate the release of SIDLE CREEK, Jolene McIlwain's debut short story collection from Melville House. $25 Ticket includes: Book | Personalized Signing | Author Interview & Reading | Participant Q&A | Refreshments “...These stories are artfully constructed  and the writing vivid and precise, often poetic but never pretentious. Sidle Creek is one of the best story collections I’ve read in a long time.” – Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena “Jolene McIlwain is a master of the vividly imagined natural world and of complicated characters, young and old...Sidle Creek is a marvelous debut.” – Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Boy in the Field About the collection: Written by a brilliant debut voice in fiction, Jolene McIlwain, Sidle Creek is a collection of short stories that interrogates the myths and stereotypes of small-town Appalachia and the people who live there. This collection includes 10 short stories that have never been published. In the hills of Appalachia in western Pennsylvania lies a bruised, stripped, and timbered town made up of miners, mill workers and farmers. United by the creek around them, their lives are influenced by the natural world in ways big and small. The land is the source of the town’s livelihood, while the exploitation of its natural resources is its greatest vulnerability. They gather in diners, dive bars, town halls, and bait shops, each of them with a story more evocative and compelling than the next. McIlwain’s writing unearths themes of class, health, trauma, and the unexpected human connections that happen in close-knit communities. Sidle Creek seamlessly blends taut prose, vivid imagery, and a deep sensitivity for all the living beings within its pages. Each story leaves an emotional impact that makes you beg for more. About the author: Jolene McIlwain’s fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appears in West Branch, Florida Review, Cincinnati Review, New Orleans Review, Northern Appalachia Review, and 2019's Best Small Fictions Anthology. Her work was named finalist for 2018’s Best of the Net, Glimmer Train’s and River Styx’s contests, and semifinalist in Nimrod’s Katherine Anne Porter Prize and two American Short Fiction's contests. She’s received a Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council grant, the Georgia Court Chautauqua faculty scholarship, and Tinker Mountain’s merit scholarship. She taught literary theory/analysis at Duquesne and Chatham Universities and she worked as a radiologic technologist before attending college (BS English, minor in sculpture, MA Literature). She was born, raised, and currently lives in, Kittanning, a small town in the Appalachian plateau of Western Pennsylvania. About the venue: Located on Main St. in the picturesque community of Zelienople, PA, The Little Green Bookstore is an independent bookstore designed for book lovers by book lovers! A curated inventory of best sellers, new releases and old favorites, bring much praise from all those that visit. About the event host: Kellie Seiler is a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She is the current owner of Louis Charles & Co. Salon & Spa where she began her career in the beauty industry over 30 years ago at the age of 16. With multiple certifications in the health & wellness field, she has always focused on women’s health and empowerment. With the creation of her health coaching business, Life Tula in 2015, and while working as an instructor and personal trainer coordinator with the YMCA of Butler, her love of both group and one-on-one wellness & fitness has provided help for women of all ages and backgrounds. She has led and organized numerous female wellness retreats and events. She’s an advocate, event-planner, and volunteer, encouraging positive connections and change for women and within her community. She is a member of the board of directors for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Butler County and participates in both the Staff Support Committee and Fund Development Committee for the board. Born and raised in Butler, PA, Kellie still resides with her husband J.J. and their blended family of six children.