No Catherine the Great. Not even a shirtless Putin. We’re talking authors. And we’re talking Idaho.
When Robert Wrigley entered the annals of Northwest literary royalty last Saturday night at his hometown store, BookPeople of Moscow, among the one-hundred-or-so attendees in the house to enjoy the presentation of his 2014 Pacific Northwest Book Award for Anatomy of Melancholy and Other Poems were three previous winners of the honor. Take that Portland and Seattle!
The first to point out the power trio to BookPeople owner Carol Spurling was 1997 winner Kim Barnes (In the Wilderness). Barnes is married to Wrigley, making the couple, we’re pretty sure, the first husband and wife team to win the Award. Previously, Jess Walter and Sherman Alexie—same basketball team—were the biggest power couple on record.
Also on hand were 1991 and 1992 winner Mary Clearman Blew (Runaway, All But the Waltz) and 2001 winner Claire Davis (Winter Range). Other local writers at the party, such as Brandon R. Schrand (The Ender’s Hotel) and Daniel Orozco (Orientation), should hope that the Moscow magic is catching.
As a little treat, here’s the poem that Wrigley told the BookPeople crowd is his current favorite from Anatomy of Melancholy and Other Poems. Enjoy “First Person.”