Las Vegas Book Briefs for June 18-24, 2015

ROADRUNNER BOOK DISCUSSION SLATED

Sunrise-area resident Teri Lyn Vander Heiden is set to discuss her book “Igor and His Roadrunner Buddy” at 9 a.m. June 23 at the Heritage Park Library, 300 S. Racetrack Road. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.

THE WRITER’S BLOCK TO SHOWCASE LOCAL AUTHORS

The downtown bookstore The Writer’s Block, 1020 Fremont St., plans to showcase a monthly selection of books from local authors followed by a last Saturday of the month book signing. This month’s authors include Lisa Fields Clark, Karen Haid, Jay Maharjan, Dr. Donald A. Ozello, Dale Napier, Bill Rozday and K. Alex Shaw signing from 5 to 7 p.m. June 27. For more information, visit thewritersblock.org.

BOOKSORBOOKS TO HOST EVENT

BooksorBooks, 3460 E. Sunset Road, Suite R., is set to host a signing featuring Oklahoma writer Baby T., author of “The V.I.C.T.I.M.S. (Victors, Innocent, Criminal, Trapped, Intriguing, Malicious, Soulful)” at 1 p.m. June 27.

FORMER PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY SHARES LIFE LESSONS

Dana Perino is slated to visit with readers at 1 p.m. June 27 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Perino reveals lessons she learned during her time as a White House press secretary and on Fox News in her new book “And the Good News Is… Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side.”

POETRY TO BE FEATURED AT 5/5+

Poets are invited to share original work for five minutes followed by attendees offering comments for five minutes during 5/5+, a workshop series put on by Nick Marco, Lana Hanson and Lee Mallory, scheduled every two weeks at BooksorBooks, 3460 E. Sunset Road, Suite R. The next session is planned from 3 to 5 p.m. June 20. For more information, call 702-754-5971, email jtjmarco@live.com, raisewomenup@gmail.com or leewmallory3@gmail.com or search for 5/5+ on Facebook.

PUB TO HOST LOCAL AUTHOR SIGNING SESSION

A local author book signing is slated from 1 to 4 p.m. June 27 at Winchell’s Pub & Girl, 5445 Simmons St. Authors slated to participate include Bonnie Bulla, JG Debs, MacArthur Johnson, Judy Shine Logan, Eric James Miller, s.h. Montgomery, Stephen John Moran, Stephen Murray, Robin Skone-Palmer, William Darrah Wittaker and Robert Winter.

LEE MALLORY HEADS UP SEVENS LIVE!

Poet Lee Mallory plans to present Sevens Live!, a new poetry, music and comedy showcase, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays inside the Cantina at the Silver Sevens, 4100 Paradise Road. Admission is free with a one-drink minimum. For more information, call 702-733-7300.

HOLLY MADISON LAUNCHES NEW MEMOIR

Holly Madison is set to sign copies of her new memoir “Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny” at 7 p.m. July 1 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Wristbands are to be distrubted starting at 9 a.m. For more on the book, visit facebook.com/hollymadison.

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS OFFERED

Summer reading programs are underway in libraries across the valley. For details on Las Vegas-Clark County Library District programs, visit lvccld.org. For more on Henderson Libraries, visit mypubliclibrary.com. For more on North Las Vegas programs, visit nlvld.org.

VICKI PETTERSSON TO LAUNCH NEW BOOK

Former Las Vegas showgirl turned urban fantasy romance author Vicki Pettersson is slated to promote her first psychological thriller, “Swerve,” at 7 p.m. July 7 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit vickipettersson.com.

SHARE POEMS AT HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Polish up a poem or two and try them out at Human Experience, a free spoken word event scheduled from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Mondays at The Center, 401 S. Maryland Parkway. Participants 18 or older are welcome. For more information, visit facebook.com/humanexperiencelasvegas.

ALIANTE LIBRARY TO HOST WRITERS CLUB

The Aliante Library Writers Club is scheduled to meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month at the Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Way. For more information, email facilitator Glory Wade at glorywadewriter@gmail.com.

AUTHOR TO SPEAK ABOUT RUNNING INJURY PREVENTION

Dr. Donald A. Ozello, owner of Championship Chiropractic and author of “Running: Maximize Performance & Minimize Injuries,” plans to speak on preventing running injuries at 2:30 p.m. July 12 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. For more information, visit championshipchiropractic.com.

ARTS CENTER TO HOST POETS CORNER

The West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., plans to host poets corner readings with Keith Brantley at 7 p.m. the first and third Friday of each month. For more information, call the center at 702-229-4800.

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY GROUP UNDERWAY IN LIBRARY

Readers, writers and editors of science fiction and fantasy are invited to check out a new group scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Saturdays in meeting room two at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, call 702-334-0204.

UNLV WRITERS WELCOME ALL TO NEON LIT

Neon Lit, a public reading featuring writers from UNLV’s Master of Fine Arts and Ph.D. writing programs, is scheduled the fourth Friday of most months at The Writer’s Block, 1020 Fremont St., No. 100. For more information, visit neonlit.org.

BARNES & NOBLE TO HOST WRITING GROUP

The 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble plans to host a writing critique group at 5:15 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. The group is limited to the first 20 participants per meeting. Sign up at meetup.com/las-vegas-creative-writing-class.

HENDERSON WRITERS GROUP MEETINGS SET

The Henderson Writers Group plans to meet from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays in Room C-2 at Community Lutheran Church, 3720 E. Tropicana Ave. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays. For more information, visit hendersonwritersgroup.

MEMOIR-WRITING WORKSHOPS SLATED

An ongoing series of free four-week memoir-writing workshops is scheduled at noon Wednesdays and 10 a.m. Fridays at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Library, 509 S. Ninth St. Four-week sessions are set to begin the first week of every month. For more information, call 702-382-9695.

VEGAS VALLEY BOOK FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES KEYNOTES

Brad Meltzer and Colum McCann have been selected to be keynote speakers for this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival, Oct. 15-17.

Meltzer, author of “The Inner Circle,” “The Book of Fate” and seven other best-selling thrillers, is set to open the festival Oct. 7 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

McCann is the author of two story collections and six novels, including the National Book Award-winning “Let the Great World Spin.”

Other festival events are set to include vendor booths, panel discussions, readings and workshops for adults, teens and children. All events are free. Volunteers are needed, and vendors must sign up for booths before July 1. Watch for a full schedule to be released on the festival website at vegasvalleybookfestival.org.

ACCESS RECORDED BOOK PROGRAMS ONLINE

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District posts videos and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available include: “An Afternoon with Tony Curtis,” John L. Smith’s presentation “Amelia’s Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know,” “Batman” movie producer Michael Uslan’s presentation at the 2009 Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, Jami Carpenter’s “ABCs of Editing” workshop and Brian Rouff’s “Getting Published: A Long Strange Trip.” To access the programs, visit lvccld.org, select “Books, Movies & More” and then “Video and Podcasts.”

The Black Mountain Institute has offered recordings of its programming since 2006. To access recordings of a gamut of writers from E.L. Doctorow to Alissa Nutting, visit blackmountaininstitute.org and select “multimedia.”

LIBRARY CAN BENEFIT FROM AMAZON PURCHASES

At no cost to participants, purchases made at amazon.com can help the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. The district benefits not only when customers buy books but also movies, CDs, electronics, appliances and more. To start, visit wowbrary.org/lasvegas, and the online retailer will donate roughly 7.5 percent of your purchases to the district.

For more information, email ask@lvccld.org or call the Virtual Library section at 702-507-6300.

CLARK COUNTY NAMES FIRST POET LAUREATE

The Clark County Commission named Bruce Isaacson as the first Clark County Poet Laureate. His term started June 1 and is set to last two years. A committee of poets and writers also selected Jessica “Jes Flo” Washington as alternate poet laureate during the term. Isaacson, 59, has lived in Las Vegas since 1995. He studied at Brooklyn College unde Allen Ginsberg, who guided his studies and his Master of Fine Arts thesis. Isaacson was also mentored by poet Robert Haas’ workshop at the University of California, Berkeley. Isaacson is known in the San Francisco Bay Area as an organizer and poet in the Café Babar readings in the 1980s and 1990s for Zeitgeist Press, which he founded with two other poets in 1986. He remains publisher and co-editor of Zeitgeist, which has more than 100 titles, including notable Las Vegas books. In 1992, he became involved in poetry and translation at the Writers Union in Leningrad, Russia. Starting in 1997, he participated in readings in Las Vegas at Café Espresso Roma and Enigma Garden. His work has appeared in a number of Las Vegas publications, including Red Rock Review, which he also edited. He now runs a Las Vegas-based employment agency, real estate and consulting business.