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In his debut collection, Christian Winn throws his readers unabashedly into a world of characters on the brink. Sometimes overtly, sometimes obliquely, we see what it means to live in a flawed world and, like anything profound, come away from the experience provoked, asking new questions. Naked Me, though despondent in places, is steeped in hope with characters willing to believe they might find peace, or at least a semblance of understanding within the earnest clutter of love, addiction, friendship, and dreams.

Voyeurs at a gambling party spy on the exhibitionist across the alley. A young boy tries to conceal his love for his best friend. Murdered dentists mysteriously begin to appear floating in the shipping canal of a city. Naked Me is that collection that pulls wisdom from the mundane, making us cringe and laugh in the same sentence. From the first line, Naked Me quickly reveals we are in the capable hands of a master.

Christian Winn was born in Eugene, Oregon, and grew up in Palo Alto, California and the Seattle area. He now lives in Boise, Idaho where he writes and teaches in the Creative Writing Department at Boise State University. He is the founder of the Writers Write fiction workshop series, which has been in operation since the summer of 2003. He is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, and the Boise State University MFA program.

Nick Miller studied history at Indiana University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1991. He teaches courses on modern European history.

Professor Miller’s research focus is the lands of the former Yugoslavia. His publications include articles on Serbian and Croatian history before the First World War and Serbian politics and culture since 1945. His book on the Serbian community of Croatia, entitled Between Nation and State: Serbian Politics in Croatia before the First World War, appeared courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Press in the fall of 1997. His second book, The Nonconformists: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian Cultural Circle, 1944-1991 was published in 2007 by Central European University Press. His articles have appeared in The Slavic Review, East European Politics and Societies,Nationalities Papers, Orbis, Problems of Post-Communism, and in edited volumes.

Miller has been a recipient of fellowships from the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Andrew Mellon foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His research has taken him to former Yugoslavia on many occasions, and he has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe in general. His current research focuses on the population of a region called Žumberak, in northern Croatia: its settlement patterns, immigration and emigration, religious and national identity.

Currently, Miller serves as director of the Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State University.

A Peace of Cheese follows a group of Basque cheese makers as they visit Scotland to witness the preparations for the Independence Referendum.

Currently, Dave Lachiondo serves as the Interim Director of the Basque Studies Program at Boise State University.

Trailer:

http://vimeo.com/44527568

 

Don’t miss this exclusive screening of Waiting for Lightning is an inspiring documentary that follows skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, revealing the passion, grit, determination and psyche behind one of the sport’s greatest legends. Writer Bret Johnston will be available for a Q&A after the screening.

Danny Way was a young boy from a broken home whose passion for skateboarding would bring him across boundaries to attempt the impossible—to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard. It explores the challenges life presents, and how high and far dreams can fly. In his quest for greatness, Way continues to shape the very sport which helped save his own life. In the last two decades when the question is posed, “Who is the greatest skateboarder ever?” the answer from the majority of skate professionals has been Danny Way. The legendary athlete, continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible, has earned a reputation as an innovator and ambassador for his sport.

Waiting For Lightning, written by Bret Johnston and directed by Jacob Rosenberg.

Official website: http://www.waitingforlightningthemovie.com/#home