Whitefish Review launches 'Fire' issue

Author Gary Ferguson will help light a literary fire on Friday, June 6 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake for the launch of Whitefish Review’s ‘Fire’ issue No.15.

Ferguson is the author of 22 books on nature, science and history. A member of the National Geographic Lecture Series, Ferguson has given keynote presentations and workshops across the nation.

The event at the Lakeshore Tent Pavilion begins at 7 p.m. and the reading is at 8 p.m.

Brian Schott, Review founding editor, said 24 editors and readers on the Review’s growing team reviewed more than 300 photos and art submissions, 250 stories, 150 poems, and distilled it down to the 43 contributors in this fire-themed issue.

The cover features the painting “Before,” an acrylic on panel of an unstruck match by Portland, Ore., artist Sarah Fagan. Photographer Steven Gnam’s photo “Charred” is featured on the back cover, a detail shot of a burned tree on Demers Ridge in the North Fork of the Flathead River valley.

 The literary collection features an original essay by Ferguson, as well as a conversation with author Bill McKibben discussing a warming planet. The issue also introduces two first-time writers, 15-year-old Rachel Litchman, currently a freshman at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, and 58-year-old Betty Kijewski, a photographer and volunteer for resource management in Glacier National Park.

The 16-page art and photo section was guest edited by Michele Carlson, an artist, writer and educator who teaches at California College of the Arts, in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the managing editor of Hyphen magazine and a member of the curatorial committee at Southern Exposure.

A $10 suggested entry donation is requested to help offset costs. A 2014-15 season pass at Whitefish Mountain Resort will also be raffled. Visit www.WhitefishReview.org for more information.