You must hold your quiet center,
where you do what only you can do.
If others call you a maniac or a fool,
just let them wag their tongues.
If some praise your perseverance,
don't feel too happy about it—
only solitude is a lasting friend.
You must hold your distant center.
Don't move even if earth and heaven quake.
If others think you are insignificant,
that's because you haven't held on long enough.
As long as you stay put year after year,
eventually you will find a world
beginning to revolve around you.
— "A Center" by Ha Jin
I sit in my home, unsure of what to write this month, what message is important for you, supporters and lovers of the Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative, to read. Last March, I wrote about the overturn of Roe v. Wade, which many believed could never happen.
We are, again, in times that many believed could never happen.
We're ending Black History Month, and entering Women's History Month, amidst massive shifts in the United States' government, amidst mass layoffs and what can only be called erasure of minoritized peoples. Friends who are still in education (I was a college professor in my previous life) are sharing lists of words they've been told they can't say, and many people come to the bookstore, afraid that we're facing a future of public and government mandated book burnings.
As we enter March, there's a lot of fear and despair, but there's also hope. There is a quiet center of hope, strength, and love that lives within each person, within our community. I feel this quiet center each time someone comes in and wants to talk books. I feel this quiet center when people ask for recommendations and want to read books outside of their usual, because they want to learn and understand. I feel this quiet center when people share their art and their joy and their sadness and their confusion.
There is a quiet center within each of us where our values and convictions live. We must stand in that center, stand in that truth, and act each day in alignment with that truth. And, while we stand in our center, we can look around us and see that we are not alone, that others stand with us.
With solidarity and love,
— Jean A.
Non-Profit of the Month
The SLV's TEA Spot
Each month, we feature a local nonprofit that serves the San Luis Valley. This month, you can support SLV’s TEA Spot.
The TEA (Team of Empower Allies) Spot is “dedicated to educating and empowering individuals by addressing the impacts of social and internalized queerphobia, fostering a supportive environment for exploring self-acceptance, pride, and community service."
The TEA Spot has weekly game and movie nights, karaoke, and other fun events throughout the year. They have cozy couches, puzzles, books, and a self-serve tea bar that creates a comfortable atmosphere for hanging out with friends or just hanging out quietly with yourself.
Be sure to check out their website here to learn more about them, and find them on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with all the cool happenings! When you shop at the NGBC this month, you'll be asked if you want to round up and donate your change. It's a simple and easy way to support local organizations that help make the Valley what it is!
Check out the titles they recommended!
The Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman
Find Me by Andre Aciman
Illusions by Richard Bach
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
March Artist: Joe Horvath
Joe Horvath’s current work is wildlife and landscape in oils. He most often paints the larger animals, often focusing on their interaction with their natural habitats. His landscapes are typically places he has visited in the Western United States.
Recently, he has started to pay more attention to the personalities of smaller animals. Of his process, he writes, “When I encounter an animal, I make eye contact and we evaluate each other. I try to show that mutual perception in my work. In my work, I see animals emerge as individuals, my paintings as portraiture.”
He spends a lot of time photographing, sketching and painting his impressions of the natural environment.
Horvath was taken all over the US in his time in the Air Force. It was his time in the West, however, that most captured his imagination. He writes, “My years in the Rocky Mountains, spending time in the high country and wilderness, provided a deep bond with animals and helped me tune to nature’s rhythms.”
Teaching middle school and high school science, math, and art left part of his summer each year to paint and frame work for shows in Montana and Colorado, and once to serve as a docent at the Great Falls home and studio of Charles M. Russell.
Horvath’s paintings have been exhibited in Helena, Montana, and in a number of locations in Colorado (Fort Collins, Denver, Florence, Alamosa, Monte Vista, Salida, and Westcliffe). He is an associate member of Oil Painters of America. In 2022 he was listed as a Runner-Up in Southwest Art Magazine’s Artistic Excellence Competition. Be sure to join us on March 6th from 4pm to 6pm for a come-and-go reception!
March Events at the Narrow Gauge
There's still time to pick up your copy of playing with (wild)fire if you would like to join us for our March book club meeting! We're excited because Laura Pritchett will be joining us for the first part of our discussion, via Zoom!
Also, you can find my review of the book over at our blog, here.
Spadefoot Story Slam Community
March 15th, 6pm
Each month, we host the Spadefoot Story Slam community, sharing stories based on a theme, selected at the previous month’s Slam. While inspired by the Moth Story Hour, our monthly meetings are not a contest, but instead are a way to come together and practice sharing, and deep listening.
Join us 3/15 Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative for your stories on BUGS. Creepy crawlers and critters, favorite insects, bed bugs, or stories of pet peeves. What gets under your skin?
Stories must be true, as remembered by you & stories must be shared from the heart, not off the page.
Note: The incredible willow spider sculpture is by Allison Cruse, the February artist of the month.
As always, we encourage creative interpretation of the theme! Stories should be true as remembered by you, and spoken from the heart, instead of read from the page. We look forward to seeing you!
More News for the NGBC
Indie Press Book Club: Next Feature
Throughout the year, the Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative features different independent presses as part of our Indie Press Book Club. Our featured press for March and April is Interlink Publishing.
Indie Press Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month, every other month. Check our website for dates! We announce the upcoming book at each book club meeting, and explore fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, all from independent presses.
About the Book:
The first English translation of recent poetry by the late Mahmoud Darwish, the most important Palestinian contemporary poet. Almond Blossoms and Beyond is one of the last collections of poetry that Mahmoud Darwish left to the world. Composed of brief lyric poems and the magnificent sustained Exile cycle, Almond Blossoms holds an important place in Darwish’s unparalleled oeuvre. It distills his late style, in which, though the specter of death looms and weddings turn to funerals, he threads the pulses and fragilities and beauties of life into the lines of his poems. Their liveliness is his own response to the collection’s final call to bid Farewell / Farewell, to the poetry of pain.
About the Press:
Established in 1987, Interlink Publishing is a Palestinian-owned, Massachusetts-based independent publishing house that offers a global perspective to readers. Interlink publishes works of literature-in-translation, history, activism, politics, art, cultural guides, award-winning cookbooks, and illustrated children’s books from around the world.
Interlink publishes approximately 90 titles each year and has an active backlist of over 1000 titles under the following three imprints.
Interlink Books publishes a general trade list of adult fiction and non-fiction with an emphasis on books that have a wide appeal while also meeting high intellectual and literary standards.
Olive Branch Press publishes socially and politically relevant non-fiction, concentrating on topics and areas of the world often ignored by the Western media. Titles also include works on a wide range of contemporary issues such as Middle East studies, African studies, women’s studies, religion and translated works by academics of international stature.
Crocodile Books publishes high-quality illustrated children’s books from around the world. Titles published under this imprint include quality picture books for preschoolers, as well as fiction and non-fiction books for children ages 3-8.
Be sure to check out this week's Shelf Awareness newsletter. Don't miss releases by your favorite authors, what's going on with your preferred genre, or find an obscure gem. NGBC can order any title referenced, and we can ship it direct to your house.
Happy Book Hunting!
Call for Artists
We're consistently amazed by the talented artists that live in the San Luis Valley! We received many submissions, and have most of our calendar year filled! We still need artists for November and December, so please submit, or pass along the call to the artists you know!
Our most common features are painting and photography, though we have also had fiber arts, glass art, and ceramics.
Featured artists have a show for one month. We'll promote your art on our social media accounts, feature you in our monthly newsletter, send a press-release to the newspaper, and schedule an artist reception if you want to have one.
We try to feature new artists each year; if you were featured in 2024, please wait to apply again until we put out a call for 2026.
If you would like to be a featured, please fill out the application by clicking here. You'll be asked to upload photo samples of your work, to provide a bio and artist statement, and to provide months when you are not available. If you have questions about any part of the application, please email us at narrowgauge.coop@gmail.com.
Keep an eye on our website and social media for events upcoming in April! We'll have an author reading with Margaret Loewen, MD, author of The Picture of Addiction, on April 5th.
We'll also be celebrating National Poetry Month with an online poetry contest and a poetry slam to wrap up the month!
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