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Join us at the Vermont Book Shop for a summer evening with two Tupelo Press authors! 

David Huddle, the author of 21 books of poetry, fiction, and essays, will present his new novel, Hazel, and Gregory Spatz, a fiction writer, fiddler, and long-time NER contributor will present What Could Be Saved, his new collection of novellas and stories.

The reading will begin at 7 pm at the Vermont Book Shop, 38 Main Street, Middlebury, VT. Light refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.

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David Huddle is the author of seven poetry collections, six short story collections, five novels, a novella, and a collection of essays titled The Writing Habit. His new book from Tupelo is the novel Hazel. He won the 2012 Library of Virginia Award for Fiction for Nothing Can Make Me Do Thisand the 2013 Pen New England Award for Poetry for Blacksnake at the Family Reunion. Originally from Ivanhoe, Virginia, Huddle has lived in Vermont for nearly fifty years. He teaches at the Bread Loaf School of English and the Rainier Writing Workshop

Gregory Spatz is the author of the novels Inukshuk, Fiddler’s Dream,and No One But Us, and of the story collections Half as Happy and Wonderful Tricks. His new book from Tupelo Press is What Could Be Saved, a collection of novellas and stories. His fiction has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, Shenandoah, Epoch, Kenyon Review, and New England Review, where he published his first story in 1992 and appeared most recently in 2017. The recipient of a Michener Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, a Washington State Book Award, and an NEA Fellowship in literature, he teaches at Eastern Washington University in Spokane. Spatz plays the fiddle in the twice Juno-nominated bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds.

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Hazel (Tupelo Press, 2019), is a portrait of a woman both ordinary and exceptional, composed in glimpses of her life from child to elder. Hazel is a loner and somewhat of a pill. Although she’s not likeable in the regular ways, she’s rigorously honest in the way she examines her world, and in relationships with a few other people. Hazel’s nephew John Robert is captivated by the mystery of such a uniquely serious person. He assembles episodes from Hazel’s life, and the novel reveals a lifelong struggle by someone whose integrity is absolute. Huddle proves the complete life of almost anyone would be profoundly complex if seen whole.

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At the heart of What Could Be Saved (Tupelo Press, 2019) is the richly complex of world of violins—its beauty and magic, romance and deceit, vast history and absolute rigor. These stories sing through the hopes and dreams of builders, dealers, and players within their mysterious world. From the story of a young man refusing to meet his luthier father’s expectations to a fantastic story told from the perspective of abused and forgotten violins, this book bears witness to tragic, comic, and thoroughly fraught dramas. A sustained musicality thrums through these beautiful, almost dream-like tales. Spatz’s language is precise and powerful, his fiction elegantly wrought. A book that echoes long after its music ends.

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Tupelo Press is an independent, literary press devoted to discovering and publishing works of poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction by emerging and established writers. What we look for is a blend of urgency of language, imagination, distinctiveness, and craft. What we produce and how we produce it—from design to printing to paper quality—honors the writing in books which boast the uniquely sensual look and feel of a Tupelo Press book.

In continuous operation in Middlebury since 1949, the Vermont Book Shopis an institution. We, its stewards, are devoted to providing excellent customer service, promoting interpersonal engagement around books, and giving back to the community that supports us.