Movie next for 'Go as A River' author Shelley Read, who speaks in Naples this month
Author Shelley Read really hit the jackpot with “Go as A River,” which has been translated into 30 languages, won multiple awards and had its film rights sold to a major production company.
The debut novel is a heartbreaking — and heartwarming — tale of a lonely young woman living on a western Colorado peach farm, spanning from the 1940s to 1971.
Southwest Florida book lovers will get their chance to hear and meet Read on Thursday, Oct. 26, when she opens this year’s Author Spotlight series, sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Collier County. The second Author Spotlight talk will feature Shana Abé, author of “An America Beauty,” on Thursday, April 4.
The lectures are part of a busy schedule of events put on by the nonprofit Friends of the Library, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund programs and resources for the 10 Collier County Public Library branches.
Shelley Read kicks off Author Spotlight series
This year the Author Spotlight Events move to The Norris Center, south of Cambier Park near downtown Naples. Seating will be general admission. Each talk will be followed by a book signing. (See info box for details on dates, times and cost.)
Read is a fifth-generation Coloradoan who lives with her family at 9,000 feet elevation in the Elk Mountains of the Western Slope. She describes herself as a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and friend to small creatures and old dogs.
Although “River” is her first novel, Read is a published writer who was an award-winning Senior Lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades, teaching writing, literature and environmental studies.
Novel set in 20th century Colorado
“Go as a River” was inspired by the flooding of the small town of Iola, Colorado, when the Gunnison River was dammed in the 1960s to create the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Read personifies that disruption of place and identity through a teenager, Victoria Nash, whose life is marked by loss — the accidental deaths of her mother and aunt, the girl’s lover murdered by her racist brother, and then the government’s flooding of the family property.
Naples Daily News: Identity flows through your novel like, well, a river. Land gives identity to those who own and work it, and they’re devastated when they lose it. The ways people with brown skin are identified by others is potentially fatal. Women and girls are identified in a way that gives them no choices — you cook and you clean and you don’t dare complain. Do you think how we are identified can hold us back as much as it defines us?
Shelley Read: Absolutely. Identity is so complex. One essential theme of my novel is the difficulty of truly knowing oneself or another person when identity is so skewed by cultural bias, often resulting in limiting or even tragic consequences. I’m interested in what lies beneath the surface of each character’s identity and how an authentic self can be revealed — particularly through change, loss and lessons from the natural world. The essence of Victoria’s story is the courageous discovery of who she really is, outside of who she is being told to be. I have a lot of empathy for how painful that journey can be, especially for a young woman of Victoria’s time and place.
NDN: Your novel’s title seems to embody more than just “going with the flow.” Please explain the origin of “Go as A River” — a quote by a Buddhist monk, you said in one interview. What does the phrase mean to you?
'Go as A River' book title explained
SR: Observing wild rivers really inspires me. Rivers nearly always find a way forward — over, under, around obstacle, even carving new banks when necessary. Rivers also gather and nurture along the way, carrying the past, present and future in their waters. Rocky Mountain rivers are turbulent or calm depending on the season, just like life itself. Native American and Buddhist wisdom traditions both mean a lot to me, and both honor wild rivers in their stories and teachings. The title of my novel comes from one of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s elegant calligraphy paintings. I love the simple wisdom of the words “go as a river.”
NDN: You’ve said you had tinkered with the character of Victoria Nash and plot details for some time before you realized you had a novel on your hands. Since you’re a lifelong writer of short fiction and a longtime teacher of creative writing, what changes did you have to make in your thinking and process to write a novel?
SR: I can definitely say that I learned how to write a novel by writing one. Certainly (and gratefully), my decades of studying literature and writing helped a great deal, but it was primarily through trial, error and patience that “Go as a River” was born. I learned a lot along the way, especially to believe in the writing process (no matter how wacky it sometimes seems!) and in my own creative instincts.
NDN: Congratulations on the recent sale of film rights to a producing team with a pretty good track record. What do you know about the plans — movie or multi-part series, for example? Any early hints on casting, which will have the main character aging 20-plus years?
Movie in the works for Shelley Read's novel
SR: I’m over the moon that Mazur Kaplan has optioned “Go As a River” for film. They have now partnered with a second production company, Fifth Season, and the project is officially “in development.” I’ve been told that the novel’s imagery feels very cinematic and will translate to a beautiful film. I know the project is in very good hands, and I’m super excited to see it all evolve.
The Friends of the Library, by offering the Author Spotlight Events at The Norris Center, near downtown Naples, encourages ticket-holders to make of a day of it in the area, enjoying lunch and shopping before and after each talk.
The series sponsors are Kelly E. Capolino, of Downing-Frye Realty, and Signet Financial Management.
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Know before you go
Friends of the Library’s Author Spotlight Events
What: Author lectures that are a fundraiser by the Friends of the Library of Collier County
Where: The Norris Center, 755 Eighth Ave. S., Naples
When:
Shelley Read, Thursday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing
Shana Abe, Thursday, April 4, at 2 p.m., followed by a book signing
Cost: $48 for each lecture for current members of the Friends of the Library of Collier County; $58 for nonmembers. All seating is general admission, and “saving” seats will not be permitted. Friends memberships begin at $40/year and provide access and discounts to many other programs.
Purchase tickets and become a member: Go to collier-friends.org. Questions? Email Marlene Haywood, the Friends’ Program Director, at mhaywood@collier-friends.org or call 239-262-8135.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Shelley Read discusses 'Go as A River' before Naples visit Oct. 26
