This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Oregon-based writer Joe Wilkins, author of The Entire Sky (Little, Brown & Company). With echoes of Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead (HarperCollins) and Kent Haruf’s Plainsong (Vintage Books), The Entire Sky is the story of a troubled boy on the run (Justin, the spitting image of his idol, Kurt Cobain); Rene Bouchard, an aging rancher in rural Montana; and Liane, the rancher’s daughter, who finds herself at a crossroads. Together, they find unexpected solace and kinship in the family they make. Joe has also, with this novel, given a poetic, textured voice to the eastern Montana landscape that acts not as a setting or stage for Justin, Rene, or Liane, but as a kaleidoscopic lens that allows readers to understand these characters more fully.
About Joe:
Joe Wilkins is the author of the novel Fall Back Down When I Die, which was short-listed for the First Novel Award from the Center for Fiction, and the award-winning memoir The Mountain and the Fathers. He has published four books of poetry, including Thieve and When We Were Birds, winner of the Oregon Book Award, and his stories, essays, and poems have appeared in the Georgia Review, the Harvard Review, Orion, and elsewhere. He is a Pushcart Prize winner, a three-time High Plains Book Award winner, and a finalist for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the National Magazine Award, and the PEN/USA Award. He lives with his wife and two children in western Oregon, where he teaches writing at Linfield University.
Joe Wilkins recommends:
My Ántonia by Willa Cather (Vintage Books)
Lila by Marilynne Robinson (Picador USA)
Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Vintage Books)
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins)
Lauren Korn recommends:
The Entire Sky (Little, Brown & Company) and The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up in the Big Dry (Counterpoint LLC) by Joe Wilkins
Black River by S. M. Hulse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Mountain City by Gregory Martin (North Point Press)
The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan (Picador USA)
Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt (Vintage Books)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Bookworks of Whitefish, offering new books of all genres, stationery, and puzzles. Open 11AM to 6PM Monday through Saturday. Located in downtown Whitefish, Montana, in the Third & Spokane Building.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
