Welcome to my blog

Easter Sunday

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:17:28 -0700

Easter Sunday I awoke to Tehran traffic outside my hotel window. Some wrestled the tangle of cars and pedestrians on their way to mass at the nearby Orthodox Church. I prepared for my own spiritual journey, thereason I had traveled througheleven time zones and half way around the world: to weave a knot on Iran’s World Peace Carpet, a project sponsored by UNESCO and the Cultural Heritage,Tourism and Handicraft Organization of Iran. For a tapestry weaver and author (my first novel was inspired by an Afshar tribal rug), tying a goodwill knot on this carpet, along with 700 others from 89 nations, seemed every bit as reverent as attending Easter Mass.
To read more about my journey, please check back soon at this link.

Eliot Rosewater Award

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:13:36 -0700

Eliot Rosewater Award
Anahita's Woven Riddle was among 20 books considered for the 2008-2009 Eliot Rosewater Award, named after the fictional character in books by the Indiana-born author, Kurt Vonnegut, including probably the best known, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The Award was established to honor Vonnegut and other Hoosier writers while at the same encouraging Indiana high school to read for fun and enjoyment.
High School students (grades 9-12) throughout Indiana vote each year on approximately 20 nominated books for the book they enjoy the most. Congratulations to Laurie Halse Anderson who won first place for her novel Twisted.
For more information and the nominee list:
http://www.ilfonline.org/Programs/eliotrosewaterprogram.htm

News for Winter 2009

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:00:59 -0800

I recently uploaded photographs and information about artists and others I met on my recent trips to Uzbekistan and Turkey. For viewing, please go to my Middle Eastern and Central Asia page to click on the related link.

I am pleased to announce that my book Weaving Tapestry In Rural Ireland has gone into its second hardback printing. I would also like to share this excerpt of a recent review which appeared in the Irish Literary Supplement:
"THE APPEARANCE OF THIS BOOK owes as much to the author's interest in weaving, harvesting and dyeing yam as to her desire to explore how an ancient craft could be employed in an innovative way to bring fulfillment and renewal to a rural community. With the assistance of local mentors, a group of Irish tapestry weavers most of whom were Irish speakers--came together in 1993 to form a cooperative called Taipeis Gael (Gaelic Tapestries). The author's account of the cooperative and its work can stand on its own as an excellent documentary and instructional source, but it is also our good fortune that Sayres has taken what could have easily been a mundane academic treatise and produced an artistically stunning volume as socially compelling as it is historically meticulous."
---Meglena Z. Miltcheva, College of Charleston, S.C., Department of Irish Studies

Holiday wishes

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 15:58:54 -0800

Wishing you the warmth
of a good book
this holiday season.

News for Fall 2008

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:55:23 -0700

Merhaba from Turkey!
This fall I am residing in Istanbul to study the Turkish language and to do research. Please visit my blog for a glimpse of Turkey and to read about some of my experiences.
 http://storyforce-storyforce.blogspot.com/

News for Spring 2008

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:51:06 -0700

Introducing StoryForce.net
I have recently joined a group of writers building a community to celebrate books for young people and explore how we can help create a vibrant future through reading and writing.  Visit our blog and MySpace to share your ideas, experiences and your love for books. We’ll have interviews, curriculum aids, book reviews, perspectives on the writer’s life, author craft, photographs and more.  I look forward to connecting with you there.

Please join me at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington on June 12th at 7pm for an evening of discussion about writing, weaving and my recent trip to Iran.  This June I will also be attending the American Library Association Conference in Anaheim as a guest of Harry N. Abrams/Amulet Books.

I am pleased to announce the U.S. paperback edition of Anahita's Woven Riddle. Available now in bookstores.

Anahita's e l'enigma del tapetto (Anahita's Woven Riddle) was the featured book at the Bologna International Children's Book Festival this spring. CRS Libri/Rizzoli publishers celebrated the book with posters on the walls and floors of their book stall and gave out hundreds of book bags depicting the Italian book cover. Thank you Italy!

News for Winter 2008

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:49:29 -0800

Author Talks in Salt Lake City
During the first week in March I will visiting Salt Lake City to speak in bookstores, community centers, the University of Utah, local schools and bookclubs about my novel, Anahita's Woven Riddle and a collection of stories I coauthored, Daughters of the Desert: Tales of Remarkable Women From the Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions. I will also show images and cultural materials from my trips to the Middle East. If you are in Salt Lake, feel free to stop by the first two events listed below, they are open to the public.
Jewish Community Center/University of Utah Mid East Outreach Center. To be held at the JCC on 2 North Medical Drvie Wednesday, March 5th at 7pm.
Sam Wellers Bookstore, 254 S. Main, Saturday, March 8th at 3pm.
JCC Bookclub, JCC, Monday, March 3 at 1pm
Hillside Elementary School, Thursday, March 6
Utah Geographical Society, Layton, Utah, Friday, March 7

Anahita's Woven Riddle is chosen for the Amelia Bloomer List 2008, a project sponsored by the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association.
The Amelia Bloomer Project committee members analyzed over 300 books and discussed over 114 nominations for the 6th annual Amelia Bloomer Project list. The books on this year’s list honor past victories through current personal struggles advancing women’s equality to visualizations of a future ideal society. The list includes books that look to our roots and gaze toward the future, including biographies of women who shattered the limitations placed on women regarding science, politics, sports, activism, civil and woman’s rights, fantasies featuring girls taking charge of their situations despite obstacles, and contemporary and historical fiction focusing on the fight for equality and rights that many take for granted.
For more information visit: http://www.myspace.com/amelia_bloomer_project

News for Winter 2007

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:38:03 -0800

New in Hardback:
"In this beautifully wrought chronicle, Meghan Nuttall Sayres has drawn from the past to celebrate the present and future of Taipeis Gael, a tapestry weaving collective of international reputation in Donegal Ireland...a visual and narrative feast from which I could hardly bear to emerge."
—Sarah Swett, author of Kids Weaving

News for Fall 2007

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:45:48 -0700

Book Translations ... This fall Keter Books in Israel published a translation of Anahita’s Woven Riddle in Hebrew. The novel will also be translated into Italian by R.C.S. Libri/Fabri, with other foreign interests in the air.

Travel ... In October and November I traveled to Uzbekistan where I explored the ancient Silk Road by train from Tashkent to Samarqand and Bukhara, the setting of my sequel to Anahita’s Woven Riddle. While there I visited Tashkent International School along with a friend and author Jamila Gavin from the UK.
Talks ... This September I had the pleasure of speaking at Mt. Baker Junior High near Bellingham, Washington, as well as the Spokane Weavers Guild.
My Spaceace...I have just joined this community and maintain a blog and updated calendar on my profile page. I will offer similar but different information and images that will compliment the material offered on this website. I see this as an opportunity to be more interactive with my readers.

News for Spring/Summer 2007

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 15:39:55 -0700

Workshops in Qatar ... In April I was invited to Doha, Qatar, as a visiting author to teach creative writing workshops at the Qatar Academy, The Learning Center, and the American School.
Great news! Anahita's Woven Riddle was chosen by the American Library Association as a Top Ten Best Books for Young Readers. It was also designated Children's Pick of the List Winter 2006/2007 by BookSense, the American Independent Booksellers Association.
I am also pleased to announce that Anahita's Woven Riddle was selected as a Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice, and Read On Wisconsin, an online book club initiated by First Lady Jessica Doyle. You can learn more about this program at: http://readon.wi.gov I look forward to the possibility of visiting schools in Madison in spring 2008.