Meghan Nuttall Sayres

NEWS FOR FALL 2008:

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:

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.

Village Books

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.

Anahita Paperbook

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

Bologna booth

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:

SLC

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 FALL 2007:

Hebrew Anahita

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.

uzbek 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:

Qatar 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.

NEWS FOR WINTER 2007:

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 2006:

Anahita's Woven Riddle: A richly detailed and enchanting novel, set in 19th-century Persia.

The following link opens a recent Spokeman-Review article, Cultural Celebration, about the author, the novel and the traditional dress of Qashqa'i nomads of Iran:

The Rest of the Story: Local author experiences a different side of Iran

Also, an article from The Sacremento Bee:

Story weaver Author's hobby inspires a children's book By Judy Green - Bee Staff

http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/74571.html

NEWS FOR SPRING 2005:

New in Paperback:

Daughters of the Desert: Tales of Remarkable Women From the Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions.

A Journey to Iran:

This March I traveled to Iran to speak at their First International Children’s Book Festival. My trip took me to Tehran, Isfahan, Kerman, and Bam. Please click here for a photo essay and a related article featured in the Spokesman-Review.

NEWS FOR FALL 2003:

Awards:
I am pleased to announce that last spring my children’s book, "The Shape of Betts Meadow: A Wetlands Story" was chosen for the John Burrough’s Nature Books For Young Readers List, 2002.

New Books:
"Anahita's Woven Riddle": This historical fiction novel set in Iran is about a semi-nomadic weaver who will marry only the man who can solve the riddle she weaves into her wedding carpet. Poems by Jelaluddin Rumi bring a lamp of their own to the story and characters. Forthcoming with Harry N. Abrams
Books.

Publications:
An anecdote, “Where the River Bends,” will appear in an anthology, "Crazy Women Creek", edited by Linda M. Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier, and Nancy Curtis. Forthcoming in May with Houghton Mifflin, Mariner.

My essay, “Weaving Basra,” is featured in Orion magazine’s Art of Living, November, 2003 (see Journals).

Scrap Book:
I have uploaded a few photographs from a recent trip to Philippi, Greece on my website. This ancient town is the setting for "Weaving a Church", one of my stories in Daughter’s of the Desert. It is also the setting of my work-in-progress.