Ana Maria Spagna Views

Books

Author and teacher Ana Maria Spagna will be appearing at Borders in Birmingham, which is interesting considering she lives in “a very remote area of the Pacific Northwest, where we do not have telephones, not even cell phones!” So what in the world would bring her to Birmingham where we can’t go ten feet without talking, texting or tweeting?

Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus: a Daughter’s Civil Rights Journey is Ms. Spagna’s journey to seek out the truth behind her father’s involvement in a “simple but dangerous” act of rebellion. Test Ride look’s at Ana Maria’s father’s involvement in the Tallahassee Bus Boycott which was an important precursor to the Civil Rights Movement. Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus “deftly weaves cultural and personal history, memoir, and reportage in this fascinating look at a family and a nation’s past.”*

Though the novelty eventually wears off and nature begs, Ms. Spagna is excited to meet and talk to readers about Test Ride after spending 4-5 years immersed in it alone. Ana Maria Spagna will appear at Borders on Friday, April 30, 2010 at 7:00 pm for a reading and signing of her latest work. Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus was the winner of The River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize.

Stehekin is not the most glamorous location for a writer to live. The small community in Washington’s North Cascade Mountains is only accessible by boat or float plane, and its 100 year-round residents make the College seem big by comparison. Or at least that’s the comparison that visiting writer Ana Maria Spagna made at the [...]