Heather Sharfeddin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy Template:Use American English Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Heather Sharfeddin (born April 8, 1966, Forsyth)[1] is an American contemporary Western novelist.[2][3] Her novels, including Blackbelly (2005) and Damaged Goods (2011), explore western themes based on her early life in Idaho and Montana.[4][5]

Early life and education

Sharfeddin was born in Forsyth, Montana to Joan and Lynn Mason,[3][1][6]Template:Rp an artist and a forester with the U. S. Forest Service, respectively.[7][8][3] The Masons moved to Riggins, Idaho when Heather was two[9][4][3] and lived on the Salmon River.[10][11] She and her two sisters were raised in the Pentecostal faith.[2][7] They lived in Lucile, Idaho and spent two years in East Lansing, Michigan while their father completed a master's degree in forestry at Michigan State University. Sharfeddin graduated from Big Sky High School in Missoula in 1984. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1986.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Later in her adult life, Sharfeddin earned an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.[4][3][6] Her doctoral work focused on racial tensions in the Interior West of the United States and culminated in a dissertation titled Interior Landscapes: Techniques for Depicting the Nuances of Interracial Relationships. This included a novel called A Delicate Divide, which takes place on the Flathead Indian Reservation and follows racial tensions in the wake of a water compact that would limit their "natural land water rights."[12][6] Her dissertation was supervised by Kate Pullinger.[13]

Career

Sharfeddin's first novel, Blackbelly, was published in 2005 by Bridge Works Publishing.[8][2] It is set in the fictional ranching community of Sweetwater, Idaho on the banks of the Salmon River.[8][14][10][3] The imagery is heavily inspired by her childhood in that area.[10] The novel follows a rancher who is falsely accused of committing a hate crime against the town's only Muslim family.[8] The title refers to blackbelly sheep, which the protagonist and Sharfeddin both raise.[14] The book was a "Best of the Northwest" pick by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award in 2005[15] and received honorable mentions for the 2005 Eric Hoffer Award[16] and at the 2010 San Francisco Book Festival.[3][17] Blackbelly was released in paperback in 2010 under the title Sweetwater Burning.[3] Her second book, Mineral Spirits, was published the following year, also by Bridge Works Publishing. Set in remote Mineral County, Montana,[15][3] the novel follows Sheriff Kip Edelson as he investigates a skeleton found along the Clark Fork River.[18][9] Edelson was introduced briefly in Blackbelly.[15]

In 2009, her third novel, Windless Summer, was published by Random House.[19][20] The story follows single father Tom Jemmet, a motel owner in the fictional town of Rocket, Washington.[19][3] A windless summer drives away the windsurfers who flock to the area every year, leaving the town struggling until Jemmet's motel makes the newspapers after guests begin experiencing "mysterious happenings."[19][21] Sharfeddin's fourth novel, Damaged Goods,[5] was published in 2011 by Random House and is set in rural western Oregon.[22] It follows the relationship of an auctioneer recovering from a traumatic brain injury and a woman who has survived decades of abuse.[5] In 2012, it was short-listed for the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery.[23] Sharfeddin's fifth novel, What Keeps You, was released by Martin Brown Publishing in 2016. It follows 16-year-old Eva as she avoids certain death, and a group of souls trapped in a graveyard being dug up by a road crew.[24]

Sharfeddin refers to her work as contemporary Western,[10] which she defines as themes of the rural West set in the present day.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". She has been a regular book reviewer for Colorado Review[25] and the Center for Literary Publishing,[26] as well as a contributor to Dirt & Seeds, where she serialized her novel Between.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In addition to writing, she has also taught at Randolph-Macon College, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Linfield College.[27][12][28] To mark the occasion of a book signing in Sharfeddin's hometown of Riggins, Idaho, mayor Bob Crump declared April 6, 2011 "Heather Mason Sharfeddin Day".[4][3]

Personal life

Sharfeddin married her husband Salem in Oregon in the summer of 1991.[29][10] Salem is a Libyan Muslim, while Heather and their son Sam (born c. 1992) are Baha'i.[6]Template:Rp[2][3] The Sharfeddins lived on a farm in Sherwood, Oregon, where they raised blackbelly sheep, for 15 years before relocating to McMinnville, Oregon.[15][8][4]

In March 2011, Sharfeddin and her husband opened the coffee shop Blackbird Coffee and Tea in Sherwood.[4] It has since closed.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In 2018, she was appointed to a 3-year term on the Historic Landmarks Committee in McMinnville.[30]

Publications

External links

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b c d Template:Cite thesis
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".


Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Heather_Sharfeddin&oldid=3019302"