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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T193000
DTSTAMP:20260121T183930Z
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SUMMARY:Beyond Adventure Speaker Series - Kevin Fedarko - ***at the Swanson Auditorium in the Nebraska Union
DESCRIPTION:On February 19th\, author and adventurer Kevin Fedarko\, will be presenting for the Beyond Adventure Speaker Series and signing books at the Swanson Auditorium in the Nebraska Union. You don’t want to miss it!\nAbout the Book:\nThe Grand Canyon is an American treasure\, visited by more than 6 million people a year\, many of whom are rendered speechless by its vast beauty\, mystery\, and complexity. Now\, in A Walk in the Park\, author Kevin Fedarko chronicles his year-long effort to find a 750-mile path along the length of the Grand Canyon\, through a vertical wilderness suspended between the caprock along the rims of the abyss and the Colorado River\, which flows along its bottom. Consisting of countless cliffs and steep drops\, plus immense stretches with almost no access to water\, and the fact that not a single trail links its eastern doorway to its western terminus\, this jewel of national parks is so challenging that when Fedarko departed fewer people had completed the journey in one single hike than had walked on the moon. The intensity of the effort required him to break his trip into several legs\, each of which held staggering dangers and unexpected discoveries. \nAbout the Author:\nKevin Fedarko has spent the past twenty years writing about conservation\, exploration\, and the Grand Canyon. He has been a staff writer at Time\, where he worked primarily on the foreign affairs desk\, and a senior editor at Outside\, where he covered outdoor adventure. His writing has appeared in National Geographic\, The New York Times\, and Esquire\, among other publications. He is the author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon\, which won the Reading the West Book Award\, and A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon\, which won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Both books were also New York Times bestsellers and winners of a National Outdoor Book Award. Fedarko lives in Flagstaff\, Arizona.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/beyond-adventure-speaker-series-kevin-fedarko-at-the-swanson-auditorium-in-the-nebraksa-union/
LOCATION:NE
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260221T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260221T190000
DTSTAMP:20260203T185039Z
CREATED:20260120T185916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T185039Z
UID:10426-1771696800-1771700400@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Authors - Lexi Rodriguez and Kelsi Kautz- The Big Little Dream
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Saturday\, February 21st as we welcome author and volleyball player Lexi Rodriguez and her co-author Kelsi Kautz to Francie & Finch Bookshop! Together they will present their new children’s book The Big Little Dream.\n“Working with Lexi on this project has been a dream. We can’t wait to see how The Big Little Dream resonates with young athletes and young readers around the world.” – Kelsi Kautz \nTo learn more abou the book\, visit https://www.thebiglittledream.com/\nAbout the Book:\nThis story dives into the life of Little Mia and her big dream – to find her sense of belonging through sport.\nIllustrated by Danika Runyan. Find her on Instagram! @danikas_drawings \nAbout the Authors:\nLexi Rodriguez is a 4 time All-American libero from the University of Nebraska\, Adidas affiliate athlete\, and AAU Sullivan Award Winner. Lexi is entering her second season in the United States’ first professional women’s volleyball league\, LOVB\, and represents Team USA in the Volleyball Nations League. Lexi’s participation in the 2023 Nebraska Volleyball Stadium Match sparked worldwide conversation about the importance of representation for women’s sports. The match was more than just a world record to the young athletes who witnessed it — it offered inspiration and validation that women’s sports are to be valued and celebrated on a world stage. Lexi hopes to deepen her connection with fans and readers through her debut children’s book\, The Big Little Dream. \nKelsi Kautz had a vision to bring to life the impact that Lexi and her teammates have had on female athletes around the world. With her combined experience in education and marketing\, she saw the opportunity to expand Lexi’s impact beyond the traditional\, and demonstrate the importance of representation in women’s sports in a new and creative way.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-four-time-all-american-libero-lexi-rodriguez-the-big-little-dream/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Lexi-Rodriguez-and-Kelsi-Kautz.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260224T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260224T183000
DTSTAMP:20260211T182321Z
CREATED:20260204T184143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T182321Z
UID:10442-1771954200-1771957800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch- Melissa J. Homestead in conversation with Emily Rau - The Professor's House by Willa Cather
DESCRIPTION:Join us at Francie & Finch Bookshop as we celebrate the newest edition of Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House\, with Melissa Homestead! Homestead\, a Professor of English and Program Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies at UNL\, brings to life this new edition with a brand new introduction and notes for those looking to dive deeper into the work of Cather. Melissa will be in conversation with Emily Rau\, Editor of the Willa Cather Archive.  We can’t wait to see you there!\n                               Order your copy of the book HERE\nABOUT THE BOOK:\n‘I knew at once I had come upon the city of some extinct civilization\, hidden away in this inaccessible mesa for centuries’ \nThe Professor’s House (1925) depicts the mid-life crisis of Godfrey St. Peter\, a history professor at a midwestern state university who is disillusioned with his wife and daughters\, his university\, and the materialism of American culture. He longs for Tom Outland\, his most brilliant student\, who died on a World War I battlefield. At the same time\, Tom’s recollection of discovering hidden cliff dweller ruins in New Mexico interrupt Godfrey’s narrative. Cather’s own experiences of travel in the Southwestern US with her partner\, Edith Lewis\, shadow and enrich her depictions of Tom’s New Mexican experiences. \nCather’s sixth novel is a compelling modernist work of art that raises questions that are still compelling a century later. What is the purpose of a university education? Are the sacrifices of war worth the outcome? To whom do the American past and the country’s future belong? A daring experiment in form\, the novel is haunted by war and love. \nABOUT THE SERIES:\nFor over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship\, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features\, including expert introductions by leading authorities\, helpful notes to clarify the text\, up-to-date bibliographies for further study\, and much more. \nABOUT MELISSA J. HOMESTEAD\nMelissa J. Homestead is Professor of English and Program Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln\, where she directs the Cather Project and is co-editor of The Complete Letters of Willa Cather. She has published widely on American women’s writing and authorship\, including American Women Authors and Literary Property (2005) and The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather and Edith Lewis (2021). \nABOUT EMILY RAU:\nEmily J. Rau is an Assistant Professor in Digital Humanities in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries and the Editor of the Willa Cather Archive. She received her MA from Lehigh University and her PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-melissa-j-homestead-the-professors-house-by-willa-cather/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260303T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260303T183000
DTSTAMP:20260211T190350Z
CREATED:20260211T184443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T190350Z
UID:10461-1772559000-1772562600@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Carolyn Zeisset - Caught in the Middle
DESCRIPTION:Francie & Finch Bookshop is pleased to welcome back author and historian Carolyn Zeisset as she presents her newest novel for kids and adults\, Caught in the Middle\, a story about twelve-year-old Alice who is caught between childhood and adulthood\, changing women’s roles\, and World War I America and a German-speaking\, peace-church heritage. The novel follows Alice as she must decide who she is.\nOrder your copy HERE\nABOUT THE BOOK:\nAlice Janzen chafes that she must do all the girl chores in a family with five brothers. Her parents treat her like a child\, but expect her to be responsible for her little brother\, teaching him to write the German her family speaks\, though it is banned at school. Her parents say war is wrong\, but her brother Simon follows war news in the weekly paper. \nNew student Rebecca is the most interesting person in school\, though others belittle her. Alice learns Rebecca’s family lost their small farm to oil speculators and that the girl’s step-brothers are on the war’s front lines. \nFrau Fleming serves tea from a samovar and tells Alice about bringing it to America when the Russian czar changed rules so that German-speaking men had to be in his army. She says if she must move again\, she will take the samovar\, “unless there is a girl who keeps our ways.” \nPeople harass German-speaking neighbors\, especially members of peace churches. During a raid that vandalizes farms\, Rebecca’s little brother falls off his horse as he rides with the mob. Rebecca blames Alice for her brother’s fall. Alice’s three draft-age brothers each understand their religious beliefs differently and have different war experiences. Alice’s sister and husband emigrate to Canada when they are threatened with imprisonment. Spanish flu closes public places and spreads in military camps. \nAfter the war\, Alice learns that Rebecca’s brother was wounded in battle\, and Simon saved him. Alice thinks she should write a story about Rebecca’s brothers\, but she is torn by the feeling she should instead write her own brothers’ story. What decision will she make? \nABOUT THE AUTHOR:\nAs she grew up\, Carolyn Zeisset was interested in ways families of her father (English-Scotch-Irish) and mother (German from Russia) were different and alike. This sparked a life-long interest in culture\, language\, and history\, She heard stories all around her and wrote and illustrated her first story at the age of eight. \nHer first historical novel\, Then the Rules Changed (2022)\, tells a story of Isaac\, a boy whose family immigrates from South Russia to the Great Plains in the 1870s. The new one\, Caught in the Middle\, shows Alice\, Isaac’s young daughter\, caught between identities as an American with German-speaking heritage during World War I. Readers of both books are 9-99+. \nCarolyn is a life-long educator and has taught and written curriculum for preschool\, elementary\, middle school\, and adult levels in public school\, religious\, and business settings.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-carolyn-zeisset-caught-in-the-middle/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260314T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260314T180000
DTSTAMP:20260127T184943Z
CREATED:20260127T181448Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260127T184943Z
UID:10436-1773505800-1773511200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Alison Pearce Stevens - When Beavers Move In
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome back beloved children’s author Alison Pearce Stevens as she brings hands on demonstrations to dive us into the world of her newest book When Beavers Move In!\nPre-Order your copy today by following the link HERE! \nAbout the Book:\nWhen beavers move in\, they chew down a tree.\nThey nibble the bark.\nAnd they drag the branches into a stream. \nBeavers topple trees and build dams\, which can cause floods and disrupt neighborhoods. So what do we do when beavers move in? In Puget Sound\, we call the Tulalip Tribes. They send biologists to help relocate our furry friends to a place far from people\, where the beavers can be free. \nPoetic text and gorgeous art makes this an irresistible read with gentle STEM tie-in. \nAbout the Author and Illustrator:\nAlison Pearce Stevens is a former scientist who writes award-winning nonfiction books for the world’s most curious people to inspire them to protect the world outside their doorstep. She is the author of Junior Library Guild Gold Standard books Rhinos in Nebraska: The Amazing Discovery of the Ashfall Fossil Beds (which won the Nebraska Book Award in three categories) and Animal Climate Heroes (March 5\, 2024). She co-authored National Geographic Kids Books’ 5\,000 Awesome Facts 3 and three books in their Weird But True series and has published hundreds of STEM-based magazine and online articles for kids. \nTo learn more about Alison\, visit apstevens.com. \nNatasha Donovan is an illustrator originally from Vancouver\, Canada. She works primarily on children’s books but also loves illustrating comics and graphic novels. Past titles include the award-winning Mothers of Xsan series by Brett Huson\, Classified by Traci Sorell\, and When the Stars Came Home by Brittany Luby.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-alison-pearce-stevens-when-beavers-move-in/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Alison-Pearce-Stevens-When-Beavers-Move-In.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260321T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260321T173000
DTSTAMP:20260304T191008Z
CREATED:20260304T182642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260304T191008Z
UID:10475-1774110600-1774114200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Poetry Reading - 'until there are no words left' - Nebraska Poets Writing Amidst the Storm
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Saturday\, March 21st at 4:30 PM as we welcome 5 Nebraska poets to read from the new book ‘until there are no words left’ – Nebraska Poets on Writing Amidst the Storm\, in which they all contributed!\nThis book was edited by Chuck Peek. \nPhip Ross – Fulbright Scholar\, teaches at SCC\nJes Vetter – Motivated by the opportunity to make a difference\nMary K. Stillwell – Author of The Life and Poetry of Ted Kooser (NU Press)\nRachel Hruza – Writer\, teaches English at SCC\nTwyla M. Hansen – Nebraska State Poet 2013-2018 \nTO ORDER A COPY OF THE BOOK STOP BY THE SHOP OR CALL US AT 402-781-0459
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/until-tpoetry-reading-there-are-no-words-left-nebraska-poets-writing-amidst-the-storm/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/March-2026-Poetry-Reading-2.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260328T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260328T173000
DTSTAMP:20260317T173436Z
CREATED:20260317T171156Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260317T173436Z
UID:10495-1774715400-1774719000@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Ron Rosmann - A Practical Farmer's Journey: A History of Community\, Stewardship\, and Resilience
DESCRIPTION:Join us at Francie & Finch Bookshop as we welcome farmer and author Ron Rosmann! He will be talking about his work in sustainable and organic farming\, and will give us a “blueprint” for sustainable farming in our own area.\nStop by the shop or follow the link HERE to order your copy today!\nAbout the Book:\nPart historical memoir and part “blueprint” for sustainable farming and the future of agricultural communities\, this works follows the life of a born and raised farmer\, and the changes to his trade witnessed over a lifetime. \nA Practical Farmer’s Journey revolves around three promises. The first was fulfilled for many immigrants who came and settled in western Iowa\, allowing them to purchase land\, start farms\, and build new lives and communities. The second promise\, however\, was broken during Ron L. Rosmann’s fifty-year farming career\, when the corporatization and industrialization of agriculture led to farm consolidation\, monocropping and vertical integration\, ecological destruction\, and the steady decline of rural communities. The third promise focuses on restoring what was broken\, detailing how agricultural communities can adopt thoughtful and sustainable farming practices. Through the narrative of the farmer and author\, using these promises as its framework\, this book explores how to combat climate change in agriculture and create healthier farms and food systems\, aiming to restore the unfulfilled potential of rural America. \nAbout the Author:\nRon and Maria Rosmann\, along with two of their sons\, David and Daniel and families\, own and operate Rosmann Family Farms near Harlan in western Iowa. Their third son\, Mark\, works for the Foreign Agricultural Service of USDA as a Foreign Service officer in Bogota\, Colombia. Ron is now semi-retired. He and Maria turned over the farming business to their sons David and Daniel in 2025. Ron started farming in 1973 upon graduation from Iowa State University with a B.S. degree in Biology. He stopped the use of pesticides in 1983 on their farm. They have been certified organic since 1994. \nThey now have a 700-acre diversified organic crop and livestock farm raising over 15 crops annually. Some of these crops include corn\, soy\, oats\, wheat\, barley\, hybrid rye\, field peas\, popcorn\, hay\, pasture\, and numerous cover crops They have a cow-calf operation\, a farrow to finish hog operation and egg layer operation. Maria has a store on the farm named “Farm Sweet Farm” which began in 2012. Daniel and his wife\, Ellen\, own and operate a local foods restaurant in Harlan that is called “Milk and Honey”. \nRon helped to start the “Practical Farmers of Iowa” (PFI) in 1986 and was the second board president. This organization now numbers over 10\,000 members. The organization is dedicated to doing on-farm research trials to both improve individual profitability and environmental sustainability but also to share with other farmers and their rural communities. The goal is to create viable farms and vibrant rural communities. He and his two sons have completed over 50 randomized and replicated on-farm research trials with PFI and Iowa State University. He was on the board of the Organic Farming Research Foundation in Santa Cruz\, California from 1998-2004\, serving as board president for three years. He was on the board of National Catholic Rural Life in Saint Paul\, Minnesota from 2012-2018. He has been very active over the years in his local parish of St. Boniface\, Westphalia\, Iowa. \nRon has been involved in agricultural policy work all of his career as a farmer. He has testified numerous times before the United States Senate and House of Representatives Agricultural Committees. \nRon has written numerous articles and editorials in several magazines and newspapers\, including Newsweek\, The Des Moines Register\, and the Omaha World Herald. \nHe has recently written a book entitled: “A Practical Farmer’s Journey\, A History of Community\, Stewardship\, and Resilience”. The publishing company is Hamilton Books which is a division of Bloomsbury Press. \nRon and Maria have seven grandchildren\, one of whom is deceased. They have been married for 47 years.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-ron-rosmann-a-practical-farmers-journey-a-history-of-community-stewardship-and-resilience/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ron-Rosmann-1.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260418T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260418T173000
DTSTAMP:20260318T175403Z
CREATED:20260318T172612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260318T175403Z
UID:10500-1776529800-1776533400@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Elizabeth Zaleski - The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure
DESCRIPTION:With excitement\, Francie & Finch welcomes you to join us for a visit from author Elizabeth Zaleski! She will be presenting her new book of personal essays\, The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure and writes about the book\, “If you’ll bear with me\, we’re going to get a bit technical. And then\, I promise\, it will all start to matter.”\nTo order a copy\, follow the link HERE!\nAbout the Book:\nWhether failing to restrain herself from trying to find greater meaning in roadkill\, or to convince her dad that psychedelic mushrooms will not save his marriage\, or to believably perform enthusiasm for her teammates\, Elizabeth Zaleski is trying hard and failing spectacularly\, and thankfully\, she takes us along for the ride. \nFunny\, intimate\, and candid\, The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure debuts an exciting new voice. From growing up in a quirky family in rural northeast Ohio and attending a Mennonite high school as a lapsed Catholic to struggling to get over a particularly well-endowed lover and suffering intestinal calamity while searching for closure\, Zaleski’s stories are at once captivating in their singularity and recognizable in their truthfulness. Fans of Tim Kreider and Sloane Crosley will appreciate Zaleski’s levity and wit as she takes aim at such time-honored institutions as pet ownership and gives clear-eyed dispatches from the no man’s land that is an HPV diagnosis. \nAs Zaleski writes\, “If you’ll bear with me\, we’re going to get a bit technical. And then\, I promise\, it will all start to matter.” \nAbout the Author:\nElizabeth Zaleski is the author of The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure. Elizabeth grew up in rural northeast Ohio\, in Amish country. After living and traveling all over the US\, she now lives in slightly less rural northeast Ohio\, outside Akron. She works as an editor and is the curator of GreatFartsofLiterature.com. Her essays have appeared in journals such as Hippocampus\, The Normal School\, and The Missouri Review. \nPraise for The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure:\n“Funny and introspective. . . . Wit and intelligence shine through the prose.” —Julia Dillman\, Foreword Reviews \n“I read an advanced copy of Elizabeth Zaleski’s The Trouble with Loving Poets and Other Essays on Failure based on a single newsletter sent out from her publisher at Belt\, Anne Trubek. It’s a delight to pick up a book by a writer totally unknown to you and finish it in a single day.” —Austin Kleon\, NYT-bestselling author of Steal Like an Artis \n“Softly deviant\, . . . [Zaleski’s] collection of essays on failure is charming and frank and disproves my hypothesis that publishers only release personal essay collections by the world’s dullest people. Zaleski: not dull! An oddball from rural Ohio with a crazy family who writes what I always wanted ‘alt lit’ to be: the lucid prose of an original mind living an unconventional life. . . . It is the type of book destined to be ignored by the few remaining reviewing organs\, and everything about it is hostile to any conceivable algorithm. So\, vote with your dollars!” —Molly Young\, former book critic for the NYT\, book recommender extraordinaire\, and maker of many cool things \n“Turns breakups\, lost faith and literary letdowns into sharply funny reflections on failure. . . . I would call the score-keeping unhealthy if it weren’t so funny[\, but] I must admire the courage Zaleski provides in her unsparing honesty.” —Brendan Tynan Buck\, Newcity Lit
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-elizabeth-zaleski-the-trouble-with-loving-poets-and-other-essays-on-failure/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260419T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260419T170000
DTSTAMP:20260408T190748Z
CREATED:20260408T172400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T190748Z
UID:10510-1776585600-1776618000@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Tom Hallman\, Jr.\, - Dispatches Across America
DESCRIPTION:Calling all writers that believe in the power of story to connect\, illuminate and move readers.\n  \nTom Hallman Jr.\, who won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing\, is a senior editor at Colliers magazine. He is in charge of Dispatches Across America\, a gathering place for stories that rise from the ground beneath our feet that reveal the texture of American life. Here\, essays and stories arrive like brushstrokes on our vast cultural canvas\, each one drawn from somewhere across the heartland. A small town at dusk\, a metropolitan city after dark\, a fleeting moment\, a hidden subculture\, a quiet crossroads. \nTogether\, they form a living portrait of America as it is felt in real time — tender\, restless\, ordinary\, extraordinary. It is the voice of the people\, shared with the nation. \nIf you are interested in contributing\, contact Tom at thallmanjr@gmail.com \nAll of Tom’s books\, Stories from the Banks\, Dispatches from 1320\, Sam: the Boy Behind the Mask and A Strangers Gift are all available for puchase at Francie & Finch Bookshop.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/dispatches-across-america/
LOCATION:NE
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/tom-hallman.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260425T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260425T173000
DTSTAMP:20260423T144801Z
CREATED:20260325T172951Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260423T144801Z
UID:10505-1777111200-1777138200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Independent Bookstore Day 2026
DESCRIPTION:Come take part in Independent Bookstore Day 2026! We will be open from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM in celebration of the special role that independent bookstores hold in our communities. We can’t wait to see you there!\nFrancie & Finch Bookshop is pleased to welcome the following authors during this celebration:\nAlan Bartels will be at the shop from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM\, presenting his new book Secret Nebraska Sandhills: A Guide to the Weird\, Wonderful\, and Obscure.\nAbout the Author:\nWhen not writing\, lifelong Nebraskan and US Army veteran Alan J. Bartels works a day job devoted to natural resources conservation. He’s been published in National Geographic\, USA Today\, and Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine. In 2025 Alan received the Friend of the Byway award from the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway and the Friend of Tourism award from the Nebraska Tourism Commission. A past governor bestowed Alan with the honorary title of Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska–quite a feat considering Nebraska’s triple landlocked location.\nAbout the Book:\nIn Secret Nebraska Sandhills: A Guide to the Weird\, Wonderful\, and Obscure\, longtime Nebraskan storyteller and photographer Alan J. Bartels provides a one-of-a-kind look into the region’s lesser-known history and culture\, discovered sometimes by accident but also through dogged research\, and folklore\, memories\, and mythology shared by generous Sandhills residents. \nPatti Cherney will be at the shop from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM\, presenting her new children’s book Mikey the Monkey Meets the Dentist.\nAbout the Author:\nWith over 45 years of experience as a dental hygienist\, author Patti Cherney is passionate about educating patients and promoting lifelong oral health. Her clinical background spans pedodontics\, periodontics\, and general dentistry. For more than 25 years\, she has also served as an educator for dentists and dental hygienists\, and currently teaches as adjunct clinical faculty in periodontology at Creighton University School of Dentistry.\nAbout the Book:\nA toothache turns into a teachable moment when Mikey the Monkey meets a kind and clever dentist who helps him smile again. Through four simple steps\, Mikey learns how to keep his teeth healthy—making dental visits less scary and a lot more fun! Written by a real dental hygienist\, this charming story helps kids:\n• Learn what happens at the dentist\n• Build good brushing and fl ossing habits\n• Feel confi dent about dental care
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/independent-bookstore-day-2/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260502T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260502T173000
DTSTAMP:20260408T182135Z
CREATED:20260408T175032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T182135Z
UID:10514-1777739400-1777743000@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Michael Clair -  We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic's Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes
DESCRIPTION:Join us at 4:30 PM on Saturday\, May 2nd as we welcome Michael Clair an author and reporter at MLB.com specializing in international baseball and the World Baseball Classic. His new book We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball dives into the remarkable story of the Czech Republic’s national baseball team\, moving from underdogs to a team on the world stage.\nAbout the Book:\nDespite long odds and low funds\, the Czech Republic’s national baseball team of amateur players managed to shock the world at the 2023 World Baseball Classic—the sport’s World Cup—when they took an upset win against Spain in the WBC qualifiers and then defeated China in the actual tournament\, securing their place in the upcoming 2026 tournament. While the rest of the teams in the WBC rely on experienced professionals\, and some like Italy and Great Britain bring in American “passport” players\, the Czech Republic’s roster consists almost entirely of amateur players who were born and have played only within the Central European nation. The team’s roster consists of firefighters\, teachers\, financial auditors\, and field caretakers—even the manager is a neurologist!—and yet the team managed to not only compete on the international stage but succeed against global superstars like Shohei Ohtani. \nIn a world where athletes have become multi-million-dollar legends\, We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball reveals how teamwork\, sacrifice\, and self-belief can still make a difference. Michael Clair\, who spent time with the Czech team throughout the 2023 World Baseball Classic\, has unparalleled insight on the team and their unlikely success. \nLike the Jamaican bobsled team in Cool Runnings\, Leicester City’s unexpected Premier League soccer title\, and the United States’ remarkable victory against Russia in the 1980 Olympics\, the Czech Republic baseball team has an underdog story everyone can cheer for. Their story proves it’s still possible to build a team from the ground up\, with a small player pool\, little attention\, and a low budget\, and compete on the world stage. \n\n\n\nAbout the Author:\nMichael Clair is a reporter at MLB.com\, specializing in international baseball and the World Baseball Classic. He has written and appeared on the MLB Network shows Carded and Inside Stitch\, featured in the coverage of official World Baseball Classic\, London Series\, and All-Star Game programs\, and has published in Baseball Prospectus and its associated annuals\, as well as Japanese baseball magazine Number. Clair was given the 2024 Global Ambassador Award by MLB. \n\n\nPraise for We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball:\n“Baseball came to Czechoslovakia in 1921\, but the sport has faced a long\, jagged road to penetrate the heart of Central Europe. In We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball Michael Clair chronicles the hardscrabble push of a ragtag group of amateurs determined to do it the right way: homegrown. Clair takes us along as this endearing team of underdogs chases glory on the world stage—or\, if not quite glory\, something perhaps more lasting\, like progress\, respect\, and the fulfillment of a dream that maybe\, just maybe\, baseball can become a truly global pastime.”—Tyler Kepner\, author of the New York Times bestseller K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches and The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series \n“You’ll never find an author and subject better suited for one another\, and Michael Clair’s passion for Czech baseball shines brightly on every page of this delightful book.”—Rob Neyer\, award-winning baseball author and commissioner of the West Coast League \n“Underdog stories usually end in victory. The Czech Republic’s improbable run in the 2023 World Baseball Classic\, with players who had day jobs as firefighters\, electricians\, and teachers\, shows us\, however\, that triumph and victory are not the same thing.”—Craig Calcaterra\, Cup of Coffee newsletter \n“Not long ago\, even the thought that a book might one day be written about the story of Czech baseball would have seemed far too bold—almost unthinkable. Let alone in English. Let alone in the very cradle of the greatest sport in the world. . . . Michael Clair captivates with his passion for the game\, his devotion to everything he believes in. It is an immense honor that he found inspiration in the story of a small country with big baseball dreams.”—Pavel Chadim\, Czech Republic national baseball team manager
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-michael-clair-we-sacrifice-everything-to-baseball-how-the-czech-republics-amateur-underdogs-became-world-baseball-classic-heroes/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Michael-Clair.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260609T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260609T183000
DTSTAMP:20260507T193021Z
CREATED:20260506T171539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T193021Z
UID:10534-1781026200-1781029800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Garrett Peck - The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop
DESCRIPTION:On Tuesday\, June 9th\, we welcome author and historian Garrett Peck\, from New Mexico\, to Francie & Finch Bookshop! He will be presenting his book\, The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop. The book explores Cather’s travels to the Southwest that inspired her to write her “best book” (her words)\, Death Comes for the Archbishop. We can’t wait to see you there!\nCall or visit our website to order your copy now! \nAbout the Book:\nAuthor and historian Garrett Peck traces Willa Cather’s adventures in the Southwest and how they influenced her best book. Six months before she died\, Willa Cather called her 1927 novel Death Comes for the Archbishop her “best book.” The Atlantic magazine concurred\, including Archbishop on its Great American Novels list in 2024. A perennial favorite for people who love New Mexico\, the novel tells an unusual story of two French priests and best friends serving on the American frontier before the arrival of the railroad. This Western work of fiction is loosely based on two historical figures\, Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Bishop Joseph Machebeuf. \nIn The Bright Edges of the World\, Garrett Peck explores how Cather’s travels to the Southwest inspired her writing. She visited the Southwest six times between 1912 and 1926\, and from these journeys came three novels\, the last of which was Death Comes for the Archbishop. Through Cather’s letters\, postcards\, articles\, and interviews\, Peck traces how integral travel was to Cather’s imagination while highlighting the vital contribution that Cather’s longtime partner\, Edith Lewis\, made to the story. The Bright Edges of the World is richly illustrated to highlight Cather and Lewis’s extensive Southwestern adventures. \nThough Archbishop is a work of fiction\, Peck explores how Cather wove some of the most legendary people in New Mexican history into her novel\, such as Archbishop Lamy\, Kit Carson\, and Padre Antonio José Martínez\, while subtly hinting toward the complexity of Pueblo Indian and Navajo (Diné) faith. Archbishop is a multicultural novel that reflects the diversity of New Mexico’s people. \nDeath Comes for the Archbishop remains a timeless book of friendship on the American frontier and an inspiration for people who\, as Cather wrote\, “have gone a-journeying in New Mexico on the trail of the Archbishop.” \nAbout the Author:\nGarrett Peck is an author\, independent historian\, and tour guide in Santa Fe\, specializing in adventure travel and historic and cultural interpretation. He leads the Willa Cather’s Santa Fe tour\, teaches stargazing\, and leads many other tours. \nThe author of nine books about American history\, Garrett’s latest is The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop (University of New Mexico Press\, March 2026). The book explores Cather’s travels to the Southwest that inspired her to write her “best book” (her words)\, Death Comes for the Archbishop. \nGarrett has lectured for the Library of Congress\, the National Archives\, Smithsonian Associates\, the New Mexico History Museum\, historical societies\, and literary clubs. A native Californian\, he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and George Washington University and is a U.S. Army veteran. \nPraise for The Bright Edges of the World:\n“The Bright Edges of the World: Willa Cather and Her Archbishop is both a deep dive into one of Cather’s most beloved classics and also an exhilarating guided trek through a rugged slice of Southwestern literary history.” – Kali Fajardo-Anstine\, author of Woman of Light: A Novel\n\n“A well-researched and timely synopsis of the genesis of Cather’s Archbishop. The contextualization of her ‘best book’ through historical analysis and biography is refreshing. Peck thoughtfully traverses the captivating landscape and diverse cultures of the Southwest alongside Willa Cather\, her partner Edith Lewis\, and an assemblage of real and fictionalized characters.” – Ashley Olson\, executive director of the National Willa Cather Center \n“An entertaining and informative popular history of New Mexico as well as a strong work of literary scholarship.” – Gary Scharnhorst\, author of Bret Harte: Opening the American Literary West
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-garrett-peck-the-bright-edges-of-the-world-willa-cather-and-her-archbishop/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Garrett-Peck-1.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260613T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260613T173000
DTSTAMP:20260519T174600Z
CREATED:20260519T173128Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T174600Z
UID:10542-1781368200-1781371800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Lisa Knopp -  Ravelings: Essays on Love\, Loss\, and Wonder (American Lives )
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome author Lisa Knopp on June 13th at 4:30! She will read from her recent book of essays\, Ravelings\, published by the University of Nebraska Press.\nTo order a copy of the book\, follow the link HERE.\n\nAbout the Book: \n\nIn Ravelings\, Lisa Knopp takes up an older\, opposing meaning of the verb “ravel”—“to entangle”—as she explores the deaths and departures of loved ones and the rituals by which we mourn and honor them\, while contemplating her relationships with writing\, spirituality\, sense of home\, aging\, desire\, and the relationship between body and mind. Entangled in these losses and changes\, Knopp experiences wonder\, joy\, connectivity\, and wholeness. \n\nIn these nimble and companionable essays\, Knopp considers hunger and fullness through ethical\, disordered\, and mindful eating; awakens to common magic through two chance encounters with a magician; and finds humility and empowerment as an unpartnered sixty-year-old woman in a ballroom dance class filled with young couples. Knopp comprehends her experiences with nuance\, revealing time and again that the same ravel of text can encompass the blending in a single moment of the exotic and mundane\, of fullness and want\, of love and abhorrence\, of desire and contentment\, of freedom and bondage\, of severance and connection\, and of the creative act as both an evocation and an imposition.\n\nAbout the Author:\nLisa Knopp is a professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is the author of eight books\, including From Your Friend\, Carey Dean: Letters from Nebraska’s Death Row\, Interior Places (Nebraska\, 2008)\, and The Nature of Home: A Lexicon and Essays (Nebraska\, 2002).\n\nPraise for Ravelings\n“When I finished this book\, I just wanted to write as my book review\, ‘Buy this book. Read it.”’1\,200 times on the page. ” — Carolyn-Roy Bornstein Hippocampus Review\n\n“[Knopp is] well-read\, offering perspectives from other writers\, and she’s at home in the world of nature after years of writing essays on that topic. Her metaphors and insights are apt and moving\, making this collection a joy.”—Booklist\n\n“Lisa Knopp’s essays invite us to notice the things of daily life while pointing us to what shimmers just beyond our line of vision. Knopp is clear-eyed and reverent as she harnesses examples from art and etymology\, memory studies and theology\, to explore loss\, aging\, and the rich layers of human appetite. These essays embody the holy work of paying attention\, of forging connection\, and of letting go. A luminous\, tender collection by a master of the form.”—Sonja Livingston\, author of The Virgin of Prince Street\n\n“You want to go deep into Lisa Knopp’s essays. They’re not meant for a quick read. Detail is all. Like the impressionists she refers to\, each one is itself\, often without need for a story. Yet the rich story of her life runs through like a stream—the death of a beloved cat\, the death of parents\, eating doves\, the comfort of a giant sweet potato\, consulting the almanac\, finding a lost car. These beautifully written essays are a record of a life lived with sensitivity and wisdom. Her essay ‘Still Life with Peaches’ is a map for how to see\, how to find words for close-seeing. I couldn’t put this book down.”—Fleda Brown\, author of The End of the Clockwork Universe\n\n“Ravelings beautifully knits together the complexities of the head\, the entanglements of the heart\, and the all-too-human hungers that hit us right in the gut. These essays delve into the rich contradictions of singleness and connection\, balance and chance\, fullness and lack—always with a sense of wonder and intellectual grace. Thoughtful\, poignant\, and beautifully written\, this is a book I will return to again and again.”—Randon Billings Noble\, author of Be with Me Always: Essays\n\n“In this collection of virtuoso essays\, Lisa Knopp puzzles and ravels topics ranging from encountering her mother’s dead body to dancing with a broom. The lowly sweet potato\, the exalted peach\, the art of Renoir and Lassnig\, all warrant her probing consideration. The essay on a familiar feeling with the little-known name of velleity is one of many startling discoveries lifted from the ordinary. With every deep dive into these streams of her life\, we vibrate like a tuning fork\, resonating and enriching our understanding of the intricate balances and delicious contradictions of everyday life.”—Pamela Carter Joern\, author of At the Corner of Past and Future: A Collection of Life Stories
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-lisa-knopp-ravelings-essays-on-love-loss-and-wonder-american-lives/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Lisa-Knopp-1.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260618T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260618T000000
DTSTAMP:20260618T165312Z
CREATED:20240403T050000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260618T165312Z
UID:9576-1781740800-1781740800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Pineapple Days Annual Sale
DESCRIPTION:Shop downtown merchants Tsuru\, Threads\, Lincoln Running CO.\, Stella\, A Novel Idea\, Gomez Art Supply\, Metro Art Gallery\, RayGun\, Ruby Begonias\, The Framing Company and Underground Printing. \n  \nMore to come!
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/pineapple-days-annual-sale/
LOCATION:NE
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Pineapple-Days-2026.pdf
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260630T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260630T183000
DTSTAMP:20260602T175449Z
CREATED:20260527T172413Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260602T175449Z
UID:10549-1782840600-1782844200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book of Poetry Launch - Nicole Lachat in conversation with Ber Anena - The Red We Silk
DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming poet Nicole Lachat as she presents her new book of poetry The Red We Silk. Nicole will be joined in a special conversation with fellow writer\, Ber Anena. This event will be held on Tuesday\, June 30th and is open to the public!\nTo order your copy of The Red We Silk\, follow the link HERE! \nAbout the Book:\nThe Red We Silk collects inherited migrations and the weight of familial journeys into a lyric investigation of displacement and longing. Memory abides in the body and the body in memory\, propelling the speaker through geographical and spiritual landscapes\, desires\, and griefs toward the transformative work of discovery. Tender\, attentive\, and multivocal\, these are poems of belonging beyond borders. \nAbout the Author:\nNicole Lachat was born in Edmonton\, Canada\, to a Peruvian mother and a Swiss father. She holds PhD in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU. Her debut collection\, The Red We Silk\, was the recipient of the 2024 Michael Waters Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in Tinderbox Poetry Journal\, Ruminate Magazine\, One by Jacar Press\, Birdfeast Magazine\, The Puerto Rico Review\, and Poets.org\, among others. She was awarded the 2022 Wilbur Gaffney Poetry Prize through the Academy of American Poets and received a 2024 Individual Arts Fellowship through the Nebraska Arts Council. She is a mentor for Adroit Journal’s 2026 Summer Mentorship Program. Nicole currently resides in Canada. \n\n\n\n\nAbout Speaker:\nBer Anena is a writer from Gulu\, Uganda. She attended the MFA Writing program at Columbia University and is finalizing a PhD in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she has received the Vreeland Prize for Fiction and the Susan Atefat Peckham Prize for Poetry. Anena’s debut poetry collection\, A Nation in Labour\, won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2018. Her works appear in or are forthcoming from Transition Magazine\, Wasafiri\, Prairie Schooner\, The Atlantic\, adda\, Off  Assignment and Black Warrior Review. Her prose has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and nominated forthe Pushcart. Anena’s memoir\, THE LIES WE TELL FOR AMERICA is out on November 10\, 2026 from Flatiron Books by Macmillan. \nPraise for collection:\n“The Red We Silk is an impressive debut that captures with elegance and ease the truly twenty-first century phenomenon of multiple migrations and cultural intersections as they manifest in the body of a gifted poet. Nicole Lachat frames these considerations within the Peruvian myth of Chasqui\, who becomes for her a migrant voicing the poetic implications of uprooting and replanting in different spaces. Lachat’s brilliantly generous poems of deep sentiment and spiritual interrogation explore themes of family\, memory\, place\, and desire with resonant beauty.”–Kwame Dawes \n“Reader\, this is no ordinary debut. Nicole Lachat knows that all borders are lies. Citizen and immigrant. Land and body. Parent and child. The quick and the dead. Whatever lines you believe in\, whatever lines you draw\, prepare to have them dissolved. ‘Because you come / ready for war–swearing lightning\, swearing / thunder–I come light-footed. I become / leaf.’ Lachat is here to say that no onehas the right to divide us\, not even us\, that our survival depends on this: knowing we are each other\, knowing we can still become our softest selves. The Red We Silk will change you.”–Rebecca Gayle Howell \n“In this timely debut\, Nicole Lachat’s lyric verve shapes the very ground of ordinary living into a personal history that threads memory with an urgent desire for bonds that survive and transform the temporal\, emotional\, and otherwise disfiguring work of distance. Arresting and smashing.”–Canisia Lubrin
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-of-poetry-launch-nicole-lachat-in-conversation-with-ber-anena-the-red-we-silk/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260716T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260716T190000
DTSTAMP:20260706T213012Z
CREATED:20260706T205315Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260706T213012Z
UID:10585-1784223000-1784228400@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Pulse by Maria Nazos in Conversation with Debra F. Nordyke
DESCRIPTION:Maria Nazos sits down with Debra Nordyke to talk about her latest book of poetry\, Pulse. \nJoin us for this amazing author event!  Book signing to follow the talk. \n“Named for the Pulse nightclub shooting and the rhythm of heartbeats\, this collection of poems grapples with finding life amid profound losses. The poems of PULSE look deeply into a troubled world\, inspecting what makes us suffer and demonstrating how we overcome difficulties. PULSE interrogates painful losses of friends to cancer\, harmful politics\, hate crimes\, and mass shootings\, including the 2016 massacre at Pulse nightclub. Maria Nazos examines the life force that continues to pulse relentlessly through a fragmented world\, that enables us to flow\, breathe\, and regenerate\, even through grief and loss. From Provincetown beaches and Costa Rican crab shacks to Midwestern plains and a Tampa nightclub\, the collection moves through madness\, redemption\, and love”– Provided by publisher. \nABOUT THE AUTHORS: \nMaria Nazos is the author of PULSE (Omnidawn 2026) and The Slow Horizon that Breathes (World Poetry Books\, 2023)\, a collection of translations from the Greek poet Dimitra Kotoula. Her poetry\, essays\, and translations have appeared in Poets and Writers\, Literary Hub\, The New Yorker\, and other publications. Maria has held a wide range of jobs\, including whale-watching boat attendant\, table dancer\, and\, arguably\, the worst waitress on Cape Cod. If she spilled Pinot Noir on you\, she apologizes. You can find her at www.marianazos.com. \nDebra F. Nordyke  is a current member of The Writer’s Place of Kansas City and a resident at The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow.I volunteer my time crafting the flyers to promote poetry readings and other events. \nPre-Order HERE\n 
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-pulse-by-maria-nazos-in-conversation-with-debra-f-nordyke/
LOCATION:NE
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260718T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260718T173000
DTSTAMP:20260623T182552Z
CREATED:20260602T174103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260623T182552Z
UID:10566-1784392200-1784395800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Alena Bruzas in conversation with Allison Bitz - The Broken Edge of the World
DESCRIPTION:Francie & Finch Bookshop is pleased to host the celebratation of the launch of Alena Bruzas 3rd novel\, The Broken Edge of the World! Come hear her in conversation with cherished local author Allison Bitz! We can’t wait to see you there!\nPre-order your copy of The Broken Edge of the World\, here!\nAbout the Book:\nTheir love is destined\, but can it survive her compulsion for beauty? Haunting and steamy\, this spellbinding fantasy romance will enthrall you with its alluring concoction of traditional Grimm’s and modern thrills. \n“With deft\, atmospheric prose and lush\, otherworldly lore\, Bruzas captures the essence of self-identity\, belonging and the kind of love that both consumes and inspires. A dazzling modern fairytale.”\n—Kika Hatzopoulou\, bestselling author of Threads That Bind \nSylvie has taken a summer job at a remote and alluring prairie preserve in the middle of the Great Plains. It’s a much-needed escape—from her sadness\, from her cruelly distant father\, and maybe even from herself: She longs to be free of the intrusive\, obsessive thoughts that are her constant burden. \nSoon\, she finds herself drawn to a stunning shepherd boy and can’t stop herself from going to him at night\, even though she’s been warned to keep away. During the day\, though\, she begins to develop a friendship with another boy\, a strange-looking and strangely gentle coworker named Jack . . . and gradually to uncover the mysteries of this place that feels more like home than anyplace has before it. \nBut those mysteries include a powerful curse\, and when she uncovers the truth of it\, she becomes recklessly determined to break it—to free the one trapped in its spell. She fails to consider the possibility that her actions could break much more than just the curse\, and that some burdens demand to be borne. \nAbout the Author:\nAlena Bruzas grew up in Seattle and currently lives in Lincoln\, Nebraska\, with her family. She is the author of the acclaimed novels To the Bone and Ever Since\, and she hopes her writing will find the people who need it most. When she’s not writing\, Alena works at a bookstore and serves on the board for Ten Thousand Villages\, Lincoln. She also occasionally cooks dinner\, worries about commas\, and wanders the prairie. \nPraise for The Broken Edge of the World:\n“This psychologically incisive supernatural novel by Bruzas blends the eerie cadence of dark fairy tales with modern suspense to probe themes of obsession. Sylvie’s unflinchingly self-critical yet deeply empathetic first-person narration captures both the claustrophobic logic of her OCD and the aching vulnerability of a girl desperate to be seen and loved. It all adds up to a sensitive\, fully fleshed-out portrayal of one teen navigating grief alongside mental health challenges.”—Publishers Weekly \n“Recommended\, particularly for readers who enjoy retellings inspired by fairy tales.”—School Library Journal
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-alena-bruzas-the-broken-edge-of-the-world/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Alena-Bruzas-3.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260807T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260807T173000
DTSTAMP:20260714T192116Z
CREATED:20260428T174948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T192116Z
UID:10530-1786120200-1786123800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Colleen Morton Busch in conversation with Judy Lorenzen - Smolder
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome Ex Ophidia’s 2025 winner for the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize\, Colleen Morton Busch\, as she presents her book of poetry Smolder. Colleen will be joined in conversation by writer Judy Lorenzen. We will see you there! \nAbout the Book:\nSmolder takes its title from a diagnosis my husband received 20 years ago\, of smoldering multiple myeloma—a treatable but incurable blood cancer we’d never heard of before. At that time\, the prescribed treatment was: Don’t do anything. Just watch and wait for myeloma to cause problems. Sometimes the title comes before the work. This lush word—smolder—plucked from the natural world and set down amid arid clinical terms and bewildering medical advice captivated me. I immediately wanted to write a collection of poems entitled Smolder. I did write some of the poems. But then I spent the next two decades working in prose. Eventually\, I found my way back to poetry and its ability to relate a story and accrue meaning the way only a poem can. I had my title\, Smolder\, but now I had the embodied experience of twenty years to spark and sustain the poems. Smolder explores the many kinds of fire blazing inside a life. Fires of rage\, grief\, lust\, loss\, uncertainty and acceptance. They’re love poems\, elegies\, prayers\, howls\, meditations. Together\, the poems reveal what it’s like to live with the open flame of a tender heart \nAbout the Author:\nColleen Morton Busch is the 2025 winner of the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize\, an annual poetry book contest by Ex Ophidia Press. Busch’s winning collection Smolder is a collection of poems about that many kinds of fire blazing inside life. Busch is the author of “Fire Monks: Zen Minds Meets Wildfire” (Penguin Press\, 2011) that was named best book of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. Her prose and poems have been published widely\, from Willow Springs\, Poet Lore\, and Belleview Literary Review\, to Orion\, The Washington Post\, Tricycle\, and the Ekphrastic Review. Smolder is her first poetry collection \nFor more about her work\, visit www.colleenmortonbusch.com \nAbout Guest:\nJudy Lorenzen\, a former children’s librarian and English teacher\, is a poet\, writer and teaching artist\, who lives on a farm in Central City\, where she enjoys the vast beauty of the Great Plains every day of her life. Her works appear in journals\, anthologies\, newspapers\, magazines\, and on calendars and websites. Her first book\, Turning Back to Her Love Pages\, was published in May 2025\, Kelsay Books. Her second book\, Seasons of Reverence\, a poetic memoir of her life on the Great Plains\, released June 2026.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-colleen-morton-busch-in-conversation-with-judy-lorenzen-smolder/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Colleen-Morton-Busch.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260808T173000
DTSTAMP:20260721T171448Z
CREATED:20260718T225604Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260721T171448Z
UID:10601-1786206600-1786210200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Meet Nebraska Historian Ed Zimmer - Nebraska Telephone Company History and Beyond
DESCRIPTION:Francie & Finch Bookshop is celebrating 10 years in the historic Telephone Building! Join us on August 8th as beloved local historian and author Ed Zimmer takes us on an in-depth journey through the history of our home\, the LincolnTelephone Building and the Nebraska Telephone Company!\nFollowing the talk\, Ed’s publications\, including all 3 volumes of Walking the Near South\, will be available for purchase and signing! We can’t wait to see you there!\nAbout the Speaker:\nEd Zimmer is a native of Omaha. He spent over a decade studying and working in Boston\, earning a Ph.D. in architectural history from Boston University in 1984. While in Massachusetts he freelanced as a researcher and writer for clients including Harvard’s Peabody Museum\, the National Park Service\, and Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. \nEd served as Lincoln’s historic preservation planner for 35 years\, retiring in 2020. From 1996 until 2015\, he was also an elected member of the LPS Board of Education. Ed and his wife Pat walk several miles daily\, enjoying Lincoln’s trails\, parks\, and neighborhoods\, while continuing to learn about and share our community’s histor
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/meet-nebraska-historian-ed-zimmer-nebraska-telephone-company-history-and-beyond/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Ed-Zimmer-1.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260810T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260810T183000
DTSTAMP:20260722T174608Z
CREATED:20260714T175705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260722T174608Z
UID:10592-1786383000-1786386600@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - David Moscovich - Premieres: A Memoir in Verse
DESCRIPTION:Francie and Finch Bookshop is pleased to welcome back author David Moscovich! Join us as we celebrate Premieres: A Memoir in Verse!\nBooks available for purchase at the event with author signing to follow talk. \nAbout the Author: David Moscovich (it/its) is the Romanian-American author of four novels and two books of poetry: You Are Make Very Important Bathtime (JEF Books\, 2013)\, LIFE+70[Redacted](Lit Fest Press\, 2016)\, Blink if You Love Me (Adelaide\, 2019)\, and Manhattan Other (Adelaide\, 2023). Workday [CAPTCHA Poems] is now available from BlazeVOX. Moscovich runs Louffa Press\, a small press publisher of chapbooks and artist books and triangulates between New York\, Portugal and Nebraska. \nAbout the Book:\n“A uniquely touching meditation on the parental experience.”\n—Ross Benes\, author of Rural Rebellion \n“In keeping track of daily life and history’s sharp turns through the indignities a baby inflicts on the parent or parents\, David Moscovich finds a bright new way to tell a story. Never has the baby’s incapacity to recognize the needs of another been so humorously or so lovingly explored as in this book. Language itself emerges in Premieres as that impossible bridge that nonetheless bridges\, that imperfect realization that nonetheless counts.”\n—Leonard Schwartz\, author of Flacofolio and Actualities \n“From first smiles to first words\, David Moscovich’s Premieres is a tender\, funny and deeply observant memoir chronicling the first three years of his daughter’s life.”\n—Mike Topp\, author of Shorts Are Wrong
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-david-moscovich-premieres-a-memoir-in-verse/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/David-Moscovich-August-2026.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260815T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260815T173000
DTSTAMP:20260721T174339Z
CREATED:20260721T174339Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260721T174339Z
UID:10608-1786811400-1786815000@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Matt Schur - Even This is Holy Ground: Poetry
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome back poet Matt Schur! He will be reading from his new book of poetry Even This is Holy Ground. Read more about it below!\nTo order your copy of his new book\, follow the link HERE: \nAbout the Book:\nEven This Is Holy Ground is a poetry collection rooted in Christian faith and unafraid of the world as it actually is. \nWith clarity and conviction\, these poems confront Christian nationalism\, cheap grace\, and the harm done in God’s name. They refuse easy explanations for suffering. They push back against platitudes. They name grief—personal and collective—without looking away. And yet\, resurrection remains. Not as sentiment or denial\, but as costly\, embodied hope. \nThis collection is for readers who love the church and wrestle with it. For those who believe and doubt in the same breath. For those who are weary of certainty but unwilling to surrender hope. For anyone searching for a faith spacious enough for lament\, fierce enough for truth\, and grounded enough to call even this—especially this—holy. \nAbout the Author:\nMatt Schur hails from Lincoln\, Nebraska. He holds a BA in English from Truman State University and an MA in Systematic Theology from Luther Seminary. Matt has preached in churches across Nebraska and currently serves two congregations as a Synodically Authorized Minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). When he’s not writing\, preaching\, or making music\, Matt can often be found cheering on his beloved Huskers and Red Sox with his wife and kids. Even This Is Holy Ground is his third poetry collection.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-matt-schur-even-this-is-holy-ground-poetry/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Matt-Schur-2026.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260818T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260818T183000
DTSTAMP:20260729T175744Z
CREATED:20260725T174637Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T175744Z
UID:10614-1787074200-1787077800@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Marlene Zuk - Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome author and evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk to Francie & Finch Bookshop at 5:30 on August 18th to sign copies of her book Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us! Marlene will be visiting Lincoln as the keynote speaker for the annual Arthropodium 2026 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln!\nTo learn more about this seperate event visit https://caremi.unl.edu/events-news/upcoming-events/\n(About Arthropodium 2026: \nThe signature annual gathering of the University of Nebraska’s Community for Arthropod Research\, Education\, and Materials Innovation (CAREMI)\, a growing interdisciplinary initiative that brings together researchers\, educators\, engineers\, artists\, and students to explore how arthropods—such as insects\, spiders\, and crustaceans—can inspire new approaches to challenges in health\, sustainability\, materials science\, robotics\, and public engagement with science. The 2026 Arthropodium will highlight the growing national visibility of arthropodinspired innovation with internationally recognized leaders in science\, art\, and culinary innovation.) \nTo order a copy of Marlene’s book from F&F\, follow the link HERE!\nAbout the Book:\n“This is a truly compelling book\, rich with scientific expertise and humor.”–Isabella Rossellini \nFrom one of our foremost experts on behavioral evolution\, an entertaining exploration of what raccoons\, rats\, and other animal intruders teach us about intelligence\, adaptability\, and ourselves \nWhen we think of animals that provide the greatest insights into animal cognition and behavior\, primates and honeybees come to mind\, or perhaps whales or octopus. What about the raccoons that plunder our rubbish at night\, or the coyotes that threaten pets and livestock\, or the gulls that divebomb for snacks at the beach? Outsider Animals challenges everything you thought you knew about the overlooked animals that live in proximity to humans\, sharing the stories that each has to tell about adaptation and cohabitation on our increasingly crowded planet. \nMarlene Zuk gives us a new appreciation for the animals we often shun\, explaining why these unpopular creatures have something special to teach us not only about the ways we deal with other species but about our own place in nature and what it means for an animal to belong somewhere. You will discover how coyotes and snakes shed light on our coevolution with predators\, what cockroaches tell us about the evolution of pregnancy\, how butterflies make us reconsider the effects of roadside pollution\, how cowbirds and mynas are forcing ecologists to think differently about invasive species\, and much more. \nWriting with an infectious blend of humor and curiosity\, Zuk invites us to reflect on our relationships with these close-to-home creatures and the ways our lives encroach on theirs\, and to draw lessons from their behavior in all its fascinating complexity. \nAbout the Author:\nMarlene Zuk is an evolutionary biologist and author of seven books – most recently\, Outsider Animals – and ~200 scientific publications. Her research integrates behavior\, physiology\, and evolutionary theory to explore how signaling systems evolve under competing pressures from mates\, predators\, and pathogens. Her most recent book is a science-driven exploration of the animals that live alongside humans but are often disliked\, ignored\, or misunderstood.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-marlene-zuk-outsider-animals-how-the-creatures-at-the-margins-of-our-lives-have-the-most-to-teach-us/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Marlene-Zuk.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260829T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260829T173000
DTSTAMP:20260725T201239Z
CREATED:20260725T195954Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260725T201239Z
UID:10619-1788021000-1788024600@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Alexandra Hayne - What Ruth Learned
DESCRIPTION:On Saturday\, August 29th Francie & Finch will be welcoming Omaha author Alexandra Hayne as she presents her debut novel What Ruth Learned\, a novel of “secrets\, reinvention\,and the stories we inherit”!\nCall the shop to pre-order your copy today!\nAbou the Book:\nA novel of secrets\, reinvention\, and the stories we inherit \nRuth Sullivan never expected to return to Los Angeles. But when her life stalls out\, she is pulled back to her hometown — and into the mystery of her family’s past. What begins as a quest to remake her own life becomes a journey through forgotten journals\, faded photographs\, and the shadows of 1950s Hollywood. \nIn a dual-timeline narrative that spans decades\, Ruth uncovers the truth about a woman who called herself C-Note\, a priest with a past\, and a marriage that unraveled under the weight of ambition and silence. As Ruth pieces together the fragments of lives she never knew\, she must confront her own choices\, her fractured family\, and the legacy she is poised to carry forward. \nWhat Ruth learns does change her life\, but not in the way she first imagined. \nAbout the Author:\nAlexandra Hayne was born and raised in Los Angeles in a movie industry family. She graduated from Van Nuys High School at sixteen\, left home\, and promptly flunked out of UCLA. A year later\, a little older and maybe a little wiser\, she returned to college\, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in English from California State University Northridge and a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley. An award-winning journalist\, she worked for thirty-five years as a reporter and editor in print and online news media in California and Iowa\, and\, in Nebraska\, at the Lincoln Journal Star and the Omaha World-Herald\, where she was the founding editor of Omaha.com. She is the mother of three and grandmother of four. When she is not writing\, reading\, or spending time with friends and family\, she can often be found listening to live blues at one of the many fine dive bars in Omaha\, Nebraska\, where she lives. WHAT RUTH LEARNED is her first novel.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-alexandra-hayne-what-ruth-learned/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Alexandra-Hayne.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260903T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260903T183000
DTSTAMP:20260812T175422Z
CREATED:20260804T180405Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T175422Z
UID:10624-1788456600-1788460200@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Visiting Author - Van Jensen - Godfall
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we welcome back to Francie & Finch Bookshop author Van Jensen! We will be celebrating the hardcover publication of his novel Godfall\, and will be hearing about the sequal\, Godrise\, set to release in January 2027!\nTo order the hardcover of Godfall\, follow the link HERE!\nTo pre-order a copy of Godrise\, give us a call at 402-781-0459! \nAbout Book 1 – Godfall:\nIn this riveting contemporary thriller\, Sheriff David Blunt is faced with a string of murders following the arrival of a mystery from out space—soon to be a television series from Ron Howard! \n“A fully engrossing\, genre-bending procedural that will have you staying up long past your bedtime.” -Karin Slaughter\, New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of Pretty Girls \nAll David Blunt wanted was to be sheriff of his hometown\, Little Springs\, Nebraska\, population 731. But his days of simply keeping the peace among the locals he’s known all his life are upended by a series of brutal\, bizarre murders—all happening in the wake of an event truly out of this world. One year ago\, just outside the town\, a being fell to Earth. Whatever it is\, it’s three miles tall\, seemingly dead\, and definitely not human. \nDubbed “the giant\,” the being’s arrival has transformed this quaint farm town from the middle of nowhere into the most important city on the planet. Yes\, a city\, complete with a top-secret government research site and a hundred thousand new residents: soldiers\, scientists\, bureaucrats\, spies\, criminals\, conspiracy theorists—and now a murderer. \nDavid never thought his job would involve breaking up chanting crowds of cultists or brokering peace with dueling government agencies\, all against the backdrop of the otherworldly. And as he faces a murder spree that strikes closer and closer to home\, David has to solve multiple mysteries—what fell from the sky\, how it’s connected to the killings right in front of him\, and who the killer is—before he loses his hometown forever. \nAbout Book 2 – Godrise: (Release date\, January 26th\, 2027)\nIn the shadow of the giant—the three‑mile‑tall alien that dropped down\, seemingly dead\, just outside of town—Little Springs continues to grow: 200\,000 people and still expanding rapidly. Crisis looms as they come to realize there is not enough water for all of them. A tech industry titan decides to dam a river and pipe its water into the city\, which sparks off a quickly growing protest. The dam is to be built on the historic site of a Lakota massacre at the hands of the U.S. army. Sheriff David Blunt is tasked with mediating the conflict\, an assignment that becomes impossible when a protester turns up dead—murdered\, David believes. \nMeanwhile\, scientist Sunny Lee is on the verge of a breakthrough to understanding the truth of the giant. Except\, to unlock its mysteries\, she’ll have to venture into the giant itself and risk touching off a cataclysm. All the while\, worrying omens appear\, indicating that the blade stabbed through the giant is spreading its infection—an alien life form with its own dark agenda.\n \nAbout the Author:\nVan Jensen is an acclaimed novelist\, screenwriter\, and comic book writer. Godfall\, his debut novel\, is in development as a TV series with Academy Award winner Ron Howard attached to direct. Jensen began his career as a newspaper crime reporter\, then broke into comic books and graphic novels as the writer of ARCA (IDW)\, Two Dead (Gallery 13)\, and Tear Us Apart (Dark Horse). Jensen has written world-renowned characters\, including Superman\, The Flash\, Green Lantern\, Godzilla\, and James Bond. He has served as a Comic Book Ambassador for the U.S. State Department\, teaching refugee children to tell their stories through comics. He lives in Atlanta.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/visiting-author-van-jensen-godfall/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Pink-Vintage-Jazz-Open-Mic-Poster.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260916T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260916T183000
DTSTAMP:20260818T182517Z
CREATED:20260818T174956Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260818T182517Z
UID:10633-1789579800-1789583400@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Panel Discussion - The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees: Tales of Migration\, Hope\, Grief\, and Finding Home in Nebraska
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday September 16th at 5:30 as we hear stories from the new book from University of Nebraska Press\, The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees: Tales of Migration\, Hope\, Grief\, and Finding Home in Nebraska. We can’t wait to see you there!\nTo pre-order your copy\, follow the link HERE!\n\nAbout the Book:\nHuman beings have always migrated. To be on the move\, searching for a more hospitable climate\, greater resources\, and a welcoming community\, is part of our human DNA. All kinds of large\, uncontrollable forces—war\, the threat of genocide\, climatic changes\, political exile\, and economic hardship—propel people to leave behind everything familiar and begin their lives over again in a strange place\, sometimes with only the clothes on their backs. \nThe Lives of Immigrants and Refugees offers thirty-one essays by immigrants and refugees who now call Lincoln\, Nebraska\, home. These individuals have found support\, belonging\, and opportunity through the collaborative work of Lincoln’s New Americans Task Force members and the Lincoln/Lancaster County Welcoming and Belonging Strategic Plan. The stories in this book are brilliant\, harrowing\, poetic\, and revelatory. They’re also stories of survival\, resilience\, creativity\, and a staggering amount of work: learning a new language\, navigating a challenging immigration system\, being perceived as a foreigner\, struggling to grasp strange new customs and traditions\, working one’s way out of extreme poverty\, working through trauma and grief. Those of us who have had the good fortune of not being displaced have much to learn by listening. \nAbout the Editors:\nLeirion Gaylor Baird is the mayor of Lincoln\, Nebraska. \n\n\nMatthew F. Bokovoy is a senior acquisitions editor at the University of Nebraska Press\, specializing in Native American and Indigenous studies\, general nonfiction of the American West\, and borderlands history. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Planning Association\, New Mexico Historical Review\, and Reviews in American History. He is the author of The San Diego World’s Fairs and Southwestern Memory\, 1880–1940. \nLisa Guill is communications director at the Asian Community and Cultural Center. She is also the Welcoming Communities coordinator at Cultural Centers of Lincoln. \nMichelle Carr Hassler is associate professor emerita of journalism at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She was a newspaper reporter for sixteen years in Colorado\, Arizona\, and Nebraska. Hassler has received nine national teaching awards\, most from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication-refereed competitions and her students have won national and regional awards\, including the 2023 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Digital Reporting. She was executive director of the Nebraska High School Press Association and received the R. Neale Copple Friend of Journalism Award in 2019. \nJoy Castro is Willa Cather Professor of English and Ethnic Studies and director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the author of the memoir The Truth Book (Nebraska\, 2012)\, the essay collection Island of Bones (Nebraska\, 2012)\, the fiction collection How Winter Began (Nebraska\, 2015)\, and the literary thrillers Hell or High Water\, Nearer Home\, Flight Risk\, and One Brilliant Flame. She edited Family Trouble: Memoirists on the Hazards and Rewards of Revealing Family (Nebraska\, 2013)\, and serves as the founding editor of Machete\, a series in innovative creative nonfiction by underrepresented voices at Ohio State University Press. \nEmira Ibrahimpašić is associate professor of practice in School of Global Integrative Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her research articles have appeared in Translocal: Contemporary Local and Urban Cultures Journal\, Island Studies Journal\, and CAPA: The Global Education Network Academic Publications. \nPraise for the Book:\n“This important collection brings together academics and the Lincoln community to tell about how communities thrive as a result of immigration and change. These stories will make you cry and swell with compassion as you read the harrowing stories of trauma\, resilience\, and triumph directly from the pens of those who have lived through these adventures. These are American stories that reflect the bedrock notion that the United States\, Nebraska\, and Lincoln in particular have always been places that embrace immigrants from all over the world who come seeking a home to start a new life and become part of our community.”—María E. Montoya\, coauthor of Global Americans: A History of the United States \n“This important work chronicles how Lincoln\, Nebraska’s\, residents have created a welcoming haven for the world’s tired\, poor\, and huddled masses yearning to breathe freely. Recounting in first-hand narratives their past victimization\, these women and men simultaneously celebrate how Lincoln has incorporated them into the body politic. In this moment of harrowing national peril\, here is a powerful paradigm for welcoming strangers.”—Ramón A. Gutiérrez\, author of New Mexico’s Moses: Reies López Tijerina and the Religious Origins of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement  \n“This book is a remarkable creative accomplishment. Beyond the sheer poignancy and power of the individual stories\, The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees is a testament to the ways in which municipal policy can and should intersect with public-facing scholarly work. Lincoln\, Nebraska\, can take a big measure of pride in the publication of this book for the ways it honors not only its immigrant and refugee neighbors but also the work of welcoming\, supporting\, and learning from them all.”—William Deverell\, professor of history and codirector of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/panel-discussion-the-lives-of-immigrants-and-refugees-tales-of-migration-hope-grief-and-finding-home-in-nebraska-led-by-editors-joy-castro-and-lisa-lisa-guill/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://francieandfinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-Lives-of-Immigrants-and-Refugees.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T180000
DTSTAMP:20260819T173911Z
CREATED:20260819T173552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T173911Z
UID:10639-1789750800-1789754400@francieandfinch.com
SUMMARY:Book Launch - Luis Othoniel Rosa - El Gato En El Remolino/Animal Spiral
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a book launch you don’t want to miss! On September 18th author Luis Othoniel Rosa will be presenting his book El Gato En El Remolino\, and the English language version\, translated by Katie Marya\, Animal Spiral.\nTo order the Spanish language version\, El Gato En El Remolino\, follow the link HERE!\nTo order the English language version\, Animal Spiral\, follow the link HERE! \nAbout the Book:\nThe post-colonial birth\, life\, and death of the collective consciousness known as the Animal. \nMiddle-aged streamer twins in Bayam n\, Puerto Rico\, are the first human beings to successfully connect–sharing their consciousness across 34 translucent cables. In that moment\, the Animal is born\, an intracerebral force that quickly grows to encompass anthills of synaptically entwined bodies\, a floating library kitchen redolent of rice and beans far above the Mississippi river\, and a transhuman compound in a future Cuba on the Isle of Youth. \nCircling back and forth and ever progressing\, Animal Spiral moves through 400 years of human\, and then post-human history\, beginning with a revolution on the streets of San Juan and ending with five brilliant siblings: the Squash (humanoid)\, Calima (beetles)\, Yemay (eels)\, Coatlicue (serpents)\, and Jurac n (anthropomorphic birds)\, who have millions of bodies and all the world’s intelligence\, but only want to no longer be alone. This is a buoyant\, joyous ode to possibility\, a warning about the dangers of neglecting what makes us human\, and an astonishing exercise of the flexibility and capacity of liminal spaces. Loneliness is a collective disease We defend our right to madness Brave are not the ones who resist; brave are the ones who let go. \nAbout the Author:\nLuis Othoniel Rosa is a Puerto Rican writer from Bayamón. He studied at the University of Puerto Rico and holds a PhD from Princeton University\, and his work engages with questions of literature\, politics and form.Katie Marya is the author of Sugar Work\, the Editor’s Choice for the 2020 Alice James Book Award\, and the translator of Luis Othoniel Rosa’s novel Animal Spiral (2026). She has been awarded the James Dickey Prize in Poetry from Five Points and support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Murray State University. \nAbout the Translator:\nKatie Marya is the author of Sugar Work\, the Editor’s Choice for 2020 Alice James Book Award. Her poetry\, creative nonfiction\, and translations have appeared in literary magazines such as AGNI\, North American Review\, Waxwing\, Salamander\, Fence\, and on the national poetry podcast The Slowdown Show. She lives in Nebraska and teaches writing a the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
URL:https://francieandfinch.com/event/book-launch-luis-othoniel-rosa-el-gato-en-el-remolino-animal-spiral/
LOCATION:Francie & Finch Bookshop\, 130 S. 13th Street\, Lincoln\, NE\, 68508\, United States
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