The League of Vermont Writers 2012 Literary Competition

Calling all writers: The League of Vermont Writers (LVW) has announced its 2012 Literary Competition!

This year's theme is "My New England."

Categories are Fiction, Personal Essay, and Poetry.

Entry fee is $15 per submission.

Deadline for submission is May 15, 2012.

The Final Judges are David Budbill, Ron Powers, and Howard Frank Mosher.

Grand Prize is $1,000 (one prize awarded for each category) and an opportunity to read the winning selection at the LVW's Summer Conference, as well as publication in the Leagues 2012 Journal!

For more information about the contest and guidelines, visit the LVW website.

The Further Adventures of Scout and Jem

For everyone hoping for an update on Jem and Scout, our former bookstore kitties, we are happy to share some of the poetry they have inspired their new owner to write. From the sounds of it they are having a ball!

Morning Grand Prix

By Rick Eschholz

I suspect that the spirit of the late Brazilian
Formula-One champion, Ayrton Senna,
overtakes my two cats briefly at exactly
five-thirty every morning. That is when
they kick into high gear. A spectator
in the grandstand that is my bed, I hear
them flying around the house. Their
cadence, paws alternately gripping
for braking power and then the bite
of acceleration, tells me that now they
could only be circumnavigating the
distinctive turns of Interlagos, the setting
for, perhaps, Senna’s most heroic win
in the Brazilian Grand Prix of ninety-one.
After a gearbox failure left him with
only sixth gear, Senna collapsed at the
end of the race. His muscle spasms
visible on the podium, he could
barely lift his trophy overhead.
My cats, too, slump the rest of the day,
and collapse on the couch in the sun,
their calm demeanor belying what comes
out at dawn, what rests in the heart of any
champion: something fierce, untamed, wild.

Check back for future installments of 'cat-inspired poetry!'

Moving Day

It's hard to believe that we've been in our new space for a month already! So far, things are going very well. We continue to move and add things throughout the store, so keep coming by to see what's new since your last visit!

We had such an amazing show of support from our customers and neighbors in Hardwick throughout our moving process. Sadly, some of the photos taken during our move were lost in the bowels of a computer, but here are some wonderful images from the weekend before and day of the move to Main Street. Photos are by Diane Grenkow and Elena Gustavson.

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Moving On

By Sandy

Moving The Galaxy Bookshop has been a challenging and exciting process, but for me, it is also tinged with some sadness. I have never been good at dealing with changes--I will always remember crying over the loss of our brown and green plaid couch when my parents decided it was time to upgrade from the hand-me-down furniture from Great-Grandma's house. Though I am very pleased with our new space, both for its location and its features (beautiful hardwood flooring, vaulted ceiling, wonderful front window with stage area...), I miss the "old" Galaxy Bookshop.

It's natural, I suppose. That bank building was my second home for the past 10 years, and though many of you will remember former incarnations of the bookstore, I only have a vague recollection of visiting the shop as a kid when it was originally on Main Street. To me, The Galaxy Bookshop was the bank building, with its vault and "story teller" drive-through window and tin ceiling and marble floor and fiction shelved in the tall shelves--'A' through 'R' along one wall, with 'S' through 'Z' on the opposite wall--and children's books in the back room, the first books to welcome me to work each morning.

It didn't really hit me until the night before our book parade that this move was really, actually happening, and the bookstore that I had come to know as well as any friend was gone. Not--as I have been reminded--truly gone, but the physical store will never again be the same. When I drive into town to get to work, I now drive by the old store and feel a pang, wishing that I could turn into the parking lot, unlock the tricky back door, unlock the second door, and walk in to be greeted by the familiar smell and the shelves of books on adolescence and parenting issues.

There are a few things that cheer me very much when I begin to feel sad and nostalgic, though. One: The Galaxy Bookshop may look very different, but it's still here! Linda and I and Stella and Claire are here, along with Howard Mosher and Lydia Bastianich and Terry Pratchett and Jim Harrison and Charlotte Bronte and Eric Carle and a thousand other old friends on the shelves. Two: Standing in front of the crowd that showed up to our book moving day and seeing all of those friendly faces looking back, then witnessing the enthusiasm and excitement with which everyone pitched in to help us get set up in our new spot. Three: Greeting people as they walk through the door with wide eyes and words of congratulations. This is where the spirit of The Galaxy Bookshop lives, and no change of address or rearranging of shelves will change that.

Christmas for Two Kitties

One of the most difficult parts of our decision to move has been the understanding that we will not be able to bring our beloved cats, Scout and Jem, along with us. We have had them for over two years now, since they were six weeks old, and they have been wonderful additions to The Galaxy Bookshop. As much as we love them, we want them to have the very best home, and the smaller space on Main Street (which also does not have the extra barrier to the street that we have at the bank building) does not seem like the ideal place for two cats used to roaming upstairs and down at will.

On this Christmas Eve, the two kitties will be going to their new home, one where we are sure they will receive plenty of love and treats and all the tummy rubbing they require. This new home is with one of our customers, and we hope that we will receive updates from time to time on how Scout and Jem are doing. When we do, we'll be sure to share with all of you.

So, please join us in wishing our kitties and their new family well. They (and we) thank you for all of the love they've received from their many friends and fans during their time as bookshop cats.

Merry Christmas, from all of us ~ Linda, Sandy, Stella, Claire, Ivy, Scout, and Jem

Scenes from our Sirius Reader Party

We hope you enjoy this slideshow of scenes from our 23rd Anniversary celebration!

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Thank you for 23 years (and still counting!)

Thanks to everyone who came to the bookstore for our Sirius Reader Party! As always, it was a great pleasure to see so many friendly faces and spend time talking with everyone throughout the day. We had delicious food, including cheeses from the Cellars at Jasper Hill and from Bonnieview Farm, and even a visit from strolling musician Michael Kennedy. We'll be posting photos soon, as well as more information about our upcoming move, but for now, we'll leave you with our anniversary video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRjuL7kKM7k&feature=autoplay&list=HL1322960730&lf=mh_lolz&playnext=1

Video directed, edited, and produced by Claire Greene