Local authors and wine lovers came together Sept. 25 for Merlot and Manuscripts, a literary event hosted by Brian Agner’s Province Wine Group and emceed by Province Writer’s Group facilitator Susan Ratliff, according to InMaricopa.
The event featured six Province-area writers who each read excerpts from their work while the crowd sampled different wines and enjoyed refreshments. Ratliff described the evening as a chance to pair the character of a good book with the qualities of a fine wine.
Among the authors featured were Yvonne Rose, Joe Vass writing as Max Cossack, Tom Schuman, Pete A. Rathfelter, Roger Evans and Kay Fisher. Their selections covered a range of genres, including nonfiction sports, memoir and fiction.
Rose opened with a passage from The Messman, which tells a story about segregation aboard the USS North Carolina during World War II. Schuman followed with a reading from Why Not Us?, a book he said uses sports to tell a broader story about a university community.
Fisher closed the night with an excerpt from Water Data Two: Toxic Bubbles, an environmental mystery centered on the president of a large data-mining company. After the readings, attendees mingled with the authors, who had memorabilia and merchandise available, and Ratliff said there may be more literary events in the future.
