On today's episode, we welcome Laura Stanfill, author of the new book Imagine A Door: A Writer’s Guide to Unlocking Your Story, Choosing A Publishing Path, and Honoring the Creative Journey, from Portland’s Forest Avenue Press. Laura’s debut novel Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary came out in 2022, from Lanternfish Press. Her writing has appeared in Shondaland, The Rumpus, Catapult, Santa Fe Writers Project, and several print anthologies.
Laura is the founder of Forest Avenue Press, a Portland-based indie publisher now in its 13th year. Reedsy, an organization of writing industry professionals, named Forest Avenue a best independent press for 2022. Their authors have earned prestigious awards and praise from top newspapers and trade journals, including The Washington Post, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews, and The Oregonian.
As an author and publisher, Laura has banked an extensive amount of inside information and wisdom. In Imagine A Door, she very generously shares it with writers new and established, seeking to get their books sold and out to readers. She’s a very kind, supportive, and much loved member of our local literary community, and it’s a great joy for me to welcome her back to Jonesy.
Laura will be reading at Portland’s Annie Bloom’s Books on Thursday, May 1st,, in conversation with Liz Prato. And she’ll be appearing at the Terroir Creative Writing Festival in Dayton, Oregon on Saturday May 3rd. You can sign up for her Substack newsletter here.
- KBOO