Michael N. McGregor in Conversation with Dr. Laura Laffrado

Village Books and Paper Dreams

Welcome Michael N. McGregor back to the Readings Gallery for his newest book, An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life!

Welcome Michael N. McGregor back to the Readings Gallery for his newest book, An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life! Dr. Laura Laffrado from WWU's English Department will be joining him for the afternoon. In his twenties, Michael N. McGregor traveled to the remote Greek island of Patmos to spend two winter months alone, 6,000 miles from home. Although he expected his solitude to be meaningful, he wasn't prepared for how it would change him. Before his island days, McGregor had spent years reporting on the world's poor and months on the road. As he settled into days of rigorous writing, evening walks through fierce wind, and nights full of memories, dreams and spiritual encounters, he learned that solitude can be difficult and even dangerous, but also awe-inspiring and life-altering. Michael N. McGregor is an award-winning author, essayist, journalist, and biographer. His first novel, The Last Grand Tour (January 28, 2025), received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, and his first book, Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax, was a finalist for a Washington State Book Award and several other prizes. The New York Times has praised McGregor's writing as "vivid and engaging" and Image magazine has called it "emotionally honest, intellectually engaging, and profound in its search for spiritual truth." His work covers the range from short to long fiction, reported to personal nonfiction, secular to spiritual contemplation of both inner and outer life. A former professor of creative writing, McGregor holds an MFA from Columbia University and has published over 300 shorter works in publications such as Tin House, StoryQuarterly, Poetry, and Orion. He lives in Seattle. To learn more about McGregor and his work, go to: <a href="http://michaelnmcgregor.com" title="http://michaelnmcgregor.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">michaelnmcgregor.com</a>. Dr. Laura Fernandes Laffrado is an award-winning Professor of English at Western Washington University. She has published widely on American literature in journals such as a/b: Auto/Biography Studies; ESQ; Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers; Literature in the Early Republic; Nathaniel Hawthorne Review; Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture; and many other journals and collections. Among her books are Uncommon Women: Gender and Representation in Nineteenth-Century US Women's Writing and her most recent book, Selected Writings of Ella Higginson: Inventing Pacific Northwest Literature, which received the Society for the Study of American Women Writers 2018 Edition Award. She is currently at work on a biography of Pacific Northwest writer Ella Rhoads Higginson. *Feel free to call Village Books and Paper Dreams for further assistance at 360-671-2626!*

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Michael N. McGregor in Conversation with Dr. Laura Laffrado

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Michael N. McGregor in Conversation with Dr. Laura Laffrado

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