Apache Junction Public Library is excited to be part of the Writer in Residence program, which offers encouragement, direction and feedback to local authors and provides opportunities for them to enhance their skills no matter where they find themselves on the path to publication. The Writer in Residence Program was made possible by the Arizona State Library, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
We’re happy to host a Writers in Residence Facebook group, where you can get encouragement and advice from our current Writer in Residence, as well as updates on upcoming programs and consultation times.
Past Writers in Residence
Osha Gray Davidson | Twitter
Osha Gray Davidson is an award-winning author, freelance writer and photographer. He has authored six books of non-fiction including The Best of Enemies, which was adapted to film and starred Sam Rockwell and Taraji P. Henson. His features have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone and other esteemed publications.
Osha’s vlogs and blogs from our Writer in Residence Facebook group:
- Osha’s Introduction Vlog (May 2, 2022)
- Osha’s Resources for Writing (June 11, 2022)
- Osha’s Interviewing Advice, Part 1 (July 11, 2022)
- Osha’s Final Blog Post (August 1, 2022)
Gregory McNamee | Website
Writer, journalist, editor, photographer and publisher, Gregory McNamee, was Apache Junction Public Library’s Writer in Residence for Spring 2022. McNamee is the author or title-page editor of forty books and more than 7,500 periodical publications, including articles, essays, reviews, interviews, editorials, poems, and short stories. His books include Tortillas, Tiswin, and T-Bones: A Food History of the Southwest & Gila: The Life and Death of an American River, both Southwest Books of the Year.
Click here for links to Gregory McNamee’s vlogs during his time as our Writer in Residence.
Mark Athitakis | Website | Twitter
Freelance writer Mark Athitakis has covered books and the arts for a variety of publications, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Humanities Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review and many more. A former board member of the National Book Critics Circle and judge for the Kirkus Prize, he has presented on writing at Arizona State University, Arizona Professional Writers, the Center for Fiction and elsewhere. He is the author of The New Midwest, a guide to contemporary fiction from the region, which won the Books by the Banks Award for best adult nonfiction title.
Click here for links to all of Mark Athitakis’s vlogs and handouts from previous programs.
Lisa Schnebly Heidinger | Website
Author and historian Lisa Schnebly Heidinger has been collecting and sharing Arizona stories since she began as a cub reporter for the Green Valley News in 1979. She’s moved up through the ranks through radio and news stations, newspapers and Arizona Highways, historical and university boards, and has become the author of ten books, with two in progress.
Lisa Schnebly Heidinger’s Favorite Arizona Writers’ Works
Writers In Their Own Residence
In September and October of 2020, we welcomed five local Arizona authors to discuss aspects of their careers, craft, and knowledge in virtual sessions.
- September 15: Arizona in Literature with Gregory McNamee
- September 22: Charles Bowden: America’s Most Alarming Writer with Bruce Dinges and Bill Broyles
- September 29: Q&A: Life at the Keyboard with Author Leo W. Banks
- October 6: Poems from a Desert Quarantine with Logan Phillips
Valerie Ipson | Facebook | Twitter | Website
Our Summer 2020 Writer in Residence is an author of children, teen and adult fiction. Inevitably Ipson’s YA books are set in high school, and while it’s not something she ever wants to relive, she finds it a pretty chill experience writing through the fictional eyes of her main characters. In addition to penning picture books and novels, Ipson was a contributing writer and genealogy columnist for a regional newspaper until retiring after 17 years to write fiction fulltime. Currently she is finishing production on two picture books.
Official Press Release Announcement
So You Want to Write a Book!
James L. Thane | Facebook | Twitter | Website
After graduating with a Ph.D., Jim became a history professor and wrote non-fiction and magazine and trade journal articles before returning to his first love – mystery writing. Thane cut his teeth on Erle Stanley Gardner, Ed Bain, and John McDonald and, in 2010, he published his first police procedural No Place to Die; set in Phoenix and featuring Sean Richardson. Accolades include “Engaging…hooks the audience…”, “A fast action thriller…” and “An excellent debut…” Jim then penned two additional Sean Richardson novels before switching his fictional locale from Phoenix to Montana’s Big Sky Country in his recently released novel Crossroads.