Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/16/2021
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
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Southwest Word Fiesta will host the launch of Senator Bill O’Neill’s latest novel, Short Session, on Tuesday, February 16, from 6 to 7 p.m., via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4092162808). The event is free and open to the public, no registration required.
Bill O’Neill’s second novel, Short Session, provides a peek into the life of politician Chapman Murphy. Murphy knows he is too personally involved with the previously incarcerated people he works with and too embarrassed to admit that he ran for public office (unsuccessfully) the first time because he wanted to help people. Now he contemplates whether there is a place in American politics for introspective and caring people like him.
Bill O’Neill grew up in rural Ohio and graduated from Cornell University. Elected to the New Mexico Legislature in 2008, he is now beginning his third term in the New Mexico Senate. His poems have appeared in numerous regional and national literary reviews, and his novel Short Session (Red Mountain Press) is the sequel to Panoramic Diaries, which appeared in 2020. His second poetry collection, The Definition of Empty (University of New Mexico Press) is due out in late February. In 2019, Senator O’Neill passed legislation to establish and fund a state poet laureate program in New Mexico.
Praise for Short Session
“Authentic and inspirational.” —Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris
“Political fiction from someone who knows.” —The Santa Fe New Mexican
“The novel’s numerous scenes and their dialogue seemingly fly throughout the book.” —Albuquerque Journal
“A terrific read.” —JJ Amaworo Wilson, author of Damnificados and WNMU Writer in Residence
This event is sponsored by Southwest Word Fiesta, WILL, and WNMU.