Novelist, Guthrie historian plan January events

A novelist who uses tarot readings to unlock creative blocks in writers and a musician/musical historian who specializes in the life of folksinger Woody Guthrie stage free events this month.

Harstine Island Inquiring Minds presents musician and historian Joel Underwood and part two of “That Ribbon Highway: Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest” at 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Harstine Island Community Hall, 3371 E. Harstine Island Road North.

The event is hosted by the Harstine Island Community Club and Humanities Washington.

Admission is free and all are welcome. The doors open at 1:30 p.m. To get to the hall, take a left off the Harstine Island bridge and drive about 3 miles.

Last year at the hall, Underwood presented the first part of his Guthrie lecture/concert based primarily on his time in the Pacific Northwest, when he was hired by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs that included “Roll on Columbia” and “Grand Coulee Dam.” At his Jan. 26 appearance, Underwood returns to showcase Guthrie’s later adventures in the World War II Merchant Marines dodging storms, submarines and torpedoes.

Guthrie (1912-67) wrote more than 3,000 songs, including “This Land is Your Land” and “Do Re Mi.” On his guitar were painted the words “This Machine Kills Fascists.”

In a news release, the Harstine Island Community Club said the show is “sometimes scary, often humorous, certainly tragic, but eventually uplifting. Underwood weaves a tapestry of songs and characters that had left audiences all over Washington enthralled by the hour with a master scholar and storyteller.”

Meg Hayertz, the author of “Tarot for Beginners,” reads from her novel-in-progress “How to Hug a Lion” from 4 to 5:45 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Shelton Timberland Library, 710 W. Alder St., Shelton. Hayertz is an artist in residence at Hypatia-in-the-Woods in Shelton.

A resident of Portland, Hayertz’s fiction has appeared in, or is about to be published, in The Louisville Review, CALYX, Press Pause and VoiceCatcher.

Hayertz is a writer, educator and Zen practitioner who has been a professional tarot reader for writers and academics for eight years. She is the founder, coach and workshop coordinator of Creative Momentum.

The novel Hayertz is writing, “How to Hug a Lion,” includes fun/satirical/poetic worksheets where readers can reflect on their relationship to wilderness and domesticity.

To open and close the reading, Hayertz will hand out copies of a worksheet attendees can do for fun, if they like. Hayertz will then give attendees the opportunity to share what they have produced, if they desire, in pairs and in larger groups.