Critically acclaimed novelist Duff Brenna will be the featured reader at the AVA Gallery in Astoria at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, along with short story writer Ricki Muller and local poet Vincent Reynolds.

The reading is sponsored by the AVA Gallery, located at 453A 11th St., and Wordcraft of Oregon, a La Grande literary publisher who recently released a new and revised edition of Brenna’s award-winning novel, “The Book of Mamie.”

Brenna has been called “an American treasure,” and the critical acclaim for “The Book of Mamie,” his first novel, did not end with its being selected for the 1988 National Associated Writing Programs (AWP) Novel Award. The New York Times praised “Mamie” as “a risky, graceful book” with “an energy that catches hold from the very first sentence.” The Bloomsbury Review said, “If you relish the idea of curling up in your favorite chair and being carried away by a strong tide of marvelous words spoken by unforgettable characters telling a great, galumphing story, ‘The Book of Mamie’ is for you.”

“The Book of Mamie” is the story of one person’s struggle to overcome the abuse and traumas of her childhood. It is the story of a wonderfully gifted young woman, a young woman of genius, uncanny wisdom and primitive strength, whose revelations unfold in the course of an odyssey across the heartland of America. Mamie’s story is told by her companion, a 15-year-old farm boy who shares her adventures with a wild variety of characters and whose own story becomes a rite of passage as they try to stay one step ahead of the law and Mamie’s sinister father.

Brenna went on to publish four further critically acclaimed novels, and has a new novel, “The Law of Falling Bodies,” forthcoming. He began to give up hope that Mamie’s story might one day find another generation of readers. Then Brenna learned of a small press in Eastern Oregon, Wordcraft of Oregon LLC, whose editor and publisher, David Memmott, had decided to relaunch the press after a three-year hiatus and with a broader literary agenda. So together, Brenna and Memmott (an alumnus of Clatsop Community College), with editorial assistance from Thomas E. Kennedy of Fairleigh Dickinson University, set out to let Mamie win her way into the hearts of a new audience.

Brenna, who is an accomplished and entertaining reader, will be sharing the stage with short story writer Muller, who will be celebrating her graduation from the Pacific University MFA Program and recent publications in on-line magazines Pif Magazine and VerbSap.

Local poet Vincent Reynolds will be reading from his recently published poetry chapbook, “Argo Navis.” Reynolds is a former Oregon East associate editor and journalist for publications such as Eugene Weekly and Hipfish. Recent poems appear in RondeDance 1. Brenna and Reynolds will be signing copies of their books after the reading.