Bedrock Books

12/09/2025

Recommended! Just listened to an interview today (December 8th) with Noah McCormack from The Baffler: “we used to read things in this country” ... “Technology is changing us for the worse,” Noah McCormack writes in The Baffler, the online magazine where he works as publisher. As social media returns us to an oral culture, our ability to read, and comprehend what we read, is declining.

Audio & playlist from December 8, 2025

11/25/2025

A Helena, Montana, treasure!

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09/27/2025

Congratulations, Allen!

We're thrilled to announce that Governor Gianforte has named Allen Morris Jones of Bozeman as Montana's Poet Laureate for 2025–2026.

With a 30-year career in writing and publishing, Jones has published more than 100 poems, essays, profiles, short stories and incidental pieces. His most recent book of poetry, Mumblecusser (Drumlummon Institute, 2023) won the High Plains International Book Awards, and was his second book to be named an honor book by the Montana Book Awards. Jones is the owner/publisher of Bangtail Press, which has published numerous Montana writers since its founding.

Allen says he's thrilled to be carrying on the work of previous poets laureate like Mark Gibbons, Mandy Smoker Broaddus, Melissa Kwasny and Chris La Tray. “I’ve watched as some of the finest writers in the country have sat in this laureate chair and advocated for poetry and literature even while shaping the public dialogue. I’m grateful that I now have the opportunity to continue their work.”

Congratulations, Allen!

09/05/2025

Our deepest gratitude to Scott McMillion for his wonderful review of The Harrows. To purchase a copy, visit https://bedrockbooks.com. We'll send it right out!

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08/19/2025

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10/03/2024

The University of Montana recently acquired a significant collection of modern art belonging to alumna Penelope Loucas.

10/03/2024

Hear ye, hear ye, arts and culture lovers! You’re invited to a wonderful double-header event here at the Holter on Friday, October 25th from 6:30-8:30 pm!

Join us in thanking author Rick Newby and former director Liz Gans for their generous donations of artwork to the Holter AND celebrate the release of Newby’s latest publication, “A Regionalism That Travels.” Newby will speak about the book, and copies will be available to purchase for signing. In addition, a pop-up exhibition of the donated artwork will be on view!

Montana’s arts and culture scene would certainly not be the same without Rick and Liz. Now is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate these two fabulous contributors to the Holter and enjoy their company before they venture away from Montana!

A cash bar and small bites will be available. As always, this public event is FREE and open to all!

10/01/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/qiFxCs2k1SS5oRbX/

Missoula author Peter Stark will draw from his last three books for our upcoming annual lecture at Lewis & Clark Library. The lecture will focus on the push of the infant United States from the East Coast, over the Appalachians and into the Ohio Valley -- the earliest days of the Western Movement. Both President Washington and President Jefferson were instrumental in this earliest Western push. William Henry Harrison, son of a Founding Father, was Indiana Territorial Governor from 1801-1812 and played a central role as a young man -- and one that is not widely recognized -- in launching the Western Movement by taking Indian land rights and selling them to “little guy” settlers instead of big investors. (Much later he became U.S. president.)

The talk will also touch on the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition and on John Jacob Astor's first American settlement on the Pacific. The lecture will end with a reflection on how the War of 1812 did not change much on the East Coast, but dramatically altered geopolitics on the Ohio Valley frontier and the West Coast.

A brief reception and book signing will follow. Copies of Stark’s last three books will be available for sale by the Montana Book Company.

Events at Lewis & Clark Library (Helena, Montana) are always free and open to the public. We hope you'll join us!

More info: https://www.lclibfoundation.org/stephen-ambrose-memorial-lecture

05/18/2024

This afternoon, come to Lewis & Clark Library, to experience a collaborative sharing of literary pieces from the published works of Missoula writers David Axelrod and Jodi Varon.

Essayist and translator Jodi Varon and her poet husband David Axelrod have worked as colleagues in the literary arts for more than 40 years. Join them for an afternoon of back and forth conversation as each writer reads passages from their most recent books. In so doing, they will reveal their unique perspectives on shared experience and the question: does time heal?

Visit http://bedrockbooks.com/events for more information.

05/14/2024

Essayist and translator Jodi Varon and her poet husband David Axelrod have worked as colleagues in the literary arts for more than 40 years. Join them for an afternoon of back and forth conversation as each writer reads passages from their most recent books. In so doing, they will reveal their unique perspectives on shared experience and the question: does time heal?

Visit http://bedrockbooks.com/events for more information.