![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/torrey.jpg\")
<\/a>Mark Bailey and Kirsten Allen of Torrey House Press.<\/p><\/div>\n
What would possess someone to start a publishing company in the midst of the so-called \u201cGreat Recession\u201d?\u00a0 And in the outback of the known publishing world of Utah, no less?<\/p>\n
That was one question I had when I first met Mark Bailey, publisher of Torrey House Press<\/a> and his wife Kirsten, the press\u2019s editor, in 2010.\u00a0 Another question was, would I like what they were putting out there? And still another: would anyone read books about the American West? The \u201cnew\u201d American West?<\/p>\n There\u2019s no question that the publishing world is convulsing, and technology\u2014from e-readers to self-publishing; from print-on-demand to shrinking attention spans\u2014is driving the new and still-changing look of what we used to call \u201cbooks.\u201d<\/p>\n More\u2019s the marvel then that this week Torrey House, a traditional publisher with seven books of fiction under its belt and three more creative works on the starting line, will be showcased at Weller Book Works on February 2 in Salt Lake City\u2019s Trolley Square at 7 pm.\u00a0 Award-winning, local authors Jana Richman <\/b>(The Ordinary Truth<\/i>), Erica Olsen<\/b> (Recapture<\/i>), Maximilian Werner<\/b> (Crooked Creek<\/i>), and Steven L. Peck<\/b> (The Scholar of Moab<\/a><\/i>) will discuss their works and inspirations.\u00a0 Community members are invited to participate in the discussion, moderated by author and writing instructor George Handley<\/b>.<\/p>\n Both Mark and Kirsten are passionate about the Colorado Plateau and the American West. More to the point, they are concerned about land issues that they feel can best be addressed through narrative that engages people and provokes thought. Not a bad reason for starting a press that takes its name from a cherished nodal point of the Plateau, Torrey, Utah.<\/p>\n As far as the quality of the work\u2014and who will read it\u2014time will tell, although so far it\u2019s been an auspicious start.\u00a0 The multi-author reading and conversation at Trolley Square titled \u201cOld West\/New West\u201d may point towards, if not the motive for this literary duo, then their modus operandi<\/i>:\u00a0 eco-awareness through a literary community\u2014face-to-face in the West and globally through technology.<\/p>\n David G. Pace’s review of Steven L. Peck’s <\/em>The Scholar of Moab appeared in our Daily Bytes<\/a> earlier this week.<\/em>
\nGeoff Wichert’s review of Maximilian Werner’s <\/em>Crooked Creek appeared in the July 2011 edition of 15 Bytes.<\/em><\/p>\n