A novel community

The literary community in Columbia celebrates creativity as a haven for readers, writers and publishers.

By Jane Steinbrecher

With the rise of BookTok, Bookstagram and BookTube, there has never been a better time for literary expression. Or, says local author Steve Wiegenstein, a better place to be than Columbia.

With several publishing houses, such as University of Missouri Press and Compass Flower Press, local bookstores and the Unbound Book Festival, the local literary community is thriving. Meaningful connections among writers, publishers and their audiences help foster this community.

Returning home to write

Wiegenstein wanted to be a writer for as long as he can remember, and his first novel was published in 2012. Now, he’s writing his fifth book, preceded by three novels and a short story collection. He attended MU in the ’70s and moved around for work before coming back to Columbia in 2010 for a job at Columbia College. “There’s a tradition (in Columbia) of being engaged,” Wiegenstein says. “There’s a lot of book clubs in town, too. There’s a reading culture here that I think is very valuable to have.”

Columbia’s book community isn’t just beneficial to fiction writers and novelists. After psychologist Lynn Rossy moved back to Columbia — she grew up here — she published two books on mindful eating,

To Be Read

Add to your TBR list with these local recs. Steve Wiegenstein recommends Walter Bargen, an Ashland-based poet who has published 19 collections.

Yolanda Ciolli recommends Alex George’s novels, whose name you might recognize as the owner of Skylark Bookshop and the Unbound Book Festival executive director. Lynn Rossy recommends Green Chili and Other Imposters by Nina Furstenau, another Columbiabased author.

one in 2016 and one in 2020, while also teaching classes at MU. Rossy decided to write a book so her message could reach broader audiences than the Zoom classes she was teaching. “Books make (these topics) more accessible to a larger number of people because they can read it on their own time,” Rossy says. “I think it just makes a way of getting your message out to a much wider audience.”

From page to print

Yolanda Ciolli, owner of local publishing house Compass Flower Press says Columbia is one of the best places to be creative. “Columbia is kind of an intellectual hub in central Missouri,” Ciolli says. “It’s a very attractive environment for publishing and for writers. It’s very supportive of the writing community.”

Unbound Book Festival is a place to meet industry professionals and fellow bookworms.

Columbia’s publishing houses give local authors a choice other than independent publishing, right in their backyard. These businesses help writers take their words from an idea to a reality.

Ciolli cultivates a personal relationship with her clients that isn’t always common in publishing due to an increasingly online publishing world. “Having (a publisher) here in town means you get to work with somebody one-on-one,” Ciolli says. “There are options that are online, and you might have an agent assigned to you, but you never get to meet them, you never get to sit down and collaborate. Everything is done by internet and phone. It’s less personal, and it’s less satisfying.”

Writers working with Ciolli have their work reviewed by as many as two to three people, and she meets regularly, with the writers she works with.

Another reason Columbia writers like to use local publishing as an alter- native to independent publishing is because it offers outreach and opportunity many first-time writers could struggle to find.

Wiegenstein remembers the first time a publisher picked up his manuscript after years of rejection. “The most important advice I can give is not to give up,” Wiegenstein says. “Writing is a very discouraging activity. It’s easy to doubt yourself when you’re starting out as a writer. You have to decide what you really want to say, what’s important to you and keep at it.”

Book bash

The Unbound Book Festival is a key networking opportunity for Columbians interested in publishing their work. Ciolli was on a panel one year and says it was a great way to survey the current market for literature. She also says it’s a chance to explore all options for publishing work. Authors can figure out what’s out there, what their desired end result is and how to go about reaching that goal.

The Unbound Book Festival helps writers find publishers and like-minded authors, which Wiegenstein says is his favorite part of the event. “The best part of the festival is the opportunity to just go in and hang out,” he says.

While Wiegenstein is looking forward to the festival, he says Columbians’ access to top-tier research resources, wonderful book shops, numerous book clubs and the overall reading culture makes the town a special place to be for book people all year long.