Words in the Garden featuring Jonathan Harper and Chris Ritthaler

“Words in the Garden” is a weekly, alfresco literary reading series from the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library.  Every Wednesday through the summer at 4:30 pm, a local and/or visiting WCDH writer-in-residence will present a reading and Q&A in the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library Garden at 188 Spring Street (south of the Carnegie Library Gardens Building). The readings are free and open to all. In the event of rain, they will be held in the library garden under the tent. On Wednesday, June 23, Jonathan Harper, a writer-in-residence from Virginia, will share his work. Joining him is local writer, Chris Ritthaler.

Jonathan Harper is the author of the short story collection Daydreamers, a Kirkus Review's Indie Book of the Year for 2015 and double finalist for Foreword Magazine's Indie Fab Awards. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from American University in Washington, DC, and his work has been featured in “The Rumpus,” “The Rappahannock Review,” “East Jasmine Review,” “Big Lucks,” and numerous anthologies. He was finalist for the Saints & Sinners Short Fiction Contest in 2019.

Chris Ritthaleris a storyteller, writer, performer, and fiber artist living in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. He writes mystery novels, personal memories, plays and children’s literature. A former Speech/Language Pathologist, he came to Northwest Arkansas four years ago, enrolled in a script-writing workshop at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow and the rest is history. He was hooked. Chris has had the honor of having one of his plays produced by Five & Dime Drama Collective for Christmas at the Crescent in 2019.

Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow has made a lasting impact on the arts and literary communities providing uninterrupted residency time for writers of all genres, including culinary, composers, and artists, without discrimination. The WCDH has hosted over 1,700 writers from 48 states and 13 countries. For more information, please visit www.writerscolony.org or call Michelle Hannon at (479)253-7444.