Book swap to mark club's anniversary

April 16, 2010

Exactly one year and one day ago, BookSmart Tulsa held its first "Book Pub" event.

 

The organizers — local writer Jeff Martin and Dwelling Spaces owner Mary Beth Babcock — thought they might draw a few dozen fans of all things literary to McNellie's Public House.

Instead, the place was packed with people curious about a community-wide book club with a decidedly contemporary attitude.

"We were pretty overwhelmed by the initial response," Martin said. "But at the same time, it was difficult to keep that same level of enthusiasm. That's true about any book club endeavor."

So instead of focusing on discussions of new novels, Martin and Babcock changed the format of BookSmart Tulsa.

"We decided it would be better to aim each event we would do at a slightly different audience," Martin said. "We brought in our first author in July, when we had Rivka Galchen (author of "Atmospheric Disturbances") at Philbrook. And that was such a smash that we thought we'd continue."

Since then, BookSmart Tulsa has brought to town such authors as Joseph O'Neill (the award-winning "Netherland"), Julie Powell (whose book "Julie and Julia" became an Academy Award-nominated film) and Wells Tower (author of the short story collection, "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned").

These events have taken place in museums, art galleries, restaurants, bars — even the Community Food Bank.

"We occasionally get comments from people who miss the original format," Martin
said. "But the thing is, we've had a lot of new people at every event. I'd say about 15 percent of our audience are regulars. The rest are people who are interested in that book or that author."

And even Martin has been surprised at the reaction some visiting authors have produced.

"Clancy Martin was one of the surprises," he said. Clancy Martin, now a professor of philosophy in Kansas City, wrote a novel based on his less-than-savory life in the jewelry business titled "How to Sell."

"We had a great crowd, and I'm still not sure what brought people out," Martin said. "But his story is so incredible, so bizarre, that I still get people coming up and talking about that event."

The biggest thing BookSmart did was launching the book tour for Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks."

"We had no idea — we were just over-run with people," Martin said. "We ended up having to do a second event with her.

"And a lot of people have asked how we got her to agree to start her book tour with us," he said. "It's really simple. I got in touch with her early on, and she kept her word. But the truth is, every event we've done has either met or exceeded our expectations."

Martin is particular proud of the fact that BookSmart Tulsa has managed to stage these events without charging admission.

"That was important to us from the start," he said. "We've been able to work out partnerships with a lot of businesses in town from hotels to restaurants to book stores to keep these events free to the public.

"We want our events to be fun," he said. "When money starts changing hands, then it becomes work."

To mark the first anniversary of BookSmart Tulsa, it will hold a "Book Swap" on Saturday evening at Dwelling Spaces, 119 S. Detroit Ave. People can bring books they no longer want and trade one-for-one with books others have left behind.

And BookSmart is making plans through the coming year, with appearances by such writers as Reif Larson ("The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet"), best-selling thriller writer Jeffrey Deaver, "No Reservations" host Anthony Bourdain and Audrey Niffenegger, author of "The Time Traveler's Wife."

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=67&articleid=20100416_67_D6_Exactl908908