Michael Czarnecki will present a Brown Bag Lunch program at the Niobrara County Library on Wednesday, August 15 at noon. Czarnecki will share his experiences of traveling highway 20 from Boston to the Pacific Ocean as well as information about the Japanese literary form, haibun and self-publishing. Everyone is encouraged to bring their lunch and enjoy this hour-long program.
The book, Twenty Days on Route 20 by Michael Czarnecki chronicles the crossing of America. The account is written in haibun, which is a Japanese literary form combining condensed prose and haiku. Matsuo Basho, Japan’s great 17th century haiku master wrote his classic travel sagas in haibun. Now, more than 300 years later, Michael Czarnecki uses that same form to chronicle his pilgrimage across this vast continent.
Starting from Boston, Route 20 traverses the northern third of the country, through a varied American landscape: rolling hills of New York State; mid-America farmland and villages; sprawling, bustling Chicago;
Mississippi and Missouri rivers; Nebraska sand hills; Wyoming plateau country; Yellowstone National Park; lava fields; high desert; Cascade Mountains and finally, the Pacific. Michael barters for motel rooms, explores small towns, cities and countryside, gives poetry readings, encounters raven and coyote and observes the country slowly unfolding as the road leads forever west. Join us in the program dedicated to Route 20 and also learn a bit about Japanese Prose and self-publishing.