Heather Sharfeddin

Sharfeddin was born in Forsyth, Montana to Joan and Lynn Mason,^{[4][2][7]: 4} an artist and a forester with the U. S. Forest Service, respectively.^[8][9][4] The Masons moved to Riggins, Idaho when Heather was two^[10][5][4] and lived on the Salmon River.^[11][12] She and her two sisters were raised in the Pentecostal faith.^[3][8] They lived in Lucile, Idaho and spent two years in East Lansing, Michigan while their father completed a master's degree in forestry at Michigan State University. Sharfeddin graduated from Big Sky High School in Missoula in 1984. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1986.^{[citation needed]}

Later in her adult life, Sharfeddin earned an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.^[5][4][7] Her doctoral work focused on racial tensions in the Interior West of the United States and culminated in a dissertation titled Interior Landscapes: Techniques for Depicting the Nuances of Interracial Relationships. This included a novel called A Delicate Divide, which takes place on the Flathead Indian Reservation and follows racial tensions in the wake of a water compact that would limit their "natural land water rights."^[13][7] Her dissertation was supervised by Kate Pullinger.^[14]

Sharfeddin's first novel, Blackbelly, was published in 2005 by Bridge Works Publishing.^[9][3] It is set in the fictional ranching community of Sweetwater, Idaho on the banks of the Salmon River.^{[9][15][11][4]} The imagery is heavily inspired by her childhood in that area.^[11] The novel follows a rancher who is falsely accused of committing a hate crime against the town's only Muslim family.^[9] The title refers to blackbelly sheep, which the protagonist and Sharfeddin both raise.^[15] The book was a "Best of the Northwest" pick by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award in 2005^[16] and received honorable mentions for the 2005 Eric Hoffer Award^[17] and at the 2010 San Francisco Book Festival.^[4][18] Blackbelly was released in paperback in 2010 under the title Sweetwater Burning.^[4] Her second book, Mineral Spirits, was published the following year, also by Bridge Works Publishing. Set in remote Mineral County, Montana,^[16][4] the novel follows Sheriff Kip Edelson as he investigates a skeleton found along the Clark Fork River.^[19][10] Edelson was introduced briefly in Blackbelly.^[16]

In 2009, her third novel, Windless Summer, was published by Random House.^[20][21] The story follows single father Tom Jemmet, a motel owner in the fictional town of Rocket, Washington.^[20][4] A windless summer drives away the windsurfers who flock to the area every year, leaving the town struggling until Jemmet's motel makes the newspapers after guests begin experiencing "mysterious happenings."^[20][22] Sharfeddin's fourth novel, Damaged Goods,^[6] was published in 2011 by Random House and is set in rural western Oregon.^[23] It follows the relationship of an auctioneer recovering from a traumatic brain injury and a woman who has survived decades of abuse.^[6] In 2012, it was short-listed for the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery.^[24] Sharfeddin's fifth novel, What Keeps You, was released by Martin Brown Publishing in 2016. It follows 16-year-old Eva as she avoids certain death, and a group of souls trapped in a graveyard being dug up by a road crew.^[25]

Sharfeddin refers to her work as contemporary Western,^[11] which she defines as themes of the rural West set in the present day.^{[citation needed]} She has been a regular book reviewer for Colorado Review^[26] and the Center for Literary Publishing,^[27] as well as a contributor to Dirt & Seeds, where she serialized her novel Between.^{[citation needed]} In addition to writing, she has also taught at Randolph-Macon College, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Linfield College.^[28][13][29] To mark the occasion of a book signing in Sharfeddin's hometown of Riggins, Idaho, mayor Bob Crump declared April 6, 2011 "Heather Mason Sharfeddin Day".^[5][4]

Sharfeddin married her husband in Oregon in the summer of 1991.^[1][11] Salem is a naturalized US citizen originally from Libya. ^{[7]: 11 [3][4]} The Sharfeddins lived on a farm in Sherwood, Oregon, where they raised blackbelly sheep, for 15 years before relocating to McMinnville, Oregon.^[16][9][5]

In 2012, Sharfeddin and her husband opened the Velvet Monkey Tea Shop in McMinnville. In 2018, she was appointed to a 3-year term on the Historic Landmarks Committee in McMinnville.^[30]

• 2005: Blackbelly, Bridge Works. ISBN 978-1-882593-97-2
• 2006: Mineral Spirits, Bridge Works. ISBN 978-1-882593-98-9
• 2009: Windless Summer, Bentam/Delta. ISBN 978-0-385-34187-5
• 2010: Sweetwater Burning (paperback edition of Blackbelly), Bantam. ISBN 978-0-3853412-8-8
• 2011: Damaged Goods, Bantam. ISBN 978-0-385-34188-2
• 2016: What Keeps You, Martin Brown Publishing. ISBN 978-1-9370706-8-7

• Heather Sharfeddin personal website
• KBOO Radio interview with Sharfeddin