HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.18.2022 Unger Hosts Pearl Whitfield
City of Plainview NEWS
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202 W. 5 Street
Plainview, TX 79072
April 19, 2022
City of Plainview’s Unger Memorial Library
Hosts Author Pearl Whitfield on Friday,
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April 29
The City of Plainview’s Unger Memorial Library will host author
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Pearl Whitfield on Friday, April 29 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at
the Library (825 N. Austin). Whitfield will be reading an excerpt from
her new book Apsara and signed copies will be available for
purchase.
Apsara is the story of a young girl in a remote village in 12th century Cambodia, who loves to
dance and is chosen to train as an Apsara (court dancer) for King Jayavarman VII. Apsara
dances to bring heaven to earth, blessing the land with prosperity. Bopha walks from her
home to Angkor Wat, and begins a life she could never have imagined.
This work of historical fiction grew from an experience Pearl Whitfield had in 2013, in
Cambodia at the museum in Siem Reap (the town closest to Angkor Wat). The book had a
long incubation after 2013, but then was written in less than two years.
“In a way, it wrote itself,” says Whitfield, “I just had to sit down and listen.”
Whitfield has been writing for much of her life, mostly unpublished essay and memoir. She
explains, “About 25 years ago, I committed to doing The Artist’s Way process, which has
been very helpful in allowing me to write relatively free of my self-critic, and given me skills
for recognizing blocks and releasing them. The other major influence that freed me to write
this story was a series of workshops in each of Unlimited Body and Unlimited Breath, and
being introduced to the idea of Creative Questions.”
Apsara is Whitfield's second novel. The first, The Storekeeper, A Tale of Small Town Life, is
a story about a small town in the inter-mountain west of modern day USA.
For more information, contact the Library at calling 806-296-1149.
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