Dorje Dolma was born in the remote Dolpo region of Nepal, high in the mountains bordering Tibet, and a serious illness in her childhood led her family to hike weeks through the mountains to get help. Adopted by the family that helped her travel to the U.S. to receive life-saving medical care, she graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Fine Arts.

Nathan Alling Long was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in a log cabin in rural Appalachia, and eventually studied at a Thai monastery, lived on a commune in Tennessee, and for ten years cooked for a Buddhist meditation retreat in Oregon. He has an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.

These two very different lives and voices will be blending for a Sunday afternoon of exploration and adventure, from flash fiction to ancient cultures. Nathan will be sharing his first book of flash fiction, The Origin of Doubt, and Dorje will be sharing her first book, Yak Girl: Growing Up in the Remote Dolpo Region of Nepal.

Dorje Dolma was born in the remote Dolpo region of Nepal, high in the mountains bordering Tibet. She was the oldest of eleven children, only six of whom survived the harsh conditions of their lives. Dolpo had no running water, electricity, motor vehicles, phones, school, or doctors, other than the local lamas, trained in the use of herbs and prayer. Dorje began herding the family’s goats and sheep at age five and by seven she was defending them from attacks by wolves and snow leopards. When she was ten, Dorje’s parents took her on a month-long trek to Kathmandu to find help for a serious health condition. There they encountered Westerners who arranged to bring Dorje to the United States and get her the surgery she needed to save her life. Adopted by her new American family, Dorje eventually graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Fine Arts. She worked as an early childhood teacher in Boulder, Colorado, and now continues to develop her art.

 

Nathan Alling Long was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in a log cabin in rural Appalachia. Nathan’s work has appeared on National Public Radio (US), and in over a fifty other publications, including Tin House, Glimmer Train, and The Sun. His stories have also won the 2017 international OWT Story Prize and 2015 Open Road fiction award, and been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize. His collection of fifty flash fiction stories, The Origin of Doubt, will be released by Press 53 in February 2018.