Welcome to The Write Question, a program that explores the world of writing and publishing in the western United States. Our guest today is author Virginia Tranel from Billings, Montana.

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Tranel was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated from Clarke College with a degree in English and Spanish. In 1957, she married Ned Tranel and moved west, settling finally in Billings, Montana.

Tranel’s memoir, Ten Circles Upon the Pond, Reflections of a Prodigal Mother (Knopf 2003) explores periods of social change through the lives of her ten children.

Virginia Tranel’s Ten Circles Upon the Pond: Reflections of a Prodigal Mother, is her memoir about raising ten children and how the culture affects our choices and shapes the relationship between parents and progeny. Her work has been published in national magazines including Notre Dame Magazine, Catholic Digest, and Montana Magazine. Her essay, “Mother Earth,” was selected for the Notre Dame Anthology of best essays, Family, 1997. Her essay, “Shadows Moving Light,” appears in the anthology Writers Under the Rims, 2001.

A review of "Ten Circles Upon the Pond" by Mary Frances McCarthy, Herald Staff Writer (CatholicMom.com)

Discussion questions from ReadingGroupGuides.com

Recently published books by regional writers include, West of Last Chance, photographs and stories by Peter Brown and Kent Haruf.

If you like poetry, look for Infamous Landscapes, by Prageeta Sharma.

For more information about new books, contact your favorite bookseller or library.

And here's a quote from Virginia Tranel: "Children sabotage our sleep and give us grief, but they also awaken us to some of life's deepest joys.”

The Write Question is produced by Chérie Newman.

Executive producer, Michael Marsolek.

Special thanks to Barbara Theroux, Prageeta Sharma, Renée McGrath, and Kim Anderson.

This program is supported in part by The Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. And by Humanities Montana, enriching intellectual, cultural, and civic life for all Montanans.

This program included music by Michael Blessing, and Springhill.

Send comments to Chérie Newman


Guests on the The Write Question are writers, publishers, and illustrators living, or working for an extended period of time, in the western United States. The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.