From poetry inspired by archeology to stories about loss, authors will turn pages this weekend during BookPeople of Moscow’s Author Saturday event.

Author Saturday will feature four authors and their latest books, as the name suggests, Saturday morning.

“It’s a chance to get local and regional authors together and give them an opportunity to read in the store,” said Jamaica Ritcher, the marketing and events coordinator at BookPeople.

The bookstore hosts an Author Saturday once or twice during the fall spring, she said. The store often features authors who are self-published or with a small press, she said.

Nicholas Gier, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Idaho, will open up the event at 11 a.m.

Gier will be the only author featured with a non-fiction book, which is focused on violence.

His book, “The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective,” addresses philosophical reasons for why religious violence occurs and offers solutions to the issue.

Floyd A. Loomis, an author who studied at WSU, will present following Gier with “Ravan’s Winter,” the second volume of The Upper Burnt Ruby Creek Trilogy.

Loomis’ sequel follows the first volume “Frankie Ravan,” which is written in a style that presents the story through many fragmented individual situations and memories, he said.

“It deals with death, beauty, and what I call natural theology from a child’s perspective,” he said.

“My fiction style is realist,” he said. Loomis said his books hold a certain historical accuracy despite made-up characters and geographical aspects.

The second volume, “Ravan’s Winter,” follows the perspective of a young person coming into their own, he said.

The sequel addresses morality, social issues, and death, he said.

The story takes place in the Vietnam era, and employs the use of letters, journals, and dreams, he said.

Loomis, who moved to Spokane in February, said it’s nice to be back on the Palouse because it brings him back to some of his roots.

Author Anesa Miller will have the floor at 1:30 p.m. to read from her book, “Our Orbit.”

Miller said she will start out her hour by reading a short essay from a previous book she self-published to introduce her new book.

“The theme, which has to do with losing one’s father, is also central to the novel,” Miller said of the essay.

“Our Orbit” is about a young girl whose father is arrested. The girl and her siblings are then taken into foster care.

“It expands to really look at two whole families,” Miller said. The novel addresses the foster care system and the drama that erupts from the combining of the two families, she said.

“There’s a real focus on parenting,” she said. “It’s very important to the background.”

Miller said she thinks young parents may enjoy her book, as well as mid to older teens, as the book also deals with relationships, school, and dealing with authority figures.

The final author included in the event is poet Corrie Williamson, originally from Virginia.

She will read poems from her new book, “Sweet Husk,” at 3 p.m.

“It’s my first book of poems,” she said. “It’s all very new and novel and exciting to me.”

Williamson, who went to graduate school at the University of Arkansas and now lives in Helena, Montana, said a lot of her book focuses on landscapes.

Some of the poems will also be based on her experience with archeology at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, she said.

“It was intense,” she said. “It took me a long time to write poems about it.”

She said her time there was often lonely and strange, and going through the ruins was haunting.

Many of the poems deal with digging, excavating, and the like, she said.

“Excavation is kind of nice metaphor for poetry,” she said.

The authors for the event are chosen from requests as well as from authors that reach out to her, Ritcher said.

“We have a lot of local authors that want to have a venue,” said Jesica DeHart, assistant manager at BookPeople.

The series aspect also allows people to stay for the day, or for people who come for one author to stay and hear another, she said.

“It’s neat to watch the interactions between the authors and the reader,” she said.

Each author has an hour to read as well as answer questions or sign books, Ritcher said.

“I’m really eager to hear all of the authors,” Ritcher said. “We have a lot of writing talent within Moscow, but we also get a lot of people reading who are out of the area.”

The event is free and open to the public.