'Evolution of Ignorance' coming to Big Sandy

Havre Daily News staff

An art gallery in Big Sandy is bringing a production of poems and stories in which it warns it takes no responsibility for the views expressed and is “not to be held liable for attendee’s outrage or psychological damage.”

“Evolution of Ignorance,” poems and stories by Steve Sibra and Christian Downes, will start Thursday at Craig Edwards Gallery in Big Sandy at 7 p.m.

Gallery owner Craig Edwards said this is the third time he has hosted Sibra, who grew up in Big Sandy, for a reading.

“Steve’s stuff often has to do with the area,” Edwards said.

Sibra, who now lives in Seattle, has been writing and publishing work for decades, and his latest work, a collection of short stories called “Hillbilly Virus,” was just released.

Sibra’s biographical information says he he took to making up stories and writing them down early on, creating his own set of encyclopedias in the fourth grade and winning the praise of his teacher, Helen Hashley.

As a senior in high school he co-edited the school newspaper and the school literary magazine, Sidelights ’74.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History from University of Montana, he spent a year in law school and decided to change his career goals and has operated a business buying and selling comic books for more then 30 years.

In both his poetry chapbook “The Turtle is Not a Metaphor” and “Hillbilly Virus” he teamed up with Roberta Hahn Edwards of Big Sandy, featuring her paintings and illustrations in both works.

Sibra met Downes, a fellow author, when both were readers in a program in Seattle in 2015.

Downes was born in Florida, his bio says, and moved to Amish country within that year.

“This dramatically influenced his opinions on bananas, tinted glasses and horse-drawn carriages,” the bio says.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from Seattle Pacific University and has received awards for his work, which hs been published in various journals and also had a stage play, “Loving Fire,” featured at a Lee University event.

“But mostly he just works on his cabin in the woods,” the bio says.

The poster for the free event says it is “rated for mature audiences.”