The interrelated lives of low-wage sausage factory workers is at the heart of a short story collection written by Rachel King, who will speak at the Cannon Beach Library at 2 p.m. Feb. 22. Patrons can attend the presentation in person or join the talk from home via a link on the library’s website, cannonbeachlibrary.org.
King’s book, “Bratwurst Haven,” was a finalist for the 2024 Oregon Book Award for Fiction.
Set in a small town in Colorado a decade after the Great Recession, “Bratwurst Haven” is a collection of twelve interrelated stories about the employees of the St. Anthony Sausage factory. King explores the struggles of the low-wage workers in the factory—a laid-off railway engineer, an exiled computer whiz, an older man with cancer but no health insurance—as they help and comfort one another in America’s postindustrial economy.
King is an author and editor whose works also include two poetry chapbooks, the novel “People Along the Sand,” which centers on the passing of the 1967 Oregon Beach Bill, and various other published short stories. Inspired by her relatives’ and her own experiences, King often writes fiction that explores exile, land use issues, mental health, and workers’ rights. Her works have received praise for involving
diverse, complex and authentic characters. King currently assists in the labor and communication departments at a nurses’ union. She lives in Portland.