Folk singer songwriter Dvorak finds his way in essay collection “31 Winters."
BROOKFIELD IL - “I’ve always been a storyteller,” said singer songwriter Mark Dvorak from his home outside Chicago. “I began writing things down while in grade school and have kept at it through the years.”
31 Winters: Finding the Folk Way is Dvorak’s fourth collection of essays, all self-published.
When I was in the fourth grade my grandfather delivered a used Underwood typewriter to our home. At some point I kidnapped it and kept it in my room and practiced my writing. When I ran out of ideas, I’d copy down newspaper articles, poems, passages from books I was reading, Bob Dylan lyrics and all that. Looking back, I liked very much the sound of the Underwood thundering through the household. I was letting my brothers and parents know I was at work looking for a voice; looking for my voice.”
31 Winters: Finding the Folk Way 
is comprised of forty-four essays from the notebook of Dvorak who spent thirty-one years on faculty at Chicago’s venerable Old Town School of Folk Music, and spent as many years as a traveling performing artist.
31 Winters: Finding the Folk Way is Dvorak’s reflection on his long journey through music and teaching. It is instructive, thoughtful, sometimes funny and often revealing. His gift for descriptive prose takes the reader “there.”
The essays cover a wide range of topics from growing up in the Chicago area to coming of age and to coming to terms with life on the road.
Some of the pieces are reprints of earlier newsletter submissions. Two others are from key note addresses, and still others are actual music lessons, giving the reader a glimpse into Dvorak’s classroom experience.
The collection is due for release April 1.31 Winters is only available from www.markdvorak.com and at Dvorak’s live shows. Ebooks will be available from Amazon.com and iBooks.