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Oregon Book Awards Author Tour In Astoria and Lincoln City

oba workshopsWe wanted to pass along this information from our friends at Literary Arts–

The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour brings three writers to Astoria and Lincoln City in February, for free writing workshops and readings.

Ismet Prcic, Carter Sickels and C.S. Whitcomb will appear at the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria (10 Basin Street)  on Saturday, February 16.  Three free writing workshops will be offered at the hotel, with the following schedule:

10:30 a.m. Writing Life As Fiction, taught by Ismet Prcic. Participants will take part in exercises to help them discover ways to express their own stories.

1:00 p.m.   Starting the Big Project, taught by Carter Sickels. For writers at all levels, a hands-on class that will explore different approaches to writing a book, including novels and non-fiction.

2:30 p.m.   Writing Love Stories: The Anatomy of the Heart, taught by C.S. Whitcomb. For writers at all levels: an exploration of love and the stories we tell.

Workshops are free but space is limited and participants are asked to register by emailing Susan Denning at susan@literary-arts.org.

Following the day of workshops, there will be a brief panel discussion with all three authors, followed by a reception and book signing.

The writers will also appear on Sunday, February 17th at 3:00 p.m. at the Driftwood Public Library in Lincoln City. The writers will read, answer questions, and discuss the role that place plays in their work.

About the Authors Appearing in Astoria and Lincoln City:

Ismet Prcic immigrated to the US from Bosnia in 1996. His novel, Shards, is a 2013 Oregon Book Awards finalist. It won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and the L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award.

Carter Sickels has taught creative writing classes at IPRC, Gotham Writers’ Workshop and Hugo House. His book, The Evening Hour, is a 2013 Oregon Book Awards finalist.

C.S. Whitcomb’s plays have been produced at Portland Center Stage and Artists’ Repertory Theatre. For television, she created roles for Ellen Burstyn, Jason Robards, Anjelica Huston and many others. Her play, Lear’s Follies, is a 2013 Oregon Book Awards finalist.

Local support for this tour comes from the Cannery Pier Hotel and the Driftwood Public Library.       This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities (OH), a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH’s grant program.

Oregonians are passionate about books. And ideas, and great writing. Literary Arts shares this passion. Our mission is to engage readers, support writers and inspire the next generation with great literature. The programs of Literary Arts include: Writers in the Schools, Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships, Portland Arts & Lectures and Delve: Readers’ Seminars.

For more information about the programs of Literary Arts please contact us at 503.227.2583 or visit  www.literary-arts.org

Oregon Book Award Finalist Marjorie Sandor appears March 10th

Oregon Book Award Finalist Marjorie Sandor to read, and lead free memoir workshop

Literary Arts is pleased to announce an event in Manzanita as part of the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour. Marjorie Sandor will appear as part of the Manzanita Writers Series at Hoffman Center on Saturday, March 10th, at 7 p.m.

In addition, Sandor will offer a free workshop on Saturday, March 10th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita (594 Laneda Ave). The workshop will focus on memoir-writing and explore the power–both haunting and restorative–of our most ordinary and familiar domestic spaces. Sandor will briefly discuss her own experience of creating a book out of the bits and pieces of an early-morning gardening journal kept during a mid-life moment of intense change. From there, participants will do some of their own writing, working from simple prompts. The workshop is free but space is limited and participants are asked to register by emailing Susan Denning at susan@literary-arts.org.

Marjorie Sandor’s most recent book is The Late Interiors: A Life Under Construction, a 2012 finalist for the 2012 Oregon Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. Her previous books include the linked story collection, Portrait of my Mother, Who Posed Nude in Wartime: Stories (Sarabande Books), which won the 2004 National Jewish Book Award in Fiction; and a previous book of essays, The Night Gardener: A Search for Home (The Lyons Press), won the 2000 Oregon Award for Creative Nonfiction.

Following Sandor’s reading and Q&A, we’ll have our popular Open Mic where up to nine local writers will read 5 minutes of their original work.

Admission for the evening is $7.

 

2011 Oregon Book Tour kicks off at Manzanita Writers’ Series Feb. 19

The 2011 Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, featuring three awards finalists, will kick off at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, February 19, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

This first event of the 2011 Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, will feature the following three authors:

Emily Chenoweth

• Emily Chenoweth of Portland, finalist in fiction for her novel, Hello Goodbye (Random House).  The writer Alice Sebold called Hello Goodbye, “a beautiful novel about a family on the brink of loss.” Emily Chenoweth is a former fiction editor of Publishers Weekly. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Bookforum, and People, among other publications.

K.B. Dixon

 • K.B. Dixon of Portland, finalist in fiction for his book, A Painter’s Life (Inkwater Press). The Oregonian called A Painter’s Life “a slyly funny and perceptive take on creativity and the artist’s life, and a gentle skewering of the art establishment and critics.” Dixon’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals. He has written on the visual arts for The Oregonian, and is the author of My Desk and I, a collection of short stories and The Sum of His Syndromes.

 

Lisa Ohlen Harris

• Lisa Ohlen Harris of Newberg, finalist in general nonfiction for her book, Through The Veil (Canon Press).The book is a collection of essays  about life in the Middle East. Harris lived in Syria and Jordan in the 1990s, and her work has been published in journals like River Teeth, Arts & Letters, and The Laurel Review.

The Oregon Book Awards winners will be announced April 25, 2011, at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony in Portland. The Oregon Book Awards, a program of Literary Arts, are presented annually for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers’ literature.

The Oregon Book Awards Author Tour brings finalists to public libraries, community arts centers and independent bookstores around the state. Local support for this tour comes from the Manzanita Writers Series.

The second hour of the evening will be our popular Open Mic for local and visiting writers to read their original work. Local writers are of course welcome to bring whatever 5-minute original piece they would like to share but for those who want a writing prompt, the prompt for February is “winning.”  Nine writers can sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.
Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines  and come prepared to read your original piece of work in five minutes or less.

The series is a program of the Hoffman Center and will be held at the Hoffman Center (across from Manzanita Library at 594 Laneda Avenue.) The building will be set up in a café style with coffee/tea and snacks available. Admission fee is $5. Check out the 2011 schedule online or contact Kathie Hightower, 503-739-1505; kathie@jumpintolife.net).