Hoffman Center Blog

John Kroger will read from his book Convictions at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, August 21, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.
 
Convictions, subtitled A Prosecutor’s Battles Against Mafia Killers, Drug Kingpins, and Enron Thieves, is a professional and personal memoir that won the Oregon Book Award for creative nonfiction in 2009. The book chronicles Kroger’s decade long career as an assistant U.S. prosecutor working out of lower Manhattan, where he tackled organized crime’s biggest names and lowest operatives.
 
Kroger is the Attorney General of Oregon. His background includes service with the U.S. Marines Special Forces, a degree in philosophy from Yale University, a law degree from Harvard University, and time as a senior adviser to presidential hopeful Bill Clinton. He has worked as a federal prosecutor, and law professor.

After years of taking down mobsters he needed a break and went on a solo bike ride across the country, attending to his own spiritual needs with as much energy as he fought for the public well-being. It’s this theme that resonates throughout: maintaining his personal convictions while convicting as many criminals as possible. In the end, he lasted longer as a prosecutor than most but eventually burned out and headed west. Still, after only a year of teaching at Lewis & Clark College, he was pulled back into the Enron investigations, and then found himself in the race for state attorney general. After only one year in office he has already fulfilled a campaign promise to establish an environmental crimes task force.

Following the author reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers 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 reading 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 2010 schedule or contact Kathie Hightower, 503-739-1505; kathie@jumpintolife.net).

Cathy Lamb will read from her latest novel Henry’s Sisters at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, July 17, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

 Henry’s Sisters is a story of strength and reconciliation and change, with a Columbia River Gorge backdrop.

 A Publisher’s Weeklyreview says “Lamb delivers grace, humor and forgiveness…positively irresistible.”

 The Three Tomatoes Book Club blog declares: “If you loved Terms of Endearment, the Ya Ya Sisterhood, and Steel Magnolias, you will love Henry’s Sisters. Cathy Lamb just keeps getting better and better.”

 Previous books include Julia’s Chocolates and The Last Time I Was Me. Her next book, Such A Pretty Face, is due out at the end of July, and Holiday Magic, an anthology with Fern Michaels, comes out in November, 2010.

 Lamb has a B.A. in Elementary Education and a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, both from the University of Oregon. She was a fourth grade teacher for Beaverton Schools for more than seven years. In addition to writing seven books, she has written about 200 articles as a freelance writer for The Oregonian. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and three children.

 Following the author reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.

Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines at hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org> > 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. Further information contact Kathie Hightower, 503-739-1505; kathie@jumpintolife.net.

Jim Lynch will read from his latest novel Border Songs at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, June 19, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

Border Songs was picked as one of six finalists for American Booksellers Award for best fiction of 2009. It was also picked as among the Best Books of 2009 by The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, and The Oregonian.

One of his many glowing reviews reads:

“Although I think Border Songs is in a class by itself, I’d also like to offer just a couple of comparisons that give the feel of what a great read this really is. It’s The Big Chill of life on the border, and a cross between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and T. C. Boyle’s Budding Prospects. Finding a novel that is at once pure fun but literary, and humorous with outstanding character development, can be hard to come by. But Jim Lynch has wrapped it up tightly in this incredible story of life in a border town near British Columbia. All in all, a wonderland of growers, dealers, smokers, and birders! Fantastic!” —Linda Grana, Lafayette Books, Lafayette, California

His first novel, The Highest Tide, won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, appeared on several best-seller lists, was adapted for the stage and has been published in eleven foreign markets.

Jim Lynch lives with his wife and their daughter in Olympia, Washington. As a journalist, he has received the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, among other national honors.

Following the author reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.

Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines at hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org> > 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. For further contact Kathie Hightower, 503-739-1505; kathie@jumpintolife.net).

Playwright Bryan Harnetiaux will read from a number of his plays at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7pm on Saturday, May 15, 2010, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.
 
He will also conduct a playwriting workshop during the day Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Hoffman Center. Harnetiaux’s play Vesta will be performed at the Hoffman Center on Friday, May 14, at 7:30 pm as a staged reading with local resident and national actor Liz Cole directing and acting in the title role.
 
Harnetiaux, playwright-in-residence at Spokane Civic Theatre, has written over 30 plays, 13 of which have been published, including commissioned adaptations for Dramatic Publishing Company of the stories of Ernest Hemingway (The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Killers) and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Long Walk to Forever). 
 
Harnetiaux’s most recent published play, National Pastime (Playscripts, Inc., NYC) has received professional productions on the West and East coasts.  His cycle of plays on end-of-life (Vesta, Dusk and Holding On ~ Letting Go) are now specially licensed for productions in clinical settings by Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End-of-Life and have been performed throughout the country; these plays have also enjoyed mainstream theater productions. Harnetiaux is an associate member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
 
Following Harnetiaux’s reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.
Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines at hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org <http://hoffmanblog.org> > and come prepared to read your original piece of work in five minutes or less.

Cheryl Strayed will read from her novel Torch at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, March 20, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

Torch was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books by Pacific Northwest authors.

Strayed shows a deep appreciation for the rhythms of small-town life, capturing the sense of community, the struggle to earn a living, and also the disdain for “city apes.” In addition, she discerns within one family’s crisis the painful, shifting nature of familial relationships.

— Booklist

Strayed’s award-winning stories and essays have appeared in over a dozen magazines, journals, and anthologies. Her personal essays, “Heroin/e” and “The Love of My Life,” were both selected for inclusion in the prestigious Best American Essays collections and she has published in magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, Allure and The Sun. She has her MFA in Fiction Writing.

She has sold her upcoming memoir Wild,to Alfred A. Knopf in a mid-six figure deal.

 Strayed lives in Portland, Oregon with her filmmaker husband, Brian Lindstrom, and their two children.

 Following the author reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers 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.

Prior to Karen Karbo’s presentation on November 21st, I hadn’t thought much about Coco Chanel.  I had equated the designer with those little suits that Nancy Reagan wore.  But after the evening was over, I had a whole new picture of Coco Chanel.  She was a resourceful, innovative, and determined woman, whose story is an inspiration to anyone with an ‘impossible’ dream.

Karbo’s new book, The Gospel according Coco Chanel–Life Lessons From the World’s Most Elegant Woman, takes an unusual approach.  It’s not a biography, although you’ll learn all sorts of things about Coco’s life, but rather a sort of philosophy book.  On Style:  ”Anything that’s got simple lines, skims the body, is easy to move in, and affords the loading on of a lot of jewelry is Chanel.” Nothing quirky or trendy or cheesy.  And it doesn’t have to cost a lot.  I guess I can finally get rid of those uncomfortable, low-cut, acid-washed designer jeans.

On Self-Invention: “Chanel had several things going for her–not the least of which was the sting of necessity, which forced her to inventory her modest advantages and figure out how to leverage them.  Her list was short, but would serve her in good stead for the rest of her life:  a. Her looks, b. Her mind, including her powers of observation, c.  Her ability to gallop a horse through the forest.”

Okay, so maybe Chanel’s list was a little longer, but it was great fun listening to Karbo weave her tale.  Everybody loves to hear someone’s path from literal poorhouse to the glamorous world of Paris and fashion.  It certainly did a lot more for me than watching one of those horrible reality shows.  Not that I do.  Hey, I don’t even have cable.

Matt Love read from his collection --Super Sunday in Newport-- and quizzed the audience on Oregon facts.

The highlight of the Dark & Stormy Book Weekend was Saturday night’s evening author reading.   Author and publisher, Matt Love read from his new book Super Sunday in Newport and was followed by the Open Mic.  Over 70 people came to listen and/or to read.

Love engaged the audience immediately with his “true Oregonian” contest and prize. He started the group standing up, telling people to sit down when they could not answer yes to one of his questions.

“Have you visited Crater Lake?’

“Have you sat on the beach by a bonfire?”

“Have you been to the Country Fair?”

The questions continued until only one person was still standing.

Sharlene Hanlon of Olympia won the True Oregonian prize.

Local audience member Karen Reddick Yurka was quick to point out that Hanlon was raised in Klamath Falls and lived in Portland for a long time before moving to Olympia to care for her dad, so the rumor that a Washingtonian won the prize isn’t quite true.

Love is founder and publisher of Nestucca Spit Press, an independent press that exclusively publishes books about Oregon. He has published several hundred Oregon writers in his anthologies, as well as Old Nehalem Road, a collection of poems by Manzanita’s Travis Champ. This year Oregon Literary Arts presented Love with the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, “in recognition of significant contributions that have enriched Oregon’s literary community.”

It was appropriate that he was the featured author for the first literary weekend and that he read from his new book, Super Sunday in Newport, because that book evolved from pieces he wrote and read weekly at an Open Mic at Café Mundo in Nye Beach.

Love drew extra applause when he mentioned a recent conversation he had with a writer from a certain publication.

“He asked me what was the best book town along the Oregon Coast,” Love said, “I told him it was Manzanita — the community supports two independent bookstores and they support Open Mic evenings like this one, in force. Other towns have events but they are not as well-attended.”

After Love’s readings, the Open Mic session triggered lots of laughter and applause, with writers from as far as Astoria reading their pieces.

The event continued past that evening into the rest of the weekend, in at least one instance.

Tobi Nason of Overboard read to much delight at the Open Mic. On Sunday, she had two different people walk into her store to ask her to read her piece to them because they’d missed it.

“Then I closed my shop and stopped in at Vino,” she adds, “Sarah asked me to read it again since Dixie had to miss the reading.”

Nason and another local writer who read at the event, Holly Lorincz, said they were inspired by their experience reading to commit to writing a piece for every monthly Open Mic.

We look forward to it!

At the last Manzanita Writers’ Series event, Diana Abu-Jaber read excerpts from her latest book, Origins.  ”I never planned to write a mystery,” she confessed.  ”I just couldn’t get this character out of my mind.”  In her previous works, Ms. Abu-Jaber primarily wrote on the theme of immigration and how the cultures of homeland and newly chosen home can clash.  Her protagonists had been of Middle Eastern descent and Origin’s main character, Lena, also struggles with where she came from (in entirely unexpected way–but we won’t spoil it for you.)

Locals agree with the reviews that Abu-Jaber successfully blends a gripping mystery with a style and language that will satisfy the literary fiction reader as well.

Between readings, Abu-Jaber charmed the audience with anecdotes of being a writer and a new parent.  ”I had this idea that I’d be holding my baby on my lap, while typing along on my next chapter.”  Parents and grandparents in the audience had a good laugh about that.  She also cited some of the benefits of living in two places–Miami and Portland.  ”I find the Northwest in winter is the perfect place to write.”  We couldn’t agree more.

Brian Doyle, essayist and editor of Portland, the University of Portland’s magazine, prefers not to read from his published books.  ”I like to read you things that you can’t find in books already,” he told the audience at the Hoffman Center on September 19.

And so he did.  Stories he’s picked up from his own experiences as husband, father, brother, and son, as well as from other people.  Like the story he captured from a nurse about naming babies who are stillborn or died shortly after birth.

After moments that brought tears to both audience and storyteller–from laughter as well as a heartbreaking tale– he closed his part of the evening with a story about his encounter with the Dalai Lama.  They argued about sports, of all things.  With an ending that’s too great to mention here, because that would just spoil it.   The next time he’s in town be sure to make a point of going.

 

Over 75 people attended the Manzanita Writers’ Series event on Saturday, July 18.  

Phillip Margolin, legal thriller author from Portland, entertained the crowd with anecdotes about his writing life.  The story of how he connected with his agent made the aspiring authors among us groan.  As fate would have it, he re-connected with a buddy from law school–actually his next door neighbor in the dorms.  It turns out he worked as legal counsel for the largest literary agency in New York and connected Margolin with an apprentice agent at the firm.  He’s still with the same agent today.
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