2012 Oregon Book Awards

Hello, 2012!!!! It's been a while since I've posted -- taking a bit of a breather after the 24 Days of Books blogging. Lots of exciting stuff coming up in 2012, including our 20th anniversary celebration (more on that to come). But first, a look back at 2011 highlights. In my next blog I'll announce the 2011 Broadway Books Bestsellers. Yesterday, Literary Arts announced the finalists for this year's Oregon Book Awards, as well as the recipients of this year's LA fellowships.

The award ceremony will be held Monday, April 23rd, at 7:30 pm at the Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland (128 NW Eleventh Ave). This year's host will be one of my favorite authors, Timothy Egan (seriously, I might swoon -- literarily speaking). Egan is the author of The Big Burn, The Worst Hard Time (which won the National Book Award), and -- one of my personal favorites -- The Good Rain, among other books.  You can get tickets to the award ceremony by clicking here.

The list of finalists for this year's Oregon Book Awards is very impressive, full of lots of great reads and wonderful authors. Two books in particular stand out because they are not only finalists for the Oregon Book Awards but also won this year's Pacific Northwest Booksellers awards and were listed in the top ten of best local//NE books by The Oregonian, The Portland Mercury, and The Willamette Week: The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (which also made the shortlist for both the Man Booker Prize and Canada's Giller Prize) and The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch (which was also named to numerous "best books of 2011" lists from publications outside of the area AND was the third bestselling nonfiction book at Broadway Books in 2011). What a year for these two outstanding authors. Best of all, The Chronology of Water comes not just from a local author but also from a publisher based right here in our own neighborhood: Hawthorne Books.

Other finalists for this year's Oregon Book Awards include Brian Doyle for his debut novel Mink River, the top selling book at Broadway Books in 2011 (and also published by a regionally based publisher, OSU Press), and Carl Adamshick, whose poetry book Curses and Wishes was also a Broadway Books bestseller this year. 

Don't forget that YOU can be involved in the selection of one of the OBA categories, the Readers' Choice Award. On the Oregonian's book site, look on the left-hand side to find the link for voting. Last year's winner of the inaugural Readers' Choice Award was Willy Vlautin, for his novel Lean on Pete.

Congratulations to all of this year's finalists!

Oregon Book Awards Were Rockin'!

Last night's Oregon Book Awards kicked off with a performance by novelist and singer/songwriter Willy Vlautin, an especially appropriate way to launch an evening in which Willy took home two awards: The Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the first-ever Readers' Choice Award, sponsored by The Oregonian, in which more than 4000 Oregonians voted for their favorite of the books across all categories.

The event was hosted by Kurt Andersen, host of NPR's Studio 360 and the author of the novels Heyday and Turn of the Century, as well as the nonfiction book Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore our Values and Renew America. He is also one of the founders of Spy magazine and the co-founder of the "Portland Brooklyn Project," which nurtures connections, partnerships, and new opportunities for the arts, education, and private businesses between Portland and Brooklyn.

You can read about all of the finalists at our previous blog posting or at the Literary Arts site, sponsors of the Oregon Book Awards. Here are last night's winners:

As previously mentioned, Willy Vlautin took home the prize for fiction (presented by our very own Roberta Dyer!)  for his novel Lean on Pete (Harper Perennial), about fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson and a failing racehorse from Portland Meadows named Pete. Willy, who lives in Scappoose, is the author of two previous novels: The Motel Life (which has just been made into a movie starring Emile Hirsch and Dakota Fanning) and Northline (which comes with its own CD soundtrack). Willy is the lead singer/songwriter for the band Richmond Fontaine, which has a new CD coming out this summer.

The Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry went to David Biespiel for his collection The Book of Men and Women, published by the University of Washington Press. David is the founding director of the Attic Institute ("a haven for writers") and was the editor of Poetry Northwest from 2005 to 2010. His most recent book, Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces, published by Kelson Books, cracks open the creative process and takes a fresh look at the mysterious pathways of the imagination.

Paul VanDevelder from Corvallis won the Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction for his book Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America's Road to Empire through Indian Territory (Yale University Press), a "profound dismantling of the whole mythical edifice surrounding the westward expansion that shaped the republic." Paul's previous book, Coyote Warrior: One Man, Three Tribes, and the Trial that Forged a Nation, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award.

John Daniel, who lives in the foothills of the Coast Range outside of Eugene, won his third Oregon Book Award by winning the Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction for his book of essays, The Far Corner:  Northwestern Views on Land, Life, and Literature. He previously won for The Trail Home and Looking After (the "momoir" accompaniment to his "popoir," Rogue River Journal -- two of my favorite books).

The Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama went to Susan Mach of Portland for her play, The Lost Boy. Susan teaches writing and literature at Clackamas Community College and has had plays produced by Theatre for the New City in Manhattan, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Portland Repertory Theatre, and Icarus Theatre Ensemble.

The awards for books for younger readers went to a debut novelist and a five-time Oregon Book Award winner. Scott William Carter received the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature for his debut novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys. His second novel, a fantasy called Wooden Bones chronicling the untold story of Pinocchio, is scheduled to be published in 2012. Scott lives in Salem.

Winning his fifth Oregon Book Award -- a record for individuals -- was Graham Salisbury for his book Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix. Before he started his Calvin Coconut series, which targets middle readers, Graham's previous books were written for young adults. Graham grew up in Hawaii, where the Calvin Coconut books are set, but now lives in Portland.

George Hitchcock was a poet, teacher, playwright, and painter who was born in Hood River and who died last September in Eugene at age 96. George was the founder of Kayak magazine and served as its editor for twenty years, publishing the early work of Raymond Carver, James Tate, and Philip Levine. He received the C.E.S. Wood Distinguished Writer Award from Literary Arts in 2003. Last night Joseph Bednarik of Copper Canyon Press read a tribute to George, who lived quite the life (I'm linking to his NY Times obit here so you can see for yourself) . His long-time companion Marjorie Simon was also in attendance.

The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award went given to The Children's Book Bank of Portland, a nonprofit that strives to  improve the literacy skills of low-income children by giving them books of their own before they reach kindergarten. The Book Bank also administers the Leading for Reading program, an internship program for high school students.

The Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, which is presented to a person or persons in recognition of outstanding long-term support of Oregon's literary community, was awarded to John Laursen of Portland, with John Daniel doing the presenting. Most recently John is probably best known for the book he produced with the late Terry Toedtemeier, Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge: 1867-1957, one of the most gorgeous books I have ever seen. John is a designer, typographer, writer, editor, and publisher. For four decades he has run Press-22, a studio specializing in the design and production of high-quality books and text-based public art projects. His design imprint can be found throughout the Portland area.

Also acknowledged at last night's gala were the recipients of Literary Arts' most recent fellowships: the writers Jennifer Richter, Crystal Williams, Michelle Penaloza, Brenden Willey, Gretchen Icenogle, Michael McGregor, Claire Willett, and Barbara Liles and the publishers The Grove Review and Octopus Books, both of Portland.

A big round of applause for Literary Arts for another great awards show but especially for all of the wonderful and important work they do in our state. Since 1987, Literary Arts has distributed $680,000 and honored more than 574 writers -- and counting! Keep up the good work. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists. We've got copies of most of the books -- some of them signed -- at the store, in case you weren't able to make it to last night's event.

Video from Gina Ochsner Reading

On Tuesday night we hosted the wonderful Gina Ochsner, who read from her debut novel, The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight, and entertained us with tales about Russia and Latvia, about learning Russian, and about starting her writing career. Gina has won two Oregon Book Awards and been a finalist for a third. You can read more about Gina and her new book in an earlier blog posting. Here's a short snippet from our full-house evening together.

Gina Ochsner Reads from Debut Novel

When Keizer-based author Gina Ochsner won an NEA grant, she used the money to travel to Russia and Latvia to do research for her novels. One of her favorite activities was people-watching, especially at the post office and at internet cafes. Then, a colleague in the writing program turned her on to the Arctic-Antarctic Museum, where she became intrigued less by the items on display than by the employees tending to them. This experience inspired the museum at the center of her first novel, The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight: the All-Russia All-Cosmopolitan Museum, a place that holds a fantastic and terrible collection of art knockoffs created with the tools at hand, from foam to chewing gum, Popsicle sticks to tomato juice. She has now been to Russia and Latvia four times and is currently working on a novel set in Latvia.

Gina is the author of two previous books, both short story collections and both winners of the H.L. Davis Award for Short Fiction from the Oregon Book Awards. The Necessary Grace to Fall, published by the University of Georgia Press in 2002, was also the winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. People I Want to Be was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006.

She grew up in Salem and earned a degree in secondary education from George Fox University, followed by graduate degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Oregon. Gina and her husband and four children live in Keizer. Besides teaching and writing, Gina also gives talks at universities, retreats, conferences, schools, and book clubs on various topics relating to writing, the writer's life, cultivating creativity, and the intersection of art and faith.

The Oregonian recently published a wonderful in-depth article about Gina by Jeff Baker. In that article he writes that Gina said writing her first novel was "like pulling a snowball on a skateboard through hell." She also made it clear that she's not about making people feel warm and cozy when they read her books and stories: "I'm not here to make people comfortable. I'm not even writing to make myself comfortable. I make myself really uncomfortable because then I'm hitting on a raw nerve and that's what it should be all about. The worst thing someone could say about my work is 'That was a nice read. I felt so comfortable.' That would be horrible."

Jeff also noted that as a child, Gina dreamed of being a librarian or "working in a bookstore, a job where someone would pay her to read all day." Hmmm. I might have some bad news for her on that score! I can't remember the last time (or ever?) that I read all day at the store. Something to shoot for, I guess.

As with her first two books, Gina's third book and first novel is already off to great acclaim, including being a finalist for an Oregon Book Award for the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction, making the long list for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction (subsequently won by Marilynne Robinson's Home -- pretty good company for a debut novel), and a review in The New York Times Book Review.

The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight is a book of magical realism set in the post-Soviet landscape. The novel tells the stories of Mircha, a ghost who won't go away, and his still-living wife, Azade; Olga, a disillusioned translator/censor for a military newspaper; Yuri, an army veteran who always wears an aviator's helmet; and Tanya, who works at the previously mentioned museum and who always carries a notebook in which she records her observations and dreams.

Colum McCann, author of the National Book Award winning Let the Great World Spin, called Gina's book a magical debut novel from an author who "manages...to capture our sundry human moments and make raw and unforgettable music of them." And Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, who wrote the wonderful book Ms. Hempel Chronicles, said "Ochsner's novel is enchanting, at once playful and poignant. With her marvelously light touch, she takes the rubble of post-Soviet Russia and turns it into gold."

We hope you can join us tonight at 7 pm to hear Gina read from her debut novel, The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Schott & Hughes Read at Broadway Books

Did you miss the wonderful poetry reading at Broadway Books on Tuesday? That's a shame, because we heard some great poetry, and it seems that a good time was had by all. Much talk of fish and sex, but I think you had to be there to understand. All is not lost, however, if you weren't, because here is a little video clip of the event. Please understand that we are still finding our way, both as videographers and as filmmakers. But we're making progress! And we have our own channel on You Tube of all of our videos thus far, along with some of our favorites that others have made. You can check out all of the videos at www.youtube.com/bookbroads. I'll post here the video of Penelope Scambly Schott and Henry Hughes from Tuesday night. Enjoy!

Good News for a Favorite Author

One of our favorite writers, Andrew X. Pham, has just been award a Guggenheim Fellowship. This week, Edward Hirsch, president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, announced that it has awarded 180Fellowships to artists, scientists, and scholars. The successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3000 applicants.

Andrew X Pham is the author of the powerful memoir Catfish and Mandala, a saga of family issues, identity, and reconciliation. Pham was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1967. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, his family escaped Communist Vietnam on a sinking boat and came to the US in 1977, when Pham was 10. He spent his teenage years in Northern California and then earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA in 1990. He soon discovered that he was "inherently unfit for cubicle work," and so bounced around for a while. As a young adult, he went back to Vietnam and spent a year bicycling through four countries and getting to know his native country and its people. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam tells of growing up in the US as a Vietnamese and then traveling through Vietnam as an American. It is an unforgettable and moving story of exploration and the search for cultural identity. And it is one terrific book. When the book was published, Pham was living in Portland, and the book was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award for Literary Nonfiction.

Last year he published his second "memoir," The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars, which tells the story of the father, Thong Van Pham, through the words of the son. The book offers a stunning portrait of a country and its everyday citizens that moves beyond the sensationalistic headlines and the passionless summaries in the history books, a dramatized eye-opening account of a nation contending with the French occupation, the Japanese invasion, and the controversial “conflict” with the United States. I loved this book as well, although it was a tough read in terms of subject matter. It was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and The Oregonian named it one of the Top 10 National Books of 2008. Currently Pham lives in Hawaii.

Both of these books are beautifully written and tell remarkable and little-known stories. I recommend them highly. Rumor has it that Pham is working on a third Vietnam book; I can hardly wait!

Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of stellar achievement and exceptional promise for continued accomplishment. One of the hallmarks of the Guggenheim Fellowship program is the diversity of its Fellows. The ages of this year's Fellows range from twenty-nine to seventy; their residences span the world, from Waipahu, Hawaii, to New York City and from Toronto to Glasgow; and their Fellowship projects will carry them to every continent. In all, sixty-two disciplines and sixty-eight different academic institutions are represented by this year's Fellows. Fifty-six Fellows are unaffiliated or hold only adjunct or part-time positions at universities.

According to President Hirsch, since its establishment in 1925 the Foundation has granted more than $273 million in Fellowships to nearly 16,700 individuals. Scores of Nobel, Pulitzer, and other prizewinners grace the roll of Fellows, including Ansel Adams, W. H. Auden, Aaron Copland, Martha Graham, Langston Hughes, Henry Kissinger, Vladimir Nabokov, Isamu Noguchi, Linus Pauling, Philip Roth, Paul Samuelson, Wendy Wasserstein, Derek Walcott, James Watson, and Eudora Welty.

Ken Kesey Award Winner

Just out today in paperback: Bearing the Body, by Corvallis author Ehud Havazelet. The book was just selected as this year's winner of the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction in the 2008 Oregon Book Awards. It was also named a New York Times notable book of the year. We've got copies!