At 51 years old, twins Jeanie and Julius still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation in the English countryside. The cottage they have shared their entire lives is their only protection against the modernizing world around them. Inside its walls, they make music, and in its garden, they grow everything they need to survive. To an outsider, it looks like poverty; to them, it is home. But when Dot dies unexpectedly, the world they’ve so carefully created begins to fall apart. The cottage they love, and the security it offered, is taken back by their landlord, exposing the twins to harsh truths and even harsher realities. Seeing a new future, Julius becomes torn between the loyalty he feels towards his sister and his…
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Yaa Gyasi is the author of the forthcoming novel, Transcendent Kingdom (Knopf, August 2020). Her best-selling debut novel, Homegoing (2016), is an intergenerational saga following two split branches of a Ghanaian family through three hundred years of history. Homegoing won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for best first book, was shortlisted for the British Book Award – Debut of the Year, was named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book, and was included on numerous Best Books of the Year lists. National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates praised Homegoing as “an inspiration” and “what happens when you pair a gifted literary mind to an epic task.” Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama.…
Comments closedFrom Paula McLain, the bestselling author of The Paris Wife, comes an atmospheric novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense: A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal? Anna Hart is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime…
Comments closedMark your calendars!!! On Thursday, April 15th at 6:30 p.m., poet and novelist Ocean Vuong will read from his recent creative works. Following the reading, Vuong will be joined by faculty mentor and interdisciplinary artist Dao Strom for a conversation. This event will be co-hosted by PNCA’s MFA Low-Residency Creative Writing and MA Critical Studies programs and has been made possible by a generous grant from the Collins Foundation. Ocean Vuong is the author of The New York Times bestselling novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, from Penguin Press (2019) and forthcoming in 30 languages. A recipient of a 2019 MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Vuong is also the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, a New York Times Top 10…
Comments closedThe KBOO Community Radio Artist In Residence Program assists artists working creatively with sound. Every year, one artist or one collaborative group of artists will be awarded twenty hours of studio recording*** and production time with a KBOO Mixologist in order to create a piece of sound art that will be publicly presented at the end of the Residency. ***Due to COVID19, studio recording time may be limited or not available. KBOO is currently closed to all non-essential in-studio activity and we do not yet have an anticipated date for re-opening. The public presentation may need to be limited to a virtual format only depending on health and safety measures. Applicants should submit proposals that do not depend on using KBOO studios or having an…
Comments closedAward-winning author Willy Vlautin (The Motel Life, Lean on Pete) explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in his scorching new novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family. Barely 30, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother, Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in 15 years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home — and obtain the security they’ve never had.…
Comments closedThis class is for serious writers who are ready to reclaim their commitment to writing. The writing journey, exhilarating and wondrous as it is, can be punctuated with delays and disappointments. Sometimes the demands of daily life or an unexpected crisis can send us into a tailspin. How do we keep writing through chaos or a stressful live event? For many of us, 2020 threw various hurdles in the way of our ability to write consistently. Yet, we pressed on. Still, some of us have yet to regain our footing, and need encouragement to keep going. If you are tired of not writing, and want to cultivate the “stick-to-it-ness” necessary for meeting your goals–no matter the challenges–this workshop is for you. Gleaning inspiration and guidance…
Comments closedHOCUS is currently accepting fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction on the theme of Enchantments. Submissions should total no more than 2000 words. You are welcome to interpret the theme however you like, but keep in mind that HOCUS prefers work in the literary genre. Deadline is March 7th at midnight. Reading will take place via Zoom on March 31st at 7:00 p.m.
Comments closedAn Event with Jacqueline Winspear and Her Latest Maisie Dobbs book We are thrilled to once again welcome Jacqueline Winspear to our virtual stage to talk about the latest book (#16!) in her series of Maisie Dobbs books, The Consequences of Fear. Jacqueline Winspear is well-known and well-loved for her Maisie Dobbs series, which explores the aftermath of World War I through the character of Maisie, who is very much a woman of her generation–women who claimed independence they were reluctant to relinquish once the war ended. The new novel opens in October 1941, as Europe buckles under Nazi occupation. Maisie is working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots…
Comments closedAnnie Bloom’s welcomes local author Emmeline Duncan (aka, Kelly Garrett) for a livestream reading from her new mystery novel, Fresh Brewed Murder. She will be joined by a trio of fellow Northwest mystery authors: Ellie Alexander, Alicia Beckman (aka, Leslie Budewitz), Angela M. Sanders. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcudOisqDIqE9UCVRUg2BnHhH36J6f_UUBx About Fresh Brewed Murder: Master barista Sage Caplin is opening a new coffee cart in Portland, Oregon, but a killer is brewing up a world of trouble. Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers…and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee truck, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley–a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That’s essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus…
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