Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1994)
The Clackamas Print Page 4 Wednesday, Oct 12,1994 FEATURE English instructor honored with writing award by Christi Snavely Staff Writer Craig Lesley, a Clackamas Community College English teacher, was awarded the Willamette Writers’ Distin guished Northwest Writer Award last July. The award honors writers from this region who exemplify exceptional quality in their work. This award is held in high est regard among the literary com munity. Past recipients include Dayton Hyde, Ursula LeGuin, the late Walt Morey and William Stafford. “I’m very pleased, and in good company,” Lesley said about his distinction. Lesley’s publishing credits include two novels which have received tremendous public re sponse and wide literary recogni tion. His first novel, Winterkill. features Danny Kachich, a young Nez Perce Indian who learns a lot about himself as he tries to raise his own son. Winterkill won the Western Writers of America’s Golden Spur Award for the Best Novel in 1984, as well as the Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Association Award for Best Book of the Year. In 1986, Lesley was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Aits. This al lowed him to complete River Song, his sequel to Winterkill. In addition to the novels, Lesley has completed a number of short fiction works, some of Photo by Chad Patteson Craig Lesley, an English Instructor at the college for 20 years, teaches his creative writing class. He has had two novels and several short fiction works published. which have appeared in two an thologies. The first one, Talking Leaves, published in 1991, was introduced and edited by Lesley. Dreamers and Desperadoes, the second anthology, was published in 1993. The anthologies have been exciting for Lesley, who is eager for wider recognition and more exposure of Native American au thors. In the short time since they were published, many of these writers have been able to intro duce more work and open the door further to a still verv limited area of fiction. Lesley credits his wife, Katheryn Stravakis, with much of his success. Stravakis, an artist and writer, is Lesley’s best critic. “If I can get it past her, then Iknowitwon’tbeaproblem with the people in New York,” Lesley said. The couple co-edited Dreamers and Desperadoes, a compilation of contemporary short fiction of the American West. Lesley, who has taught at CCC for over 20 years, has also led workshops and classes at in stitutions including Lewis and Clark, Linfield College and Port land State. He is a Board mem ber of the Northwest Native American Writers' Association, the Board of Trustees of the Lit erary Arts, Inc. and the Regional Advisory Board of Fishtrap, Inc. Lesley's primary goal with his students is " to encourage them to keep trying, to learn they can succeed,” he said. “They should be observant to the things around them in everyday life.” Winterkill has been on teach- ing curriculum lists at many high schools around the Northwest. The novel is a good tool in help ing students obtain a better un derstanding of Native American culture today, as well as in the past. Lesley’s new novel, The Sky Fisherman, is due out in March of 1995. The novel is set in La Grande, OR, and is told from the view point of a single mother rais ing her son in thè 1960’s. “Fans will be pleased and surprised, because it’s different,” Lesley said. The work is an ex ample of Lesley’s efforts to tell the story of small town life and au thentic, hardworking ¡people. Editor welcomes new school year by Tina Guinn Editor-in-Chief With the beginning of the new school year, I find myself quickly falling back into the old routine. Working every morning, then rushing to school to put in a schedule of full-time classes bal anced with my work on The Clackamas Print, then back to work for the rest of the afternoon. Then, it's often back to school for more classes, or more work on the paper. But despite the grueling schedule, I am looking forward to a rewarding year, in both my aca demics and on the paper staff. As editor of The Clackamas Print, I have many goals that I would like to accomplish this year. I would like to improve the physical appearance of the news paper, as well as the content I look forward to meeting that chal lenge this year. In attaining those goals for the paper this year, I welcome your comments. I encourage everyone, as you go about your equally busy lives, to strive to attain your goals. I anticipate this year as being re warding for everyone. Good Luck. Green Jelly: a mean green music machine by Carl Evans Contributing Writer Green Jelly’s “333” is a rockin’ follow-up album to last year’s “Cereal Killer”. Dipping into many musical troughs, “333” pours out enough guitar to quench any thirst, with heavy mosh sounds in “Fight” to dance pop like “Slave Boy”. Although two songs sound strikingly similar to the music of White Zombie or the B-52’s, the album remains lyri cally creative and musically pro ficient. Green Jelly does very well for a group that doesn’t take mu sic too seriously. The members of Green Jelly are more than a band; they are a self-contained production crew. They handle their own videos from writing to editing, and are planning to develop and produce cartoon shows. Working with D.C. Comics, Green Jelly will also release a comic book series of their own based on their char acters. Be it the band or the produc tion crew, Green Jelly has both hands on the wheel and the pedal to the floor. 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