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A& t K ____________
WedNEsdAy, FEbßUARy 2, 2000
The CL ac I< amas P rint
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ANGIE DASCHEL
A&E Editor
Local author Chuck Palahnluk read from his most recent book
invisible Monsters, as well as his previous novels. He stayed to
answer questions from the audience and sign books after the
reading.
Authors’ Night: Women of Courage
Continued from page 1
captured by a terrorist group.
Martin also included the story of
an 18-year-old woman’s struggle to
create a national environmental
group to clean up toxic waste
dumps.
“There are stories in here that are
great for college-age'people,” said
Martin. The positive feedback that
she has received from readers since
the book was published in Septem
ber was enormous, according to
Martin.
“I’ve had women write me and
say ‘I was in a horrible depression
today and I read your book and it’s
given me some hope,”’ said Mar
tin. “It really seems to move people.”
Connections program
sponsors opera workshop
MATTSHEMPERT
Staff Writer
Students and staff were given a
preview of the Portland Opera’s next
performances, Pagliacci and
Carmina Burana, yesterday in a
lunch and listen session sponsored
by the Connections program.
Diane Syrcle, director of educa
tion for Portland opera, and Carol
Lucas, Chorus Master, talked about
the coming performances to help
prepare listeners for the dress re
hearsal Feb. 10 at the Civic Audito
rium. The AAWCC/Connections
program has organized a trip to the
dress rehearsal as part of their win
ter quarter offerings. Tickets to the
dress rehearsal are sold out, but the
opera will.also play Feb. 12,14,16
and 19 at the Civic Auditorium.
Pagliacci is a one-act opera about
a woman named Nedda. Nedda’s abu
sive husband regularly threatens to kill
fierifheevercatcheshercheating. Her
husband, Canio, is the leader of a
troupe of traveling clowns, and in the
next town they come to, Nedda finds
her lover, Silvio. They agree to meet at
night, but are overheard by Tonio, who
is a member of the troupe and infatu
ated with Nedda.
Hie chorus of the opera consists
of 40 union singers, eight substi
tutes, and 25 or 26 unpaid chorus
singers, for a total of 73 or 74 people
singing, accompanied by an orches
tra including two pianos, five sets of
timpani, three glockenspiels, and five
cymbals.
When Fight Club author Chuck
Palahniuk read at the campus last
Wednesday in Gregory Forum, he
seemed to have jumped right from the
pages of his novel. Ironically, the
quick-witted author spent the entire
reading slightly hunched over in pain
from broken ribs obtained in a brawl
with friends
Known for his self-described of
fensiveness, Palahniuk read chapters
from Fight Club, Survivor, his new
book Invisible Monsters and his yet-
unfmished work tentatively titled
Choke.
“I don't write Bridges of Madison
County,” he joked, referring to the
sometimes indecent nature of his
books. Before reading from/w/siWe
Monsters, Palahniuk described the
chapter as “possibly the most offen
sive thing I have ever written.”
r ight1
“Sometimes you write these things,
and they are published, and then you
realize, ‘my parents real that!”’joked
Palahniuk. “After that, you can’tre-
ally look them in the eye again.”
Invisible Monsters, following in
the success of Fight Club, is in the
process of being picked up by an in
dependent production company. At
the reading, Palahniuk talked briefly
about the screen version of Fight
Club and its star, Brad Pitt. He also
explained how ideas come to fruition
in his books.
“Each of the books really starts as
a short story,” said Palahniuk. “I al-
ways think, this time I’m going to do
a collection of short stories. Then I
realize that all the stories are all about
someone named Tyler, and I realize
it’s another book.”
The New Yorker listed Palahniuk
as one of the ten best novelists of
the year; he is also the winner of the
Pacific Northwest Book Award and
the Oregon Book Award. Palahniuk,
a local writer who lives on Sauvie
Island, was also a member of the
Dangerous Writers’ Club, who ap
peared last year at Authors’ Night
At the reading on Wednesday,
Palahniuk offered some insight into
the writing process..
“You don’t just write at your com
puter,” said Palahniuk. “You write
every moment you are awake. Idon’t
know how many times I’ve gotten
out of the shower to write something
down.”
Palahniuksaid his ideas come not
only from personal experiences, but
also from subjects that require a
deeper understanding.
“I always try to find something I
can’t stand, then I try to write about
that,” explained Palahniuk. “I had a
real difficulty with violence, sol wrote
Fight-Club." ■■
Palahniuk answered questions
from the audience and signed books
after the reading, which drew about
lOOpeople.
• ; .
Clackamas instructor shares poems
Jeff Knorr reads excerpts from his new book Standing Up to the Day
KRISTEN WISER
Staff Writer
Jeff Knorr, an English instructor
at Clackamas, will be reading ex
cerpts from his new book of poems
titled Standing Up to the Day to
morrow at 10:30 a.m. in Gregory Fo
rum.
The book, published in October
1999, was Knorr’s first published
work.
“I started working on them six or
seven years ago,” states Knorr of
the poems included in his book.
The book is dedicated to his late
grandfather, who died when Knorr
was just 11 years old.
“From the time I was three to the
time I was 11, we were very close.”
The two spent a lot of time camp-
ing, fishing, and hunting in
Yosemite National Park. This is the
reason, he commented, “A lot of
the poems are rooted in the out
doors.”
Knorr, originally from San
Leandro, California, is a multi-tal
ented writer. He is a co-editor of the
Clackamas Literary Review. His
poetry has appeared in such liter
ary journals as the Connecticut Re
view, Red Rock Review and the
Oxford Magazine. In 1998 he was
MIKE POLLOCK I Clackamas Print
,
Jeff Knorr
nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a
literary award, by the Red Rock Re
view.
Knorr and fellow English faculty
member Tim Shell co-wrote “Moor
ing Against the Tide: Writing Fic
tion and Poetry, an English text
book set to be out this next fall.
All this from someone who con
fesses, “In college I actually wrote
more short stories.”
He went on to say, “I never re
ally felt comfortable in them (po
ems) until I got to write about fish
ing, hunting, nature.”
Aside from writing and teaching,
Knorr is also the father of an active
three-year-old boy. The only time
he gets time to write is in the morn
ings.
“I write from about 6:30 to 9 ev
ery morning.”
Portland International
Film Festival
The 23rd Annual Portland
International Film Festival begins on Feb.
11 and runs through Feb. 27. The Festival
features 88 films from 32 countries, which
will all be shown in their original language
with English subtitles. Admission is $4-7
and the films will be shown at the following
theaters:
♦ Guild Theatre, SW 9th & Taylor
♦ Broadway Metroplex, SW Main &
Broadway
♦ The Movie House, SW 12th & Taylor
For more information, call 221-1156.
mon t a ge
southern bistro cooking
301 s.e. morrison ~ 234.1324
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NORTHWEST FILM CENTER
Gong Li plays Lady Zhao in Sony Pictures Classics'The
Emperor and the Assassin, featured in the Portland
International Film Festival, beginning on Feb. 11.
dinner: sun-thurs 6:00pm - 2:00am
fri-sat 6:00pm - 4:00am
lunch: mon-fri 11:00 - 2:004-