Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2019)
2 // COASTWEEKEND.COM ‘Sold on a Monday’ author to speak at Cannon Beach Library CANNON BEACH — New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris will read from and discuss her latest novel, “Sold on a Monday,” at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, in the Cannon Beach Library, 131 N. Hem- lock St. The talk is part of the library’s Northwest Authors series. McMorris began writing “Sold on a Monday” when she stumbled upon an old newspaper photograph of four young siblings huddled on the steps of an apartment building, their mother shielding her face from the camera “The sign in the foreground stunned me,” McMorris writes. The sign said, “4 CHILDREN FOR SALE, INQUIRE WITHIN.” The photo had fi rst appeared in FACEBOOK.COM/ COASTWEEKEND Sou’Wester Garden Club plant sale Saturday, May 25 9am-Noon Seaside Convention Center OUTSTANDING PLANTS Raffle and Silent Auction The Vidette-Messenger newspaper in 1948 and, in a brief caption, claimed to exhibit the desperation of a family in Chicago. “As a mom myself, I wondered what could have possibly pushed a parent to that point,” McMorris added. “In the direst of times, I could fathom perhaps having to give up my children for the sake of their well-be- ing. But why on earth ask for money in return? Possible answers to that question soon became the foundation of “Sold on a Monday.” McMorris’s writing career started with a recipe book of her grand- mother’s favorite recipes, “Grandma Jean’s Rainy Day Recipes,” a collec- tion that she published herself to ben- efi t the Oregon Food Bank. The pro- cess of collecting the recipes led to the discovery of her grandfather’s let- ters to his sweetheart during his naval service in WWII, which she used to inspire her fi rst novel, “Letters from Home.” Since then, McMorris has writ- ten several novels and novellas, which have received 20 national liter- ary awards honoring her subtle inter- mingling of history and fi ction. Her works include: “Bridge of Scarlet Leaves,” “The Pieces We Keep” and “The Edge of Lost.” McMorris has a background in children’s television programming and media and public relations. She was named one of Portland’s “Forty Under 40” by The Business Journal. This is a free event. “Sold on a Monday” by Kristina McMorris ‘Finding Humanity Behind Bars’ MANZANITA — Authors Lauren Kessler and Nancy Miller Gomez discuss the transformative power of words for prison inmates, “Finding Humanity Behind Bars,” at the Manzanita Writ- ers’ Series, at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manza- nita at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 18. The U.S. has the high- est rate of incarceration in the world. Listen to two authors who spend time with some of the inmates — Kessler with “Lifers” in a maximum-secu- rity prison and Gomez with men and women in Santa Cruz, California, county jails and prisons. They’ll talk about the ways writing can heal, redeem and give meaning to life in prison, as well as how the experience has made a dif- ference in their own lives. Kessler will read from “A Grip of Time: When Prison is Your Life,” based on three years of running writing workshops inside the Oregon State Penitentiary. Kessler says her mission was to “learn about this hid- den world. So that we all could. I could teach these men to craft stories. They could educate me about prison life. I needed to know — I thought we all needed to know — who these people were that we put away, far away from us, in a country that puts more people in prison than any other coun-try on earth.” Gomez will read from her poetry chapbook “Punish- ment,” a 2018 Rattle Poetry Chapbook Selection. Gomez teaches poetry workshops to inmates at Salinas Valley State Prison. These workshops fos- ter creativity and self-expres- sion, providing an opportu- nity for inmates to transform personal suffering into a shared experience through poems and stories. The work- shops help participants heal emotional wounds and make meaning of their lives. Kessler will also teach a writing workshop on Mak- ing Characters Come Alive during the day from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $60. The workshop requires a min- imum of six attendees so register soon at http://bit. ly/2UParad. Admission for the evening reading is $7. Doors open at 6:30.
