Hawaii Writers Guild Reviews Accomplishments at its Annual Meeting
Members of the Hawaii Writers Guild heard an encouraging review of the organization’s accomplishments during 2022 at its annual meeting held via Zoom on January 21.
Vice President Bruce Stern, who presided over the meeting, noted that he was “very pleased” at how well the Guild was able to maintain a range of activities throughout the year by utilizing a variety of online programs on a regular basis to maintain contact and conduct business among its more than 70 active members living in the Hawaiian Islands as well as in a number of states on the mainland. The Guild has one member who lives in London, England.
During 2022, the Guild continued to sponsor weekly writers support meetings, called “Readings and Responses”, open to all members at no cost via Zoom. In addition, in 2022, the Guild established a “Fiction Focus Group” for a limited number of members working on long-form fiction.
Margaret Zacharias, who co-ordinates the writing groups, reported that a “Nonfiction Focus Group” for members working on book-length nonfiction projects is projected to start in 2023. Like the Fiction Focus group, inclusion in the nonfiction group will be by invitation in order to keep the size of the group manageable and coherent.
A PowerPoint presentation at the annual meeting honored a total of 43 Guild members who had published their writings in the prior year. Twenty-five members had their work published in Latitudes, the Guild’s online literary review; 16 members published books; and 16 members published short stories, essays, poems, and/or articles in non-Guild related publications or had their work produced for the stage. Two members were nominated for writing awards during 2022.
All editions of Latitudes, including the recently published 2023 edition, are available to the public at no charge on the Guild’s website, at https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com/
literary-review.html.
Diann Wilson, a former Guild president from North Kohala, reported on the Guild’s YouTube channel, which offers the interview program which she produces and hosts, Write On! She also referenced another program, Inside the Writer’s Studio, which featured readings and interviews of Guild members.
Wilson reported that there were 658 total views on the Guild’s YouTube channel this past year, with a total watch time of 2,903 minutes. She noted that there were twenty-four “likes” during 2022 and six new subscribers. The #1 most-viewed episode of 2022 was Inside the Writers Studio, Episode 25, featuring Guild member Don Kennedy. The second most-viewed episode was Write On!, Episode 18, with Sheri Brenden, who discussed the path to the publication of her book about Title IX (which has now been published by the University of Minnesota Press). These programs and others are available to the public at no charge on the Guild’s YouTube channel, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmn-e3CM6RGNf_8QJMJzzjQ .
The results of the Guild’s election of officers for 2023 were also announced at the annual meeting. North Kohala resident Diane Revell was elected as the Guild’s new president and Bruce Stern from Waikoloa, Donna Beumler from North Kohala and Bob Lupo from Hakalau were all re-elected to their offices as vice president, secretary and treasurer, respectively.
“Under the leadership of President-elect Diane Revell, we all are looking forward to a successful year for the Guild and its members,” said Vice President Bruce Stern, who hosted the annual meeting.
Hawaii Writers Guild Descends Upon Kauai
Hawaii Writers Guild members and friends held a meet-and-greet dinner at the recent Kauai Writers Conference. The November 2022 conference was the first time Kauai Writers Conference had convened in person since 2019.
Guild members attending came from different islands and even from the mainland and it was the first time some of them had ever met even though they had seen each other online for years. ("You're so tall!" said Joy Fisher, who lives on the Big Island, to Frank Reilly, who lives on Kauai.)
Other conference goers who had learned about the Guild also joined to check it out further, and one, Catherine Tripp, from the Big Island, submitted an application to join the Guild when she got home. Her application has been approved and Catherine is a new member of the Guild. Welcome, Catherine!
Guild members attending came from different islands and even from the mainland and it was the first time some of them had ever met even though they had seen each other online for years. ("You're so tall!" said Joy Fisher, who lives on the Big Island, to Frank Reilly, who lives on Kauai.)
Other conference goers who had learned about the Guild also joined to check it out further, and one, Catherine Tripp, from the Big Island, submitted an application to join the Guild when she got home. Her application has been approved and Catherine is a new member of the Guild. Welcome, Catherine!
Pictured above, standing, from left, Joy Fisher, Frank Reilly and Margaret Zacharias. Seated, from left, Stacey Tighe, Dawn Hurwitz and her husband, Catherine Tripp and CherylAnn Farrell.
Volcano Writers Group Brings Back Public Readings
The Volcano Writers Group successfully revived its tradition of public readings recently when a “standing room” only crowd flocked to the in-person event held in an open-air tent at Ira Ono’s Volcano Garden Arts on October 23.
“It was quite a deal” reported Bryan Furer, the group’s obviously pleased “fearless leader.” Such events had been curtailed for more than two years by pandemic restrictions.
The two-hour event was emceed by Janet “Dammit” Carpenter, who introduced nine local authors who shared poems and stories, many from the group’s anthology, Out of Our Minds: Volume 2, Shadows and Reflections, which had been published that day.
Some newer members of the group read original works-in-progress, or poems and short stories written recently which had been inspired by the weekly meetings of the Volcano Writers Group.
Vitus “The Mad” started the event off with "The Writer's Prayer", followed by poems and a short story entitled "How I Met a Real Live Monster".
Taressa Watson followed with her award-winning “Sonnets-in-the-Round”, written for her "heart's delight", her beautiful granddaughters. She then foreshadowed Halloween with a scary story called "The Crock".
Vittorio Grieco, a new member of the growing group of Volcano writers, amazed the audience with his poem, "Humanism", inspired by a quote from his beloved godmother.
Long-standing member Kat Gaiser-Licht, whose work has been published in both volume one and volume two of the group’s Out of Our Minds anthologies, encouraged listeners to take action to save the planet with her deeply-felt essay, "Lessons for Humanity".
Another well-regarded new member, Casey Simpson, took the audience back to Samhain (Halloween) in old Ireland with a chapter called “The Banshee” from his historical fiction novel about an ancestor, Seamus O'Connell.
After a brief break to enjoy wine and pupus—a traditional offering by Volcano Writers Group members to their audience—local author and journalist Alan McNarie kicked off the second half of the reading with three deeply reflective poems from his soon-to-be-published book, Disappearing Mountain. The poems included the title poem from his book, as well as "Testing the Ropes" and " 'io".
Anela Scott read her amusing childhood recollection, "The Magic of Knowledge", a story about growing up in Austria published in the group’s new anthology. Scott was followed by poet Karen Kuester, who shared several heartfelt, humorous, and contemplative creations that also appear in the new anthology as well as in her recently published book, Meraki, A Collection of Poems.
The afternoon reading ended on a serious note with a story by another new member, Steve Sarsfield, who read his short story, written in the first person, about a slave sold to the academic institution run by Pythagoras in ancient Greece.
“If you missed this reading, don’t despair. The Volcano Writers Group plans to have a second reading in December where copies of the new book will be available,” Carpenter said. Watch for it!
“It was quite a deal” reported Bryan Furer, the group’s obviously pleased “fearless leader.” Such events had been curtailed for more than two years by pandemic restrictions.
The two-hour event was emceed by Janet “Dammit” Carpenter, who introduced nine local authors who shared poems and stories, many from the group’s anthology, Out of Our Minds: Volume 2, Shadows and Reflections, which had been published that day.
Some newer members of the group read original works-in-progress, or poems and short stories written recently which had been inspired by the weekly meetings of the Volcano Writers Group.
Vitus “The Mad” started the event off with "The Writer's Prayer", followed by poems and a short story entitled "How I Met a Real Live Monster".
Taressa Watson followed with her award-winning “Sonnets-in-the-Round”, written for her "heart's delight", her beautiful granddaughters. She then foreshadowed Halloween with a scary story called "The Crock".
Vittorio Grieco, a new member of the growing group of Volcano writers, amazed the audience with his poem, "Humanism", inspired by a quote from his beloved godmother.
Long-standing member Kat Gaiser-Licht, whose work has been published in both volume one and volume two of the group’s Out of Our Minds anthologies, encouraged listeners to take action to save the planet with her deeply-felt essay, "Lessons for Humanity".
Another well-regarded new member, Casey Simpson, took the audience back to Samhain (Halloween) in old Ireland with a chapter called “The Banshee” from his historical fiction novel about an ancestor, Seamus O'Connell.
After a brief break to enjoy wine and pupus—a traditional offering by Volcano Writers Group members to their audience—local author and journalist Alan McNarie kicked off the second half of the reading with three deeply reflective poems from his soon-to-be-published book, Disappearing Mountain. The poems included the title poem from his book, as well as "Testing the Ropes" and " 'io".
Anela Scott read her amusing childhood recollection, "The Magic of Knowledge", a story about growing up in Austria published in the group’s new anthology. Scott was followed by poet Karen Kuester, who shared several heartfelt, humorous, and contemplative creations that also appear in the new anthology as well as in her recently published book, Meraki, A Collection of Poems.
The afternoon reading ended on a serious note with a story by another new member, Steve Sarsfield, who read his short story, written in the first person, about a slave sold to the academic institution run by Pythagoras in ancient Greece.
“If you missed this reading, don’t despair. The Volcano Writers Group plans to have a second reading in December where copies of the new book will be available,” Carpenter said. Watch for it!
Hawaii Writers Guild Celebrates
Fifth Annual Dinner
Hawaii Writers Guild’s (HWG) Fifth Annual Meeting and Election of Officers, held via Zoom on January 22, revealed an expanding organization despite continued accommodations necessitated by COVID-19.
“We used to have annual dinners at Anna Ranch in Waimea,” public relations director Joy Fisher said, “but with the omicron variant racking up a record numbers of cases on the Big Island, we held this year’s meeting, like last year’s, online.” The event was facilitated by Events Director Johnson Kahili IV.
“The upside of the online format is that our members who live off island are able to join us,” Fisher said. The Guild, which started as a small group of writers on the Big Island, now has several members who live on other islands, some members who live part- or full-time on the mainland, and one member who lives in Bosnia. The Guild added 13 new members during 2021, ending with 76 current members, including two student members.
The annual meeting included a State of the Guild report highlighting the organization’s achievements during 2021. Utilizing its YouTube channel, North Kohala Regional Director Eila Algood and former President Diann Wilson, also from North Kohala, each continued to host online programs to replace the in-person programs curtailed by COVID-19.
Inside the Writer’s Studio, hosted by Algood, offered readings and interviews of writers, and Write On! hosted by Wilson, offered workshops on aspects of writing and publishing. As Algood moves on to other endeavors, another program, developed by Events Director Kahili, Hawaii Writers Showcase, took its first bow online in 2021. True to its name, the new program showcases Guild members reading their original work, often in outdoor settings.
Another major achievement in 2021 was continuation of the Guild’s online literary review, Latitudes, helmed by Bob Lupo of Honokaa, and supported by eight genre editors, two each in fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry. Latitudes, which plans to publish its third issue online in February 2022, features the writing of Guild members and is available at no charge to the public on the Guild’s website, https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com .
Pursuant to an exchange agreement with the Berkeley Chapter of the California Writers Club signed in 2021, the Guild also gained access to that organization’s Speakers Series, which features skills lectures by writers.
In 2021, the Guild also published its first issue of Member News, a biannual publication to keep members informed of the accomplishments of their colleagues. The next issue is due out in March 2022.
Another important activity developed during 2021 was an expansion and renaming of the Guild’s online writers support group. Readings and Responses is now offered every week and is a benefit of membership in the Guild.
At the annual meeting, members were encouraged to offer suggestions for new activities and programs for 2022. A planning meeting will examine these suggestions and chart a direction for further development in the near future.
One feature of Guild annual meetings is a tribute to members who published their work during the previous year. This year, that tribute was presented in a PowerPoint slide show produced by Kahili.
Kahili also organized a “spinning wheel” game which facilitated the selection of six lucky attendees as winners of books published by members of the Guild.
The election of officers for 2022 was also announced at the annual meeting. Carol McMillan, of Kamuela, was elected for a second term as the Guild’s president. Other officers who were re-elected include Bruce Stern, vice president, from Waikoloa, and Bob Lupo, treasurer, from Hakalau. Donna Beumler was elected as the Guild’s new secretary. She replaces Diane Revell, who served as secretary of the Guild from October 2017. Both Beumler and Revell live in North Kohala.
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Carol McMillan Bruce Stern Bob Lupo Donna Beumler
Events Director Creates New YouTube Program
October 2021--Hawaii Writers Guild has debuted a new series of videos on its YouTube channel. Hawaii Writers Showcase, which will present Writers Guild members reading their original work in informal settings, was conceived by Guild Events Director Johnson Kahili IV.
The first episode, filmed outdoors in Manuka Park near Milolii on Hawaii island, showcases Guild member Wendy Wilson reading her short story, “The Other Thing,” a spooky narrative about the abduction of a four-year-old girl by a dark creature of supernatural origin.
Wilson wrote the story for a Halloween-themed contest, but it was not her first venture into the world of the supernatural. Her first book, a vampire novel, emerged while Wilson was working full-time as a library technician in North Carolina. She has written two vampire novels and two fantasy books for middle graders. After she retired in 2017, Wilson moved to Hawaii and joined the Hawaii Writers Guild. She is an active member of Readings and Responses, a Guild-sponsored writers’ support group.
Kahili plans to record two episodes of Hawaii Writers Showcase per month. The second episode, a poetry reading by Guild President Carol McMillan, has already been recorded and will be online soon. All episodes will be available to the public at no charge on the Guild’s YouTube channel.
The premiere episode can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E74S0cr_l7E .
The first episode, filmed outdoors in Manuka Park near Milolii on Hawaii island, showcases Guild member Wendy Wilson reading her short story, “The Other Thing,” a spooky narrative about the abduction of a four-year-old girl by a dark creature of supernatural origin.
Wilson wrote the story for a Halloween-themed contest, but it was not her first venture into the world of the supernatural. Her first book, a vampire novel, emerged while Wilson was working full-time as a library technician in North Carolina. She has written two vampire novels and two fantasy books for middle graders. After she retired in 2017, Wilson moved to Hawaii and joined the Hawaii Writers Guild. She is an active member of Readings and Responses, a Guild-sponsored writers’ support group.
Kahili plans to record two episodes of Hawaii Writers Showcase per month. The second episode, a poetry reading by Guild President Carol McMillan, has already been recorded and will be online soon. All episodes will be available to the public at no charge on the Guild’s YouTube channel.
The premiere episode can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E74S0cr_l7E .
Johnson Kahili IV, Events Director for Hawaii Writers Guild, created Hawaii Writers Showcase, a new program featured on Hawaii Writers Guild YouTube Channel.
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Wendy Wilson, Hawaii Writers Guild member, is featured on the premiere episode of Hawaii Writers Showcase reading her story, "The Other Thing".
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Latitudes Winter 2021 Issue Goes Live!
It's here at last! The Winter 2021 issue of Latitudes, the online literary review of Hawaii Writers Guild, will go live on the Guild’s website on Wednesday, February 17, 2021! The magazine will remain online for the foreseeable future.
Publication culminates months of work by members of the Guild led by Managing Editor Bob Lupo. Duncan Dempster, the Guild’s webmaster and an editor-at-large, took on the formidable job of designing the format and laying out the issue.
“We put out a call to our members, asking them to submit their best writing for consideration. Thirty-two of them submitted works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama, a total of 72 submissions,” Lupo reported. A number of members submitted multiple entries both within and across the genres.
Members of the editing collective selected pieces for the issue in a two-step process in which the names of the authors were stripped from the manuscripts. “Sometimes, even when I thought I could guess who the author was, I later found out I was completely wrong,” said Joy Fisher, an editor-at-large.
Ultimately, 40 pieces written by 28 Guild members were selected for the issue—five pieces of fiction, nine pieces of nonfiction, including one essay in praise of reading literary fiction, one dramatic monologue and 25 poems. “Quality, in my view, was very good---and in some cases, exceptional,” said Lupo, who also served as the fiction editor.
The diversity of the pieces is broad and should appeal to many readers. The fiction pieces range from a story about a woman waiting to go blind to a chimera piglet who is raised to be sacrificed for a human heart transplant but is set free by a merciful keeper into the wilderness of Kauai’s mountains.
The nonfiction offerings range from memories of growing up with a herd of wild mustangs who roamed the Cedar Mountains of Utah to “Half a Dozen Reasons for Dancing the Hula,” by one of the Guild’s male members. As might be expected, some poems and essays also deal with Covid-19 themes, including one that tells the story of a gecko named “Greenie.”
"Six of the poets recorded their work so it may be heard as well as read, an option the group hopes to expand in future issues," said Tamara Williams, poetry editor.
Although the Guild was formed on the Big Island, it now has members from Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Molokai as well as members who live on the mainland but write about Hawaii or have other connections to the islands. One international member lives in Bosnia. Guild members whose work will appear in the Winter 2021 issue live on Kauai, in California, Arizona and in Bosnia, as well as on the Big Island.
In addition to those already mentioned, members of the editing collective include Jada Rufo, nonfiction editor and Jan Asch, drama editor.
Hawaii Writers Guild, a nonprofit organization under IRS Code section 501(c)(3), is proud to provide this journal to the public at no cost for their reading pleasure during this period of sheltering at home.
To find Latitudes on the Guild website, go to https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com/litreview-second-edition.htmlwww.hawaiiwritersguild.com .
Publication culminates months of work by members of the Guild led by Managing Editor Bob Lupo. Duncan Dempster, the Guild’s webmaster and an editor-at-large, took on the formidable job of designing the format and laying out the issue.
“We put out a call to our members, asking them to submit their best writing for consideration. Thirty-two of them submitted works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama, a total of 72 submissions,” Lupo reported. A number of members submitted multiple entries both within and across the genres.
Members of the editing collective selected pieces for the issue in a two-step process in which the names of the authors were stripped from the manuscripts. “Sometimes, even when I thought I could guess who the author was, I later found out I was completely wrong,” said Joy Fisher, an editor-at-large.
Ultimately, 40 pieces written by 28 Guild members were selected for the issue—five pieces of fiction, nine pieces of nonfiction, including one essay in praise of reading literary fiction, one dramatic monologue and 25 poems. “Quality, in my view, was very good---and in some cases, exceptional,” said Lupo, who also served as the fiction editor.
The diversity of the pieces is broad and should appeal to many readers. The fiction pieces range from a story about a woman waiting to go blind to a chimera piglet who is raised to be sacrificed for a human heart transplant but is set free by a merciful keeper into the wilderness of Kauai’s mountains.
The nonfiction offerings range from memories of growing up with a herd of wild mustangs who roamed the Cedar Mountains of Utah to “Half a Dozen Reasons for Dancing the Hula,” by one of the Guild’s male members. As might be expected, some poems and essays also deal with Covid-19 themes, including one that tells the story of a gecko named “Greenie.”
"Six of the poets recorded their work so it may be heard as well as read, an option the group hopes to expand in future issues," said Tamara Williams, poetry editor.
Although the Guild was formed on the Big Island, it now has members from Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Molokai as well as members who live on the mainland but write about Hawaii or have other connections to the islands. One international member lives in Bosnia. Guild members whose work will appear in the Winter 2021 issue live on Kauai, in California, Arizona and in Bosnia, as well as on the Big Island.
In addition to those already mentioned, members of the editing collective include Jada Rufo, nonfiction editor and Jan Asch, drama editor.
Hawaii Writers Guild, a nonprofit organization under IRS Code section 501(c)(3), is proud to provide this journal to the public at no cost for their reading pleasure during this period of sheltering at home.
To find Latitudes on the Guild website, go to https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com/litreview-second-edition.htmlwww.hawaiiwritersguild.com .
Carol McMillan, Hawaii Writers Guild New President for 2021
HWG Celebrates 4th Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
In keeping with the times, Hawaii Writers Guild (HWG) held its Fourth Annual Meeting and Election of Officers via Zoom on January 16, 2021.
“We missed the in-person contact,” secretary Diane Revell said, “but this did allow for attendance by others not on the Big Island, including one international member from Bosnia.” The Guild added 17 new members during the year, ending with 72 members, including two student members.
The annual meeting included a report of the Guild’s achievements during 2020. Despite limitations imposed by Covid-19, the Guild flourished. Early in the year, the Guild achieved status as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which enabled it to qualify for its own YouTube channel. When Covid-19 put an end to in-person pubic readings and writing workshops, North Kohala Regional Director Eila Algood and President Diann Wilson combined efforts to create two on-line programs on its YouTube channel to replace the in-person programs.
Inside the Writer’s Studio, hosted by Algood, offered readings and interviews of writers, and Write On! hosted by Wilson, offered workshops on aspects of writing and publishing. So far, 21 episodes of the former and 11 episodes of the latter have been posted and are available for viewing at no cost by the public at Hawaii Writers Guild YouTube channel. New episodes of both programs are planned for 2021.
Another major achievement in 2020 was publication of the first issue of the Guild’s on-line literary review, Latitudes, coordinated by Laura Burkhart, of North Kohala, with a committee from the Big Island. The inaugural issue can be found at https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com/litreview-first-edition.html.
Led in 2021 by Bob Lupo of Honokaa, Latitudes is set to publish its second issue online in February. Latitudes features the writing of Guild members and is available at no charge to the public on the Guild’s website.
Other new activities developed during 2020 included a Writing Buddies program which enabled members to pair up and meet online to encourage each other’s writing endeavors during an otherwise isolated time.
At the annual meeting, members were encouraged to offer suggestions for new activities and programs for 2021. A planning meeting will examine these suggestions and make decisions in the near future. Stay tuned!
One feature of Guild annual meetings is a tribute to members who published their work during the previous year. This year, that tribute was presented in a PowerPoint slide show. Fifteen members published books in 2020, and many others published writings in anthologies, magazines and newspapers. One member even had her Christmas musical staged on Kahilu TV.
The election of officers for 2021 was also announced at the annual meeting. Carol McMillan, who holds a PhD in anthropology, was elected as the Guild’s new president.
McMillan, who describes herself as “an anthropologist who loves language,” started writing poetry as soon as she could form sentences on a sheet of blank paper. She has published scientific articles in professional anthropology journals and prose and poetry in various anthologies. She was a 2013 recipient of the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Merit Award. Her book, White Water, Red Walls, documents, in poetry, paintings, and photographs, a rafting journey down the Grand Canyon. She has recently completed a memoir set in Berkeley, California, during the 1960s.
The Guild’s new president moved to Waimea from Bellingham, Washington, in March 2020, but she had already joined the Guild and made friends here prior to her move. “HWG is an excellent, supportive group of delightfully diverse writers,” she said. “I’m honored to be able to serve as its new president.”
Other officers, who were re-elected, include Bruce Stern, vice president, from Waikoloa; Diane Revell, secretary, from North Kohala; and Bob Lupo, treasurer, from Hakalau.
“We missed the in-person contact,” secretary Diane Revell said, “but this did allow for attendance by others not on the Big Island, including one international member from Bosnia.” The Guild added 17 new members during the year, ending with 72 members, including two student members.
The annual meeting included a report of the Guild’s achievements during 2020. Despite limitations imposed by Covid-19, the Guild flourished. Early in the year, the Guild achieved status as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which enabled it to qualify for its own YouTube channel. When Covid-19 put an end to in-person pubic readings and writing workshops, North Kohala Regional Director Eila Algood and President Diann Wilson combined efforts to create two on-line programs on its YouTube channel to replace the in-person programs.
Inside the Writer’s Studio, hosted by Algood, offered readings and interviews of writers, and Write On! hosted by Wilson, offered workshops on aspects of writing and publishing. So far, 21 episodes of the former and 11 episodes of the latter have been posted and are available for viewing at no cost by the public at Hawaii Writers Guild YouTube channel. New episodes of both programs are planned for 2021.
Another major achievement in 2020 was publication of the first issue of the Guild’s on-line literary review, Latitudes, coordinated by Laura Burkhart, of North Kohala, with a committee from the Big Island. The inaugural issue can be found at https://www.hawaiiwritersguild.com/litreview-first-edition.html.
Led in 2021 by Bob Lupo of Honokaa, Latitudes is set to publish its second issue online in February. Latitudes features the writing of Guild members and is available at no charge to the public on the Guild’s website.
Other new activities developed during 2020 included a Writing Buddies program which enabled members to pair up and meet online to encourage each other’s writing endeavors during an otherwise isolated time.
At the annual meeting, members were encouraged to offer suggestions for new activities and programs for 2021. A planning meeting will examine these suggestions and make decisions in the near future. Stay tuned!
One feature of Guild annual meetings is a tribute to members who published their work during the previous year. This year, that tribute was presented in a PowerPoint slide show. Fifteen members published books in 2020, and many others published writings in anthologies, magazines and newspapers. One member even had her Christmas musical staged on Kahilu TV.
The election of officers for 2021 was also announced at the annual meeting. Carol McMillan, who holds a PhD in anthropology, was elected as the Guild’s new president.
McMillan, who describes herself as “an anthropologist who loves language,” started writing poetry as soon as she could form sentences on a sheet of blank paper. She has published scientific articles in professional anthropology journals and prose and poetry in various anthologies. She was a 2013 recipient of the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Merit Award. Her book, White Water, Red Walls, documents, in poetry, paintings, and photographs, a rafting journey down the Grand Canyon. She has recently completed a memoir set in Berkeley, California, during the 1960s.
The Guild’s new president moved to Waimea from Bellingham, Washington, in March 2020, but she had already joined the Guild and made friends here prior to her move. “HWG is an excellent, supportive group of delightfully diverse writers,” she said. “I’m honored to be able to serve as its new president.”
Other officers, who were re-elected, include Bruce Stern, vice president, from Waikoloa; Diane Revell, secretary, from North Kohala; and Bob Lupo, treasurer, from Hakalau.
The Pop-Up Bookstore is Back!
Smiling through her mask: Louise Riofrio, left
welcomes visitors to the Pop-Up bookstore at Pukalani stables on June 13. Jada Rufo, right rear, assists. |
Minding the table: Louise, Carol McMillan and Virginia Fortner adjust to a post-Covid world on their first day back at the Pop-Up bookstore.
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Hawaii Writers Guild Announces
Inside the Writers Studio
When Covid-19 put an end to Hawaii Writers Guild’s program of public authors readings, two of its board members turned to technology for a solution. The result is Inside the Writers Studio, a new YouTube program hosted by the Guild’s North Kohala director, Eila Algood.
Algood had previously hosted a series of well-attended authors readings at the North Kohala Public Library. She was in the process of organizing a reading in March of 2020 when the Governor’s “shelter in place” rules shut down public events.
What to do? Algood teamed up with Guild president, Diann Wilson, also from North Kohala, and the two women explored options. Fortunately, they are both fairly “tech savvy” in complementary ways.
After some research, Wilson discovered Google for Nonprofits, a program for federally tax-exempt organizations. Hawaii Writers Guild had received its certification from the IRS as a nonprofit charity this past Valentine’s Day. Wilson explored the benefits of the Google program and discovered that it gave nonprofit organizations access to their own YouTube channel, which made it easy to post videos widely available to the public.
Algood, who has two YouTube channels of her own, had acquired video editing skills by attending training provided by Na Leo TV some years ago. She is also self-taught in iMovie, a video editing software application that facilitates adding opening titles and closing credits to videos.
Although the two women had originally envisioned a digital replacement for the cancelled authors readings, they eventually settled on a format involving one reader introduced and interviewed by a moderator. To test the feasibility of the concept, Algood volunteered to be the moderator and Wilson agreed to be the author reading her work. Remembering the program Inside the Actors Studio, they chose the title Inside the Writers Studio.
The women recorded the pilot program three times on Zoom before they were satisfied with the results. Episode One of Inside the Writers Studio was posted on Hawaii Writers Guild’s new YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/D1oNEIHGdF8 on June 12.
Algood promises there will be more programs in the future. She’s excited about the ability of this technology to showcase the diversity of Hawaii Writers Guild members. The Guild started on the Big Island, but now has members on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Kauai, as well as on the mainland. “This technology can provide an equal playing field for people from many diverse backgrounds,” Algood said.
Wilson foresees the possibility of training others to be moderators as well so that Algood will not have to carry the burden of future productions all by herself. She is hopeful young writers will be encouraged to join the Guild and get involved when they see the Guild making increased use of social media.
Members of the public can sign up to receive notifications when future programs become available. While watching the pilot, just click on the red box below the video on the right that says “subscribe.”
Algood had previously hosted a series of well-attended authors readings at the North Kohala Public Library. She was in the process of organizing a reading in March of 2020 when the Governor’s “shelter in place” rules shut down public events.
What to do? Algood teamed up with Guild president, Diann Wilson, also from North Kohala, and the two women explored options. Fortunately, they are both fairly “tech savvy” in complementary ways.
After some research, Wilson discovered Google for Nonprofits, a program for federally tax-exempt organizations. Hawaii Writers Guild had received its certification from the IRS as a nonprofit charity this past Valentine’s Day. Wilson explored the benefits of the Google program and discovered that it gave nonprofit organizations access to their own YouTube channel, which made it easy to post videos widely available to the public.
Algood, who has two YouTube channels of her own, had acquired video editing skills by attending training provided by Na Leo TV some years ago. She is also self-taught in iMovie, a video editing software application that facilitates adding opening titles and closing credits to videos.
Although the two women had originally envisioned a digital replacement for the cancelled authors readings, they eventually settled on a format involving one reader introduced and interviewed by a moderator. To test the feasibility of the concept, Algood volunteered to be the moderator and Wilson agreed to be the author reading her work. Remembering the program Inside the Actors Studio, they chose the title Inside the Writers Studio.
The women recorded the pilot program three times on Zoom before they were satisfied with the results. Episode One of Inside the Writers Studio was posted on Hawaii Writers Guild’s new YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/D1oNEIHGdF8 on June 12.
Algood promises there will be more programs in the future. She’s excited about the ability of this technology to showcase the diversity of Hawaii Writers Guild members. The Guild started on the Big Island, but now has members on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Kauai, as well as on the mainland. “This technology can provide an equal playing field for people from many diverse backgrounds,” Algood said.
Wilson foresees the possibility of training others to be moderators as well so that Algood will not have to carry the burden of future productions all by herself. She is hopeful young writers will be encouraged to join the Guild and get involved when they see the Guild making increased use of social media.
Members of the public can sign up to receive notifications when future programs become available. While watching the pilot, just click on the red box below the video on the right that says “subscribe.”
First Issue of Latitudes Set to Go Live
on April 6 for Your Reading Pleasure
Tired of re-reading your favorite old books? Wish you had something new to read? Hawaii Writers Guild is about to release the first issue of Latitudes, its new online literary review, on Monday, April 6.
Publication culminates a year of planning and work by members of the Guild led by Laura Burkhart. Duncan Dempster, the Guild’s webmaster, took on the formidable job of designing the format and laying out the first issue.
“We put out a call to our 65 members, asking them to submit their best writing for consideration. More than one-third of our members submitted works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama for a total of 52 submissions,” Diann Wilson, Guild president, reported.
Members of the editing collective selected pieces for the first issue in a two-step process without knowing identities of the authors. Ultimately, 16 pieces were selected for the inaugural issue—five pieces of fiction, six pieces of nonfiction, including one craft essay, one ten-minute play and four poems.
“Many more of the pieces were deemed worthy of publication,” Joy Fisher, a member of the editing collective, said, “but we decided to limit the number for this first issue. We knew many technical challenges would likely rear their ugly heads during the initial publication process and that it would be a time-consuming process.”
The diversity of the pieces is broad and should appeal to many readers. The fiction pieces range from a story about the assassination of President Kennedy to a science fiction tale about a girl who is catapulted into an alternative universe where Hawaii is ruled by Japan in 1969.
The nonfiction offerings range from an account of one author’s “escape” from Alcatraz during the Native-American occupation of that island in the early 1970s to another author’s years’ long research into the story of her uncle, who served with the all-Japanese Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat team in Italy and France during World War II.
In addition to appearing in print, three of the four poems have been recorded and may be heard as well as read, an option the group hopes to expand to more pieces in future issues.
Although the Guild was formed on the Big Island, it now has members from Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Molokai as well as members who live on the mainland but write about Hawaii or have other connections to the islands. Guild members whose work will appear in the first issue live in Colorado, California and on Kauai, as well as on the Big Island.
In addition to those already mentioned, members of the editing collective include Jim Gibbons, Bob Lupo, Michael Foley and Jan Asch.
Hawaii Writers Guild, which has recently achieved status as a nonprofit organization under IRS Code section 501(c)(3), is proud to provide this journal to its members and the public for their reading pleasure during this period of sheltering at home.
To find Latitudes on the Guild website, go to www.hawaiiwritersguild.com, click on the dropdown menu “MORE…”, then click on “LITREVIEW FIRST FINAL”.
Publication culminates a year of planning and work by members of the Guild led by Laura Burkhart. Duncan Dempster, the Guild’s webmaster, took on the formidable job of designing the format and laying out the first issue.
“We put out a call to our 65 members, asking them to submit their best writing for consideration. More than one-third of our members submitted works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama for a total of 52 submissions,” Diann Wilson, Guild president, reported.
Members of the editing collective selected pieces for the first issue in a two-step process without knowing identities of the authors. Ultimately, 16 pieces were selected for the inaugural issue—five pieces of fiction, six pieces of nonfiction, including one craft essay, one ten-minute play and four poems.
“Many more of the pieces were deemed worthy of publication,” Joy Fisher, a member of the editing collective, said, “but we decided to limit the number for this first issue. We knew many technical challenges would likely rear their ugly heads during the initial publication process and that it would be a time-consuming process.”
The diversity of the pieces is broad and should appeal to many readers. The fiction pieces range from a story about the assassination of President Kennedy to a science fiction tale about a girl who is catapulted into an alternative universe where Hawaii is ruled by Japan in 1969.
The nonfiction offerings range from an account of one author’s “escape” from Alcatraz during the Native-American occupation of that island in the early 1970s to another author’s years’ long research into the story of her uncle, who served with the all-Japanese Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat team in Italy and France during World War II.
In addition to appearing in print, three of the four poems have been recorded and may be heard as well as read, an option the group hopes to expand to more pieces in future issues.
Although the Guild was formed on the Big Island, it now has members from Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Molokai as well as members who live on the mainland but write about Hawaii or have other connections to the islands. Guild members whose work will appear in the first issue live in Colorado, California and on Kauai, as well as on the Big Island.
In addition to those already mentioned, members of the editing collective include Jim Gibbons, Bob Lupo, Michael Foley and Jan Asch.
Hawaii Writers Guild, which has recently achieved status as a nonprofit organization under IRS Code section 501(c)(3), is proud to provide this journal to its members and the public for their reading pleasure during this period of sheltering at home.
To find Latitudes on the Guild website, go to www.hawaiiwritersguild.com, click on the dropdown menu “MORE…”, then click on “LITREVIEW FIRST FINAL”.
A Valentine's Day to Remember
On Valentine’s Day 2020, Hawaii Writers’ Guild received a valentine of sorts from the Department of the Treasury—a determination that the Guild was exempt from federal income taxes under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3).
This is not just a benefit to the Guild, but, according to the letter, also to anyone who donates to the Guild. Donors may be able to deduct contributions, bequests, devises, transfers and gifts they make to the Guild when computing their own tax liability because the Guild has been classified as a public charity.
The letter, posted on our website here (then click on Nonprofit-documentation), is dated January 30, 2020, but the effective date of the exemption is backdated to November 28, 2018, the date our revised Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Hawaii. But the story of the Guild’s quest for nonprofit status started before that.
The Guild’s written history dates back to January 2017 when a group of writers from North and South Kohala, Hamakua and Volcano met together to try to answer the question “What do you want in a Writers’ Group?”
Over the ensuing months, the group elected a board of directors, consisting of people whose names you may recognize: Ray Pace, president; Cece Johansen, vice president; Julia Pace, secretary; and Duncan Dempster, a reluctant treasurer but enthusiastic web designer. Eliza Cahill became membership chair; Eila Algood, north island representative; and Brian Furer, south island representative.
They also collected “development funds” (which later morphed into annual dues), set up a website, obtained an Employer Identification Number and filed a combined Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws with the State of Hawaii. But nothing was filed with the federal government.
By April 2018, the Guild had 44 members with three more approved pending payment of dues. It was tax time and the question arose as to whether the Guild needed to file a federal tax return for the prior year. Some members began to discuss the possibility of filing for tax-exempt status with the federal government.
By September 2018, a special board meeting was called to discuss our options. On September 4, a Non-profit Organization Committee was set up for the purpose of working with an attorney to obtain an exemption under IRS Code section 501(c)(3). Initial members of that committee were Joy Fisher, Diane Revell and Bruce Stern. (Bob Lupo was later added as a member.) Joy, who had been an attorney prior to her retirement, was designated as the contact person for the Guild with local attorney Shawn Nakoa, who had been recommended by Aloha Theater’s long-time artistic director, Jerry Tracy.
By September 24, 2018, Nakoa had drafted updated Articles of Incorporation for the Guild. The committee, however, worked to resolve differences between her draft and the way the Guild had been operating and wished to continue operating. Tailoring the language to our preferences was not an easy task, but, by November, we had accomplished it. The new Articles of Incorporation were signed by our then-current officers: Eliza Cahill, president; Bruce Stern, vice president; Diane Revell, secretary; and Bob Lupo, treasurer, on November 13, 2018, and then filed with the State of Hawaii.
Attorney Nakoa had also drafted new Bylaws, but the Guild decided to merge our current Bylaws with the newly drafted ones. Initially, Diane Revell took on this task, indicating she would seek assistance from other members of the committee as the work progressed.
Nakoa said that, when we had completed our work on the Bylaws, she would attend a board meeting to explain next steps.
Work on the Bylaws proved daunting, but committee members persisted. After a meeting on June 13, 2019, a final draft of the Bylaws was sent to the board. They were approved at the July 2019 board meeting and conveyed to our attorney.
As promised, attorney Nakoa attended the Guild’s August 2019 board meeting to discuss next steps. After nearly a year, the Guild had finally arrived at the beginning of the federal application process!
Our attorney indicated that she would provide exemplars and guidance and would file the completed application for us, but that, since we were writers and more familiar with the Guild’s activities, she would like us to draft the narrative and provide the financial data required by the form.
She urged us to begin by developing wording for a Mission Statement, Conflict of Interest Policy and a Non-discrimination Policy. Diane Revell assigned these tasks to members and the three documents were duly drafted and adopted at our September 2019 board meeting. These documents can be seen here, then click on Articles of Inc. & Bylaws.
Finally, it was time to begin work on the Form 1023, the application for exemption, itself. If the Bylaws had seemed daunting, they were child’s play compared with the lengthy, complex Form 1023.
Members of the Non-Profit Organization Committee met on December 11, 2019 to go over the complex form. That process was mercifully cut short, however, when the Guild’s eagle-eyed secretary, Diane Revell, said she had discovered Form 1023 EZ online. This much-simplified version was accompanied by an Eligibility Worksheet. Together, the committee members answered the questions on the Eligibility Worksheet one-by-one and when this was completed, it appeared the Guild was qualified to use the simplified form. Could it really be this easy?
Joy Fisher conveyed our completed Eligibility Worksheet to our attorney and asked for her opinion. She agreed we were eligible, and what had seemed overwhelming resolved into a very simple task. Using our answers on the Eligibility Worksheet, our attorney filled out Form 1023 EZ and filed our application online. We were advised not to expect a response for at least 30 days.
Then Valentine’s Day came and the determination letter arrived. It was sweeter than getting a box of chocolates!
This is not just a benefit to the Guild, but, according to the letter, also to anyone who donates to the Guild. Donors may be able to deduct contributions, bequests, devises, transfers and gifts they make to the Guild when computing their own tax liability because the Guild has been classified as a public charity.
The letter, posted on our website here (then click on Nonprofit-documentation), is dated January 30, 2020, but the effective date of the exemption is backdated to November 28, 2018, the date our revised Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Hawaii. But the story of the Guild’s quest for nonprofit status started before that.
The Guild’s written history dates back to January 2017 when a group of writers from North and South Kohala, Hamakua and Volcano met together to try to answer the question “What do you want in a Writers’ Group?”
Over the ensuing months, the group elected a board of directors, consisting of people whose names you may recognize: Ray Pace, president; Cece Johansen, vice president; Julia Pace, secretary; and Duncan Dempster, a reluctant treasurer but enthusiastic web designer. Eliza Cahill became membership chair; Eila Algood, north island representative; and Brian Furer, south island representative.
They also collected “development funds” (which later morphed into annual dues), set up a website, obtained an Employer Identification Number and filed a combined Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws with the State of Hawaii. But nothing was filed with the federal government.
By April 2018, the Guild had 44 members with three more approved pending payment of dues. It was tax time and the question arose as to whether the Guild needed to file a federal tax return for the prior year. Some members began to discuss the possibility of filing for tax-exempt status with the federal government.
By September 2018, a special board meeting was called to discuss our options. On September 4, a Non-profit Organization Committee was set up for the purpose of working with an attorney to obtain an exemption under IRS Code section 501(c)(3). Initial members of that committee were Joy Fisher, Diane Revell and Bruce Stern. (Bob Lupo was later added as a member.) Joy, who had been an attorney prior to her retirement, was designated as the contact person for the Guild with local attorney Shawn Nakoa, who had been recommended by Aloha Theater’s long-time artistic director, Jerry Tracy.
By September 24, 2018, Nakoa had drafted updated Articles of Incorporation for the Guild. The committee, however, worked to resolve differences between her draft and the way the Guild had been operating and wished to continue operating. Tailoring the language to our preferences was not an easy task, but, by November, we had accomplished it. The new Articles of Incorporation were signed by our then-current officers: Eliza Cahill, president; Bruce Stern, vice president; Diane Revell, secretary; and Bob Lupo, treasurer, on November 13, 2018, and then filed with the State of Hawaii.
Attorney Nakoa had also drafted new Bylaws, but the Guild decided to merge our current Bylaws with the newly drafted ones. Initially, Diane Revell took on this task, indicating she would seek assistance from other members of the committee as the work progressed.
Nakoa said that, when we had completed our work on the Bylaws, she would attend a board meeting to explain next steps.
Work on the Bylaws proved daunting, but committee members persisted. After a meeting on June 13, 2019, a final draft of the Bylaws was sent to the board. They were approved at the July 2019 board meeting and conveyed to our attorney.
As promised, attorney Nakoa attended the Guild’s August 2019 board meeting to discuss next steps. After nearly a year, the Guild had finally arrived at the beginning of the federal application process!
Our attorney indicated that she would provide exemplars and guidance and would file the completed application for us, but that, since we were writers and more familiar with the Guild’s activities, she would like us to draft the narrative and provide the financial data required by the form.
She urged us to begin by developing wording for a Mission Statement, Conflict of Interest Policy and a Non-discrimination Policy. Diane Revell assigned these tasks to members and the three documents were duly drafted and adopted at our September 2019 board meeting. These documents can be seen here, then click on Articles of Inc. & Bylaws.
Finally, it was time to begin work on the Form 1023, the application for exemption, itself. If the Bylaws had seemed daunting, they were child’s play compared with the lengthy, complex Form 1023.
Members of the Non-Profit Organization Committee met on December 11, 2019 to go over the complex form. That process was mercifully cut short, however, when the Guild’s eagle-eyed secretary, Diane Revell, said she had discovered Form 1023 EZ online. This much-simplified version was accompanied by an Eligibility Worksheet. Together, the committee members answered the questions on the Eligibility Worksheet one-by-one and when this was completed, it appeared the Guild was qualified to use the simplified form. Could it really be this easy?
Joy Fisher conveyed our completed Eligibility Worksheet to our attorney and asked for her opinion. She agreed we were eligible, and what had seemed overwhelming resolved into a very simple task. Using our answers on the Eligibility Worksheet, our attorney filled out Form 1023 EZ and filed our application online. We were advised not to expect a response for at least 30 days.
Then Valentine’s Day came and the determination letter arrived. It was sweeter than getting a box of chocolates!
Story by Joy Fisher
Public Relations Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Public Relations Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Writers' Voices Held the First Reading of 2020
at Our New Venue at Tutu's House
Dave Fouts, one of the readers at the inaugural Writers' Voices authors reading at Tutu's House on February 13, flashes a welcoming smile at the audience.
Writers' Voices settled into its new home at Tutu's House the day before Valentine's Day. Although the authors' readings weren't required to be love-themed for the occasion, there were plenty of warm smiles being exchanged in the new venue, which is clean, carpeted, comes with a podium and a spot where the Hawaii Writers Guild banner could be displayed prominently.
Concerns about whether audience members would find the new location, which is set back from Mamalahoa highway, were dispelled when an ample number of eager listeners found us. We welcomed them with refreshments to mark the occasion, including home-made brownies baked by Guild member Dave Fouts. Fouts, one of four readers that night, leads the Writers Support Group which also meets at Tutu's House. Although the Writers Support group is not a function of the Hawaii Writers' Guild, and, in fact, predates the founding of the Guild by several years, some writers who are regulars at the support group are also Guild members.
Concerns about whether audience members would find the new location, which is set back from Mamalahoa highway, were dispelled when an ample number of eager listeners found us. We welcomed them with refreshments to mark the occasion, including home-made brownies baked by Guild member Dave Fouts. Fouts, one of four readers that night, leads the Writers Support Group which also meets at Tutu's House. Although the Writers Support group is not a function of the Hawaii Writers' Guild, and, in fact, predates the founding of the Guild by several years, some writers who are regulars at the support group are also Guild members.
That was true of the first reader of the evening, Peter Georgas. Georgas and his wife split their time between Hawaii and Minnesota, and when he is on the island, Georgas is one of the Guild members who attends the Writers' Support Group at Tutu's House.
Georgas read from his newest novel, The Emoji Games, published last July. He describes his book as a "suspense thriller about Artificial Intelligence and cutting-edge science that impacts the way we look at life and its creation."
On the hunt for an Austrian computer programmer called Empork (German shorthand for "Upstart") who he believes could help major retailers transform their online business, the main character reads a disturbing paper by Empork about Artificial Intelligence:
"While Artificial Intelligence may one day replace the human brain, will it also take over our emotions? If so, Empork argued, will it accept all norms of human interaction, normal and abnormal..."
Georgas read from his newest novel, The Emoji Games, published last July. He describes his book as a "suspense thriller about Artificial Intelligence and cutting-edge science that impacts the way we look at life and its creation."
On the hunt for an Austrian computer programmer called Empork (German shorthand for "Upstart") who he believes could help major retailers transform their online business, the main character reads a disturbing paper by Empork about Artificial Intelligence:
"While Artificial Intelligence may one day replace the human brain, will it also take over our emotions? If so, Empork argued, will it accept all norms of human interaction, normal and abnormal..."
Amy Elizabeth Gordon, who lives up the Kohala Mountain Road, came down to join us at Tutu's house to read a passage called "Eye of the Storm" from her new memoir/self empowerment book Moonshot: Aim High, Dive Deep, Live an Extraordinary LIfe.
"This is where the magic happens for me," Amy Elizabeth says. "In the eye of the storm, I find calm. ...I roar through the raging red effort of struggle into a clear blue sky of effortless existence."
Trained as a counselor, Amy Elizabeth thinks of herself as a "relationship architect," cutting through chaos, opening minds and rekindling souls starved for connection.
Her book reflects what she has learned from her own life experiences as well as what she has learned from her training.
"I reclaim wellness through a long and worthwhile healing journey. I go into the eye of the storm. I got sober. I stay sober. I got sane. I stay sane. I got real. I stay real. And now I speak out for compassion and stand up for transformation."
"This is where the magic happens for me," Amy Elizabeth says. "In the eye of the storm, I find calm. ...I roar through the raging red effort of struggle into a clear blue sky of effortless existence."
Trained as a counselor, Amy Elizabeth thinks of herself as a "relationship architect," cutting through chaos, opening minds and rekindling souls starved for connection.
Her book reflects what she has learned from her own life experiences as well as what she has learned from her training.
"I reclaim wellness through a long and worthwhile healing journey. I go into the eye of the storm. I got sober. I stay sober. I got sane. I stay sane. I got real. I stay real. And now I speak out for compassion and stand up for transformation."
When Dave Fouts' wife, Linda, died in 2011, Dave discovered, oh, what a difference the death of a loved one can make. The Honokaa writer has infused that understanding into his writing, and he shared it in the readings he chose.
His first selection was a short piece called "A Second Chance with the Dead," from his book Was This It?. Here are some highlights:
"At dusk, memories of people I loved who died rise up more solid and intense than any other time of day or night. ...I imagine a long row of doors, and behind each door would be someone you loved who died... .The doorway would be like a womb that I pull them through, and once through the door each would stagger about crying with joy at being in the land of the living. ...There would be a sweet chaos with the dead and the living all talking at the same time. ...we would all use this second chance to start over by being very kind and loving, this time leaving no room for regrets, or difficult questions that only hurt when asked, and that could never be answered in any good way."
Dave's second piece, "The Sin Never Sinned Before," from his new book, The Store by the Sea, was also a meditation on love. When an audience goes to hear a lecture about "The Sin Never Sinned Before", they discover from a man who has loved a woman that the sin she sinned was that she was "perfect in every way," and had accomplished that entirely on her own without any help from "a god or angel of any sort." As they are returning to their homes, the people contemplate the love of the man who said these words until one person says aloud what they are all thinking: "I would want to be loved like that."
Then someone adds: "And to love back in the same way."
His first selection was a short piece called "A Second Chance with the Dead," from his book Was This It?. Here are some highlights:
"At dusk, memories of people I loved who died rise up more solid and intense than any other time of day or night. ...I imagine a long row of doors, and behind each door would be someone you loved who died... .The doorway would be like a womb that I pull them through, and once through the door each would stagger about crying with joy at being in the land of the living. ...There would be a sweet chaos with the dead and the living all talking at the same time. ...we would all use this second chance to start over by being very kind and loving, this time leaving no room for regrets, or difficult questions that only hurt when asked, and that could never be answered in any good way."
Dave's second piece, "The Sin Never Sinned Before," from his new book, The Store by the Sea, was also a meditation on love. When an audience goes to hear a lecture about "The Sin Never Sinned Before", they discover from a man who has loved a woman that the sin she sinned was that she was "perfect in every way," and had accomplished that entirely on her own without any help from "a god or angel of any sort." As they are returning to their homes, the people contemplate the love of the man who said these words until one person says aloud what they are all thinking: "I would want to be loved like that."
Then someone adds: "And to love back in the same way."
Jada Tan Rufo, from Waimea, also wrote about love and death, in her case, the death of her mother, Caridad Rosalie Talaro Rufo, who died just last year at the age of 83.
A respected member of the Waimea community, "Aunty Cari," or "Mrs. Rufo,"as her students called her, was not only a revered mother, but also a great teacher. Everywhere Jada goes in Waimea, she told us, she bumps into her mother's former colleagues and students who always speak highly of Caridad.
Jada shared Poems Dedicated to Mom, a suite of three poems Jada wrote after her mother died.
Here's one of them:
A respected member of the Waimea community, "Aunty Cari," or "Mrs. Rufo,"as her students called her, was not only a revered mother, but also a great teacher. Everywhere Jada goes in Waimea, she told us, she bumps into her mother's former colleagues and students who always speak highly of Caridad.
Jada shared Poems Dedicated to Mom, a suite of three poems Jada wrote after her mother died.
Here's one of them:
Above the Clouds
I took a drive above the clouds today
Calm and serene
Little did I know
That on this day
My mother's life
Would float away
I took a drive above the clouds today
Calm and serene
Little did I know
That on this day
My mother's life
Would float away
It may have been the heartfelt sharing of the writing. Or the attractive and comfortable furnishings of the venue. Or perhaps, even, the fact that it was the day before Valentine's Day. Whatever the reason, there was a special feeling at our first Writers' Voices at Tutu's House on February 13 that resulted in engaged conversation between members of the audience and the writers.
It was a very good beginning in our new venue in this new year.
After the readings, the writers and audience lingered to exchange insights about the themes of the writing and the process of writing itself. Here, audience members engage with author Peter Georgas.
Photos by Jada Tan Rufo
(Photo of Jada by Louise Riofrio)
Narrative by Joy Fisher, PR Director, Hawaii Writers Guild
You can contact Joy at 238-0551
Many thanks to the staff of Tutu's House who helped us feel so at home in our new venue.
"Pop-Up" Bookstore Crew Does Double Duty on
Cherry Blossom Festival Day
Story and pictures by Jada Tan Rufo
At the 2020 Cherry Blossom Festival on February 1, Hawaii Writers Guild had two tables. One was at our usual Farmers Market at Pukalani Stables.The other was inside the Parker Ranch Shopping Center Food Court, the first time we’ve ever had a table inside the center.
While it did, at times, feel like we were stuck in a rat race (please pardon the pun, it's the Year of the Rat) because there were so many other vendors and customers, we were nevertheless able to meet and greet readers and sell our books. Intrepid writers Jada Tan Rufo, newcomer Wendy Wilson, and Jim Gibbons worked the Parker Ranch table while Louise Riofrio, Steven Foster, and new member Mark Brown worked our Pukalani location before hauling their books on foot to our Cherry Blossom venue.
In the afternoon Duncan Dempster and Dave Fouts stopped by to say hello, sell books, and give those authors who wanted to see the taiko performance a break to enjoy the show.
While Steven, Mark, Jim, and Louise all sold books, it was Jada who hit a personal best: she sold out all of her Banana Girl books and sold nine books all together.
Watch for more marketing opportunities. Hawaii Writers Guild expects to qualify for a free table at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo in April as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Happy Year of the Rat!
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The Hawaii Writers Guild proudly announced its presence at Anna Ranch Heritage Center in Waimea for its Third Annual Dinner Meeting and Election of Officers on January 18, 2020. Forty-seven members and guests gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the Guild and to honor members who had published their work in 2019. The achievements were many, both at the organizational and the individual member level.
First up on the program was a welcome by President Diann Wilson. She called on members of the board and others to highlight the organization's accomplishments during the preceding year. Chief among those accomplishments, Vice President Bruce Stern announced that, with the help of our attorney Shawn Nakoa, the Guild has submitted its application to be recognized by the federal government as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Code section 501(c)(3). This recognition will enable the Guild to accept donations tax free (and tax deductible to donors) and to apply for grants to expand its activities. Government certification is expected in the near future.
Even without that advantage, the Guild pioneered new activities last year. President Wilson, pictured on the right, called on Laura Burkhart, executive editor of the Guild's new online literary journal, Latitudes, to update the audience on its progress. Laura reported that she and her staff have been meeting for months to shape the journal and have recently solicited and received numerous submissions from many Guild members. The group was in the process of making final selections and is exploring design ideas for layout of the first issue. Publication is expected in the spring of 2020.
Another successful initiative in 2019 was establishment of a "pop-up bookstore" by Events Director Louise Riofrio, who negotiated a vendor table at the Pukalani Farmers' Market in Waimea where Guild members can sell their books. One member, Steven Foster, spoke movingly of his experiences with members of the public there, reporting that they often opened up to him about their own experiences in Vietnam after learning that his novel Spirit of an Eagle features a veteran of that war.
Even without that advantage, the Guild pioneered new activities last year. President Wilson, pictured on the right, called on Laura Burkhart, executive editor of the Guild's new online literary journal, Latitudes, to update the audience on its progress. Laura reported that she and her staff have been meeting for months to shape the journal and have recently solicited and received numerous submissions from many Guild members. The group was in the process of making final selections and is exploring design ideas for layout of the first issue. Publication is expected in the spring of 2020.
Another successful initiative in 2019 was establishment of a "pop-up bookstore" by Events Director Louise Riofrio, who negotiated a vendor table at the Pukalani Farmers' Market in Waimea where Guild members can sell their books. One member, Steven Foster, spoke movingly of his experiences with members of the public there, reporting that they often opened up to him about their own experiences in Vietnam after learning that his novel Spirit of an Eagle features a veteran of that war.
Other spokespersons detailed highlights and changes in ongoing Guild activities. Bob Lupo summarized the Guild's continuing efforts to offer free craft workshops to members and the public. New in 2019, and much appreciated by those attending, was a workshop offered by Louise Riofrio about marketing your writing after publication, as well as a critique workshop offered by North Kohala writer Susanna Moore. Bob Lupo, by the way, was instrumental in establishing a new program for student members and our first student member, Braden Savage, was present at the dinner.
Joy Fisher reported on the ongoing authors readings open to the public at no charge in both North Kohala and Waimea. She announced that, beginning in February 2020, the new venue for Writers' Voices will be Tutu's House in Waimea. At left, Dave Fouts raises his hand to acknowledge he will be one of the featured readers in February. Eila Algood, emcee of the popular North Kohala readings, confirmed their first reading of 2020 will be held at the North Kohala Public Library in March. (The Volcano Writers Group did not have public readings in 2019 because members there were concentrating on publishing a book by the group. It will be out in the spring and a public reading will follow.)
Joy Fisher reported on the ongoing authors readings open to the public at no charge in both North Kohala and Waimea. She announced that, beginning in February 2020, the new venue for Writers' Voices will be Tutu's House in Waimea. At left, Dave Fouts raises his hand to acknowledge he will be one of the featured readers in February. Eila Algood, emcee of the popular North Kohala readings, confirmed their first reading of 2020 will be held at the North Kohala Public Library in March. (The Volcano Writers Group did not have public readings in 2019 because members there were concentrating on publishing a book by the group. It will be out in the spring and a public reading will follow.)
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After the president's welcome and annual report, it was time to get down to the serious business of eating! A hallmark of the Guild's annual dinner since the first year is that it is free to all members in good standing and each member is entitled to bring a guest. Like last year, the banquet committee turned to Lilikoi Cafe and Foodland Deli for a tasty variety of main dishes and desserts. Starbucks provided free coffee for the event.
The main focus, of course, was our members and the books and writings they have published. Members were encouraged to bring copies of their writings for display -- and they did! Here are some of them.
The main focus, of course, was our members and the books and writings they have published. Members were encouraged to bring copies of their writings for display -- and they did! Here are some of them.
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At our 2019 Annual Dinner, we were able to have an authors reading by those who had published during the prior year, but this year there were so many members who had published last year we could only introduce them and have them say a few words about their publications. Here are those whom we knew about in advance and who were present at the dinner:
Amy Elizabeth Gordon published Moonshot: Aim High, Dive Deep and Live an Extraordinary Life, a transformational memoir exploring addictions recovery and relational healing.
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Duncan Dempster published Where are You? a sequel to his first novel Chapel on the Moore. He is already hard at work on the third book in this series.
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Peter Georgas published The Emoji Games, a "fast-paced suspense thriller about artificial intelligence and cutting-edge science that impacts how we look at life and its creation."
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Steven Foster published Spirit of an Eagle, a deeply moving story about an Army medic haunted by memories of the Vietnam War and the death of his wife.
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Linda Petrucelli published award-winning "flash fiction" including "Poi Dog" and "Figure Eight on the Waves." She published several other stories as well.
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Jada Rufo, who has previously published a novel and a memoir, published her first-ever magazine article in Wasabi Magazine in 2019. |
Donna Maltz published her "memoir of sorts" entitled Living Like the Future Matters to encourage others to better the planet as well as themselves.
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Some of the Guild members we knew had published in 2019 could not be with us at the dinner for one reason or another. They included the following:
Dale Belvin published two books in 2019, Have You Wondered and Have you Wondered Book 2.
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Greer Woodward published more than 30 haiku and other short poems in the print and online markets.
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Mark Kelly published his debut science fiction novel, Mauna Kea Rising, in 2019, the first in a planned series.
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Donna Beumler published her first-ever novel, Criminal/Lawyer, in 2019. |
Wendy Wilson published a vampire novel in 2019 under her pen name, W. B. Wilson.
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To make sure no one was forgotten, Joy Fisher, who introduced the published authors, asked the audience if anyone else present had published in 2019. Instantly, four hands went up, including that of one person whose identity and publication were not recorded (if anyone knows this person's identity, please contact us so we can include him here). The other three authors were Bryant Ching, Mark Brown (one of our newest members) and Nancy Baenziger.
Bryant Ching published a science fiction novel in 2019. He remembered former member Sam Cudney fondly for his publishing help.
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New member Mark Brown published a nonfiction book about Outward Bound in 2019.
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Nancy Baenziger published her medical writing in Creative Nursing and her poetry in the Gorge Literary Journal.
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And here's someone I should have remembered but, much to my regret, forgot. My apologies to Dave Fouts, who published his second book,The Store by the Sea, in 2019. The Store by the Sea is a book of 18 short stories dedicated to his children. When it was published, Dave gave me an autographed copy, but so much happened in 2019 that, by the end of the year, when I was rounding up 2019 published authors, I completely forgot. I didn't discover my lapse until after our Annual Dinner and after the initial version of this story had been written and posted on our website. Sorry Dave.
While the published authors were presenting their writing, Louise Riofrio, who chaired the annual dinner preparations committee, and Jim Gibbons, who greeted members at the reception table, were busy counting the ballots in our election of officers for 2020. When the counting was finished, we learned that all of our current officers had been re-elected for another year. Here they are:
Diann Wilson President
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Bruce Stern
Vice President |
Diane Revell
Secretary |
Bob Lupo
Treasurer |
It was all over except for the toasting and mingling:
During the after-dinner mingling, Duncan Dempster showed a video compiled by Jada Rufo of the activities of the Hawaii Writers Guild throughout 2019. Amid all the cheerful celebrations, it may not have gotten the attention it deserved. So for those of you who missed it, here it is (it starts out with photos of our Second Annual Dinner in January 2019, so don't be confused --and, if you're like me, be prepared to shed a tear or two when you see some of our members who have since moved away and are no longer with us):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa6WbFq45fI&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa6WbFq45fI&feature=youtu.be
Guild Member Virginia Fortner
Read at Words and Wine in December
On December 3, Hawi writer Virginia Fortner travelled to Kona Stories bookstore in Keauhou to read from A Design of His Own, her biography of North Kohala resident and surfboard designer Michael Eaton.
As a boy, Eaton grew up near the Pacific, learned the value of work at an early age, stuck to his principles, got some lucky breaks, knew a smile always helped, and brings few regrets to his late stage of life. His shaper’s touch came after driving hotrod Yellow Peril across Route 66, encountering pirates outside Singapore, gliding California valleys, surfing waves, and going solo with his business. There’s wisdom, humor, and more than a little adventure in the tales of his remarkable life, mostly told in Mike’s words after illness robbed him of ability to write.
Virginia, a Hawi resident for seven years, has written since she first learned to scribble in first grade. She has published poetry, essays, memoirs, short stories, newspaper articles, 10-minute plays, fiction (At the Edge), and biography (A Design of His Own). She's midway into China Conundrum, a page-turner memoir begun while she was teaching English-as-a-second-language in China.
Guild members Jim Gibbons and Louise Riofrio were in the audience to cheer Virginia on. Louise took the picture of Virginia above.
As a boy, Eaton grew up near the Pacific, learned the value of work at an early age, stuck to his principles, got some lucky breaks, knew a smile always helped, and brings few regrets to his late stage of life. His shaper’s touch came after driving hotrod Yellow Peril across Route 66, encountering pirates outside Singapore, gliding California valleys, surfing waves, and going solo with his business. There’s wisdom, humor, and more than a little adventure in the tales of his remarkable life, mostly told in Mike’s words after illness robbed him of ability to write.
Virginia, a Hawi resident for seven years, has written since she first learned to scribble in first grade. She has published poetry, essays, memoirs, short stories, newspaper articles, 10-minute plays, fiction (At the Edge), and biography (A Design of His Own). She's midway into China Conundrum, a page-turner memoir begun while she was teaching English-as-a-second-language in China.
Guild members Jim Gibbons and Louise Riofrio were in the audience to cheer Virginia on. Louise took the picture of Virginia above.
Guild Members Find Success at the
2019 JoAnn Williams Christmas Craft Fair
From left, Jim Gibbons, Jada Rufo, Amy Elizabeth Gordon and Louise Riofrio selling their books at the
JoAnn Williams Chistmas Craft Fair.
JoAnn Williams Chistmas Craft Fair.
Story and Picture by Jada Rufo
Several HWG members made the drive to the Marriott King Kamehameha Hotel in Kailua-Kona for the JoAnn Williams Christmas Treasures, Gift, Jewelry, Art and Crafts Fair on November 29th and 30th. Here are their impressions about their experience:
Jim Gibbons had fun asking a West Hawaii Today columnist to read his memoir Flashback. Jim is wishing for a good review.
Sandy Foster, Steven Foster's wife, loved the shopping! She got gifts for her grandchildren. One of those gifts was a cute handmade Hawaiian angel.
Steve loved the fast-paced environment of the foot traffic just outside the ballroom in the foyer. This environment allowed him to meet and greet potential readers. Steve sold six books the single day he and Sandy were there.
Jada Rufo also loved talking story with readers and winning door prizes. She was the first to SELL OUT her book Banana Girl: An Asian American Woman’s Life in China.
Louise Riofrio, HWG’s events coordinator, also had fun winning door prizes. She sold ALL of her books!
For those who are not familiar with JoAnn Williams Christmas Craft Fair, she usually has two of them, her Christmas in July and her November Christmas fair. Both are HUGE events with vendors in the ballroom, in the ballroom foyer, in the Herb Kane Main Lobby foyer, and the Formal Garden Tent area.
If you are interested in selling your books at the July 2020 fair, contact events coordinator Louise Riofrio.
Hawaii Writers Guild Returns
to the Kauai Writers Conference
Happy Members of the Hawaii Writers Guild at the Kauai Writers Conference. From left, Catherine Becker, Joy Fisher,
Sabrina Ito, Diann Wilson, Diane Revell, Louise Riofrio and Bob Lupo. Other Hawaii Writers Guild members attending the conference but not shown were Tamara Hynd and Connie Samuelson.
Sabrina Ito, Diann Wilson, Diane Revell, Louise Riofrio and Bob Lupo. Other Hawaii Writers Guild members attending the conference but not shown were Tamara Hynd and Connie Samuelson.
Hawaii Writers Guild attendance at the Kaua’i Writers Conference nearly doubled from last year—and why not, when the atmosphere at the Marriott Resort Kauai is so lovely, when the conference pampers its attendees with delicious meals and special events and – this year – offered a 20 percent discount to members of organized writing groups. (The per-person discount amounted to more than our entire $40 annual dues – how’s that for a benefit of membership!)
Once again, the Guild was given a table near the conference registration area where we could display our pamphlets, business cards, pens and, sometimes, a computer link to our website so that potential members could take a look at our members pictures and pages and the stories and pictures about our activities on our Guild News page. Some members also brought books to sell.
Once again, the Guild was given a table near the conference registration area where we could display our pamphlets, business cards, pens and, sometimes, a computer link to our website so that potential members could take a look at our members pictures and pages and the stories and pictures about our activities on our Guild News page. Some members also brought books to sell.
Sabrina Ito, Louise Riofrio and Joy Fisher staffing the Hawaii Writers Guild table at the Kauai
Writers Conference. Diane Revell and Carol McMillan also lent a hand during the weekend.
Writers Conference. Diane Revell and Carol McMillan also lent a hand during the weekend.
Many Guild members helped staff our table through the Friday-through-Sunday weekend conference November 8 through 10, though Louise Riofrio, our Events Director, and Joy Fisher, our Public Relations Director, were the mainstays. As a result, more than 30 conference-goers, mostly from other Hawaiian Islands, signed our sign-up sheet. After the conference, we wrote to them all, sending links to our website describing the benefits of membership and inviting them to join. It’ll be fun to see how many of them do!
Of course, the most important part of the conference was the contact with other writers who provided inspiring workshops (the very first workshop on Friday morning was literally entitled “Sources of Inspiration”).
Here are some reports from some of our first-time conference attendees:
Diane Revell:
I attended the 2019 Kauai Writers Conference as my first ever writers conference. The general format had the day divided into time slots with one to four sessions scheduled for each slot. Easy to choose which to attend when one, but difficult at times with more simultaneous options of interest. Several of the sessions involved panel discussions. This was useful as you could get more familiar with those on the panel. For me if I found one person a more interesting speaker than another, that helped me decide among sessions later.
Among my favorite authors that spoke were the following: Greg Ilse, Meg Wolitzer, Paula McLain, and Téa Obreht.
I also found a panel of agents useful as to what they look for in various genres and how they work with authors.
One session on picture books (for children 0-10) was very good and detailed about length, styles, why the illustrator is a separate role, and how one works with an agent.
Meals included (breakfasts, most lunches) were buffet style and provided opportunities to talk with other attendees including the authors and other presenters. An optional luau was one of the dinner options and there were several dining café/restaurant options on-site or next door. A great evening concert by guitarist Makana was included.
I would consider returning to a future conference and may consider enrolling in master classes that occur prior to the conference.
Of course, the most important part of the conference was the contact with other writers who provided inspiring workshops (the very first workshop on Friday morning was literally entitled “Sources of Inspiration”).
Here are some reports from some of our first-time conference attendees:
Diane Revell:
I attended the 2019 Kauai Writers Conference as my first ever writers conference. The general format had the day divided into time slots with one to four sessions scheduled for each slot. Easy to choose which to attend when one, but difficult at times with more simultaneous options of interest. Several of the sessions involved panel discussions. This was useful as you could get more familiar with those on the panel. For me if I found one person a more interesting speaker than another, that helped me decide among sessions later.
Among my favorite authors that spoke were the following: Greg Ilse, Meg Wolitzer, Paula McLain, and Téa Obreht.
I also found a panel of agents useful as to what they look for in various genres and how they work with authors.
One session on picture books (for children 0-10) was very good and detailed about length, styles, why the illustrator is a separate role, and how one works with an agent.
Meals included (breakfasts, most lunches) were buffet style and provided opportunities to talk with other attendees including the authors and other presenters. An optional luau was one of the dinner options and there were several dining café/restaurant options on-site or next door. A great evening concert by guitarist Makana was included.
I would consider returning to a future conference and may consider enrolling in master classes that occur prior to the conference.
Christina Baker Kline, Greg Ilse, Meg Wolitzer and Keven Larimer discuss sources of inspiration.
Diann Wilson:
I just returned from my first Kauai Writers Conference and am glad I attended.
What I liked best: meeting Guild members that I hadn’t met before (there were nine of us in attendance), listening to big-name authors who presented to reasonably-sized audiences, attending the Makana concert, learning, and meeting Anne Perry and Paula McLain.
What I didn’t like: my room at the resort – my fault that I got a cheap, no-view room. At least I got in my 10,000 steps a day since it was so far away from all of the action.
What I learned:
What I liked best: meeting Guild members that I hadn’t met before (there were nine of us in attendance), listening to big-name authors who presented to reasonably-sized audiences, attending the Makana concert, learning, and meeting Anne Perry and Paula McLain.
What I didn’t like: my room at the resort – my fault that I got a cheap, no-view room. At least I got in my 10,000 steps a day since it was so far away from all of the action.
What I learned:
- You can’t make someone a writer, but you can make someone a better writer.
- No two characters will likely respond in the same way to an event – how they respond or change can create conflict.
- It’s important to make the reader care about your characters.
- I need to tell the story only I can tell.
- Hybrid publishing provides you with a lot of resources (editing, cover design, etc.) but it costs quite a bit and it’s likely you won’t earn your money back.
- E-books account for 30% of book sales.
- Conferences inspire me.
Sabrina Ito:
As a first-time attendee to the Kauai Writer’s Conference, I can affirm that the experience left me feeling happy, refreshed and inspired.
I did not attend any Master Classes, but my impression of the three-day conference was that it was thoughtfully planned and very well-executed. The Kauai Marriott Resort was a perfect location, as the facilities were well-confined, luxurious and beautiful. The meal buffets for breakfast and lunch (dinners were not included, unfortunately) offered many healthy and delicious options.
Although there were fewer workshops than I anticipated, the sessions that I attended were well-conceived and led by an impressive faculty of master writers. Joshua Mohr and Meg Wolitzer in particular, conducted their classes with high levels of expertise, compassion and wit.
I knew that this conference was primarily for fiction writers, but as a poet, I was pleasantly surprised when Jane Hirshfield’s luncheon reading was added to the list of events. Getting the opportunity to also meet and speak with her the following day during Sunday brunch was also a highlight for me. My only suggestion for next year would be to integrate one or two poetry-specific workshops to accommodate a wider range of writers.
In short, I think that the organizers and faculty did a great job creating such a rich, one-of-a-kind learning experience for practicing and aspiring writers.
I did not attend any Master Classes, but my impression of the three-day conference was that it was thoughtfully planned and very well-executed. The Kauai Marriott Resort was a perfect location, as the facilities were well-confined, luxurious and beautiful. The meal buffets for breakfast and lunch (dinners were not included, unfortunately) offered many healthy and delicious options.
Although there were fewer workshops than I anticipated, the sessions that I attended were well-conceived and led by an impressive faculty of master writers. Joshua Mohr and Meg Wolitzer in particular, conducted their classes with high levels of expertise, compassion and wit.
I knew that this conference was primarily for fiction writers, but as a poet, I was pleasantly surprised when Jane Hirshfield’s luncheon reading was added to the list of events. Getting the opportunity to also meet and speak with her the following day during Sunday brunch was also a highlight for me. My only suggestion for next year would be to integrate one or two poetry-specific workshops to accommodate a wider range of writers.
In short, I think that the organizers and faculty did a great job creating such a rich, one-of-a-kind learning experience for practicing and aspiring writers.
Bob Lupo:
[Bob Lupo attended a four-day Master Class that preceded the weekend conference and stayed on for the weekend conference. Here are his impressions:]
I found the Kauai Writers Conference rewarding. The authenticity of the lecturer-writers and the encouragement, friendliness, and professionalism of the lecturers bordered on the ideal.
I'm a writer, I muttered to myself for the first time in my life.
Breathing Life into Your Novel, the Master Class I participated in, taught by Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim, was superb. Anne and Victoria, established writers, were insightful, encouraged class participation and effected a friendly yet professional environment that I am certain benefited all present.
Again, I found the Conference a fabulous petri dish to further my craft. I will attend in 2020.
[Editor's Note: Bob Lupo is the author of three published books, soon to be four. That attending the Kauai Writers Conference made him mutter "I am a writer" to himself for the first time in his life speaks volumes about the value of attending a writers conference.]
I'm a writer, I muttered to myself for the first time in my life.
Breathing Life into Your Novel, the Master Class I participated in, taught by Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim, was superb. Anne and Victoria, established writers, were insightful, encouraged class participation and effected a friendly yet professional environment that I am certain benefited all present.
Again, I found the Conference a fabulous petri dish to further my craft. I will attend in 2020.
[Editor's Note: Bob Lupo is the author of three published books, soon to be four. That attending the Kauai Writers Conference made him mutter "I am a writer" to himself for the first time in his life speaks volumes about the value of attending a writers conference.]
Victoria Zackheim and Anne Perry, who taught Bob's Masterclass, also did a workshop on how to write thrillers at the weekend conference.
Many thanks to Diann Wilson for her photographs, to the first-time conference-goers who were willing to share their experiences -- and to everyone who helped staff our table.
Hawaii Writers Guild Members Participate in
Ten Minute Play Festival
Several members of the Hawaii Writers Guild participated in the Second Annual North Kohala Ten Minute Play Festival which was held on October 24th and 25th at the Kohala Artists Gallery and Co-op in Kapa'au. Actors drawn from the community read the parts aloud before audiences that numbered between 50 and 60 persons each night.
Four of the six original plays presented were written by Hawaii Writers Guild members, including one by a collective made up mostly of Guild members. Guild members taking part included Jan Asch, Joy Fisher, Virginia Fortner, Donna Beumler and Diane Revell.
The festival was organized by Jan and Frank Asch. The Asches began hosting festivals in their barn 10 years ago when they lived in a small community on the mainland.
"We believe that nothing builds community like the arts," said Jan Asch. "It's so much fun to offer this opportunity for folks who want to try their hand at writing short plays and for actors who don't have time to memorize a part, but can read a script and make the characters come to life."
Admission to the event was by donation. Proceeds were donated to the Life and Death Wellness Center, a non-profit organization located in Kapa'au.
Four of the six original plays presented were written by Hawaii Writers Guild members, including one by a collective made up mostly of Guild members. Guild members taking part included Jan Asch, Joy Fisher, Virginia Fortner, Donna Beumler and Diane Revell.
The festival was organized by Jan and Frank Asch. The Asches began hosting festivals in their barn 10 years ago when they lived in a small community on the mainland.
"We believe that nothing builds community like the arts," said Jan Asch. "It's so much fun to offer this opportunity for folks who want to try their hand at writing short plays and for actors who don't have time to memorize a part, but can read a script and make the characters come to life."
Admission to the event was by donation. Proceeds were donated to the Life and Death Wellness Center, a non-profit organization located in Kapa'au.
Guest Emcee Moderates October 2, 2019 Writers' Voices
Carol McMillan, soon to be a Waimea resident, volunteered to fill in for Joy Fisher at the October Writers' Voices
When regular Writers' Voices emcee Joy Fisher was about to go on vacation, she sent out an email to Hawaii Writers Guild members asking whether anyone would be willing to fill in. Almost instantly, she got a reply from new Guild member Carol McMillan, who said she would do it.
Carol, who describes herself as a "ham", was perfect for the job. In transition between Bellingham, Washington and a new home in Kamuela, Carol stepped in with assurance and grace to preside over the October authors reading. When one of the scheduled readers had to drop out, Carol stepped in to cover that spot, too. Thanks, Carol!
Carol, who describes herself as a "ham", was perfect for the job. In transition between Bellingham, Washington and a new home in Kamuela, Carol stepped in with assurance and grace to preside over the October authors reading. When one of the scheduled readers had to drop out, Carol stepped in to cover that spot, too. Thanks, Carol!
Jim Gibbons obviously had some strong feelings about the subject of his reading. "Dogtuse: A New Word," described Jim's feelings about certain annoying dog owners.
Jim based his new word on "obtuse," which he defined as: "1. Not sharp or quick of wit. 2. Lacking in astuteness, slow to apprehend or perceive. See synonyms--blunt, dull, stupid." Jim defined a "dogtuse person" as "obtuse when it comes to dogs. Most owners of untrained dogs," Jim concluded, "tend to be dogtuse."
Example: What might a dogtuse person say when his/her dog jumps up on someone? "He likes you!"
"No, I don't hate dogs," Jim insisted, "I hate dog OWNERS."
Jim's not defenseless in the presence of this breed of dog owner, as this story shows: "Once a huge St. Bernard-mix came up and slobbered all over my hands, so I said to the smiling female [owner] in her clean white blouse, while holding up my hands, 'Do you mind if I wipe my hands off on your shirt?'"
Jim based his new word on "obtuse," which he defined as: "1. Not sharp or quick of wit. 2. Lacking in astuteness, slow to apprehend or perceive. See synonyms--blunt, dull, stupid." Jim defined a "dogtuse person" as "obtuse when it comes to dogs. Most owners of untrained dogs," Jim concluded, "tend to be dogtuse."
Example: What might a dogtuse person say when his/her dog jumps up on someone? "He likes you!"
"No, I don't hate dogs," Jim insisted, "I hate dog OWNERS."
Jim's not defenseless in the presence of this breed of dog owner, as this story shows: "Once a huge St. Bernard-mix came up and slobbered all over my hands, so I said to the smiling female [owner] in her clean white blouse, while holding up my hands, 'Do you mind if I wipe my hands off on your shirt?'"
Carla "Aleili" Orellana is well-known to Hawaii Writers Guild audiences for her adventures with her boa constrictor partner Suleman Aziz in Tales of a Snake Dancer.
She didn't disappoint at the October reading, sharing two early stories about her collaboration with Suleman. The first was the lead-off story in her Tales, about how she came to begin her career as a snake dancer.
The second was the first story she ever attempted to write about dancing with Suleman. She wrote it while she was attending a writers' conference in Santa Barbara, California in the 1980s. She was taking a class with Charles Champlin, then the art editor of the Los Angeles Times.
"I wrote this very sexy first paragraph about my partner and I dancing together. It wasn't until the second paragraph that I revealed my 'partner' was a boa constrictor."
The piece was so well-received she decided she was onto something, and she's been writing more Tales of a Snake Dancer ever since.
She didn't disappoint at the October reading, sharing two early stories about her collaboration with Suleman. The first was the lead-off story in her Tales, about how she came to begin her career as a snake dancer.
The second was the first story she ever attempted to write about dancing with Suleman. She wrote it while she was attending a writers' conference in Santa Barbara, California in the 1980s. She was taking a class with Charles Champlin, then the art editor of the Los Angeles Times.
"I wrote this very sexy first paragraph about my partner and I dancing together. It wasn't until the second paragraph that I revealed my 'partner' was a boa constrictor."
The piece was so well-received she decided she was onto something, and she's been writing more Tales of a Snake Dancer ever since.
Donna Maltz read an excerpt from her newly-published book, Living Like the Future Matters: The Evolution of an Eco-Bohemian Entrepreneur.
Donna has been an "Eco-Bohemian Entrepreneur" since 1982 and has founded several small businesses. Her tagline is: "Why retire when I can inspire?"
To this end, her most recent business is an online company called Soil to Soul Solutions, which provides a platform for social and environmental entrpreneurs.
Donna has been an "Eco-Bohemian Entrepreneur" since 1982 and has founded several small businesses. Her tagline is: "Why retire when I can inspire?"
To this end, her most recent business is an online company called Soil to Soul Solutions, which provides a platform for social and environmental entrpreneurs.
Carol McMillan read from her memoir-in-progress, Seeds of a Flower Child. Set in the San Francisco Bay area in the years from 1967 to 1970, her memoir links her own evolution during those years to the memorable events that took place then.
Many thanks to Jada Rufo for her eye-catching photos
(especially the one of Jim Gibbons!)
(especially the one of Jim Gibbons!)
Where Were You on October 1, 2019?
Story and pictures by Jada Rufo
Several HWG members went to Kona Stories’ Words and Wine event on October 1, 2019, to cheer our own webmaster Duncan Dempster who was presenting his new book, Where Are You?, a sequel to his previous novel, Chapel on the Moor.
In the new novel, Duncan continues the tale of his two protagonists half a century later in their quest to find out what might remain of the chapel.
Kona Stories is a locally-owned bookstore in the heart of Keahou Shopping Center in Kailua-Kona. While they do sell books and gifts, they are also very community-minded and have book clubs for all ages and they have opened their doors to local authors though their Words and Wine events. Past HWG readers are Dave Fouts, Donna Beumler, Dr. Heather Riviera, Jada Tan Rufo, Louise Riofrio, Cecelia Johansen, Eliza Cahill, Bryan Fuher, and the late John Holland.
If you are interested in reading at a Words and Wine event please visit their website at https://www.konastories.com/.
In the new novel, Duncan continues the tale of his two protagonists half a century later in their quest to find out what might remain of the chapel.
Kona Stories is a locally-owned bookstore in the heart of Keahou Shopping Center in Kailua-Kona. While they do sell books and gifts, they are also very community-minded and have book clubs for all ages and they have opened their doors to local authors though their Words and Wine events. Past HWG readers are Dave Fouts, Donna Beumler, Dr. Heather Riviera, Jada Tan Rufo, Louise Riofrio, Cecelia Johansen, Eliza Cahill, Bryan Fuher, and the late John Holland.
If you are interested in reading at a Words and Wine event please visit their website at https://www.konastories.com/.
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Duncan reading at Kona Stories on October 1 At his book table, ready to sell both his novels
North Kohala September Authors Reading
Draws a Crowd
Eila Algood at the mic, ready to introduce her next speaker.
Eila Algood, the moderator of the Hawaii Writers Guild North Kohala authors readings, pulled off another well-orchestrated, fast-paced program at the North Kohala Public Library on September 23rd. This time she included seven readers and four "pop-up" poets in the hour-and-a-half program.
Her audience obviously likes the format, because they keep coming back in such large numbers that the program has to be re-located time-after-time from the community room to the main part of the library where there is more space.
Presentations ran the gamut from poetry to prose and from an excerpt from a legal thriller to a nonfiction treatise on the speed of light. For those of you who couldn't attend, here are some highlights.
Her audience obviously likes the format, because they keep coming back in such large numbers that the program has to be re-located time-after-time from the community room to the main part of the library where there is more space.
Presentations ran the gamut from poetry to prose and from an excerpt from a legal thriller to a nonfiction treatise on the speed of light. For those of you who couldn't attend, here are some highlights.
Laura Burkhart, originally from Canada, is now a proud North Kohala resident. Her first book, Venus Rising, was shortlisted for two Saskatchewan book awards. Her second, Watermarks, was launched at the North Kohala Public Library in a hand-bound limited edition. A second printing was later made available.
Laura holds an MFA in fiction and poetry from Vermont College. She has taught creative writing workshops in person and online and works as a writing coach. She is currently the managing editor of the Hawaii Writers Guild online literary journal, Latitudes, which will publish its inaugural issue in Spring 2020.
For the September authors reading, she read a suite of poems that moved in time from World War II to the present, and, in geography, from Canada to France and Belgium, then to the Big Island.
Laura holds an MFA in fiction and poetry from Vermont College. She has taught creative writing workshops in person and online and works as a writing coach. She is currently the managing editor of the Hawaii Writers Guild online literary journal, Latitudes, which will publish its inaugural issue in Spring 2020.
For the September authors reading, she read a suite of poems that moved in time from World War II to the present, and, in geography, from Canada to France and Belgium, then to the Big Island.
Michael Foley was born in London, England, where he once worked as a stagehand with the Royal Shakespeare Theater. (He is currently writing a book about his experiences there.)
Like Laura Burkhart, at some point Michael left the country of his birth and ultimately arrived in North Kohala, where he does free lance research and writes poetry as well as memoir. His work has been published in journals, the anthology, Methuen Book of Theatre Verse, and small press publications as well as in two poetry chapbooks.
At the September reading in North Kohala, Michael read two poems and a journal entry. "Ireland's Child Returns" spoke to a trip he took last summer to deliver his mother's ashes to an old abbey at her birthplace where he had taken his father's ashes in 2006. "Sometimes a Common Courtesy" expressed his "mild frustration" at visiting old friends in England knowing that, when lunch was over, he must say goodbye and leave them.
The journal entry, "Ipu", recorded his early impressions of his kumu hula, Raylene, during a practice at the Old Coastguard past Kokoiki, at a time when, he says, he "knew nothing about hula."
Like Laura Burkhart, at some point Michael left the country of his birth and ultimately arrived in North Kohala, where he does free lance research and writes poetry as well as memoir. His work has been published in journals, the anthology, Methuen Book of Theatre Verse, and small press publications as well as in two poetry chapbooks.
At the September reading in North Kohala, Michael read two poems and a journal entry. "Ireland's Child Returns" spoke to a trip he took last summer to deliver his mother's ashes to an old abbey at her birthplace where he had taken his father's ashes in 2006. "Sometimes a Common Courtesy" expressed his "mild frustration" at visiting old friends in England knowing that, when lunch was over, he must say goodbye and leave them.
The journal entry, "Ipu", recorded his early impressions of his kumu hula, Raylene, during a practice at the Old Coastguard past Kokoiki, at a time when, he says, he "knew nothing about hula."
Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Donna Beumier eventually choose North Kohala as home.
Before publishing her first book, Donna spent 21 years as an attorney in the criminal justice system, most of it as a trial lawyer handling serious felony cases. After that, she was also a superior court judge for nearly eight years.
Fledgling writers are often told to "write what you know," so when Donna turned her hand to writing fiction, it's no surprise that her first novel, Criminal Lawyer, dealt with crime and criminals, judges and lawyers and loyalty and betrayal.
At the September reading, Donna read a scene from Criminal Lawyer in which her protagonist, a woman lawyer not unlike Donna herself, is visiting a young woman in jail who's been charged criminally in her baby's tragic death. As the story unfolds, both lawyer and client struggle to find a way forward.
Before publishing her first book, Donna spent 21 years as an attorney in the criminal justice system, most of it as a trial lawyer handling serious felony cases. After that, she was also a superior court judge for nearly eight years.
Fledgling writers are often told to "write what you know," so when Donna turned her hand to writing fiction, it's no surprise that her first novel, Criminal Lawyer, dealt with crime and criminals, judges and lawyers and loyalty and betrayal.
At the September reading, Donna read a scene from Criminal Lawyer in which her protagonist, a woman lawyer not unlike Donna herself, is visiting a young woman in jail who's been charged criminally in her baby's tragic death. As the story unfolds, both lawyer and client struggle to find a way forward.
Carla "Aleili" Orellana has developed a following in North Kohala for many reasons. Some seek her guidance because she is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and Belly Dance Movement Artist. But she is also a writer and an entertaining reader, and some, having heard that "laughter is the best medicine," seek Carla out to hear her read about her adventures with her belly-dancing partner, Suleman Aziz, a boa constrictor.
In September, Carla read from the very beginning of her book-in-progress, Tales of a Snake Dancer. Back in the 1970s, when Carla was living in California, her belly dancing instructor, a woman named Jenaeni, got a call from the owner of a business. "The owner wants a snake dancer," Jenaeni said to her belly dancing students. "Who's it?" Turned out, Carla was "it." That was the beginning of her adventures with Suleman Aziz.
Notice the rose in the bottom right corner of the picture? The rose was for Jenaeni, who was in the audience in North Kohala on September 23. After the reading, Carla presented the rose to her old teacher, who had started Carla on her adventure all those years ago.
In September, Carla read from the very beginning of her book-in-progress, Tales of a Snake Dancer. Back in the 1970s, when Carla was living in California, her belly dancing instructor, a woman named Jenaeni, got a call from the owner of a business. "The owner wants a snake dancer," Jenaeni said to her belly dancing students. "Who's it?" Turned out, Carla was "it." That was the beginning of her adventures with Suleman Aziz.
Notice the rose in the bottom right corner of the picture? The rose was for Jenaeni, who was in the audience in North Kohala on September 23. After the reading, Carla presented the rose to her old teacher, who had started Carla on her adventure all those years ago.
Wendy Noritake grew up on an island in the Salish Sea, the First Nations' name for an intricate body of water that connects the west coast of the Canadian mainland with Vancouver Island and the northern part of Washington.
Fast forward several years and you will find Wendy residing in North Kohala as a fully-emerged writer. Wendy has had several stories published, but she is never far from a memoir-in-progress about an uncle she never met and who died in France in World War II. This uncle has nevertheless taken her on a miraculous journey over a period of 10 years.
At the September reading, Wendy shared an excerpt from her book about her unique uncle.
Fast forward several years and you will find Wendy residing in North Kohala as a fully-emerged writer. Wendy has had several stories published, but she is never far from a memoir-in-progress about an uncle she never met and who died in France in World War II. This uncle has nevertheless taken her on a miraculous journey over a period of 10 years.
At the September reading, Wendy shared an excerpt from her book about her unique uncle.
Virginia Fortner has published essays, poetry, fiction, children’s stories, and one dissertation. She met with Montana Writers after being part of Kansas City Writers for many years. Now she puts pen to paper with Hawi folks to write essays, articles, memoirs, poems, and fiction. She recently tried a 10-minute play which became part of the program at the North Kohala Ten-Minute Play Festival in 2019.
Virginia's curiosity about the world hasn't just led her from state-to-state and genre-to-genre, but also to teach English as a Second Language in China, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
At the September reading, Virginia read several excerpts from her novel-in-progress, China Conundrum, a fictional page-turner based on her observations while teaching in China for four years.
Virginia's curiosity about the world hasn't just led her from state-to-state and genre-to-genre, but also to teach English as a Second Language in China, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
At the September reading, Virginia read several excerpts from her novel-in-progress, China Conundrum, a fictional page-turner based on her observations while teaching in China for four years.
Louise Riofrio was educated in physics and astronomy at the Univerity of California and San Francisco State University. She worked as a scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, studying samples of moon rocks that astronauts brought back from their trips.
Her first book, The Speed of Light, hypothesizes that the speed of light is slowing down, and that it affects such things as the Earth's climate to the size of cells in our bodies.
Louise will soon be attending a major scientific conference in Paris as an invited speaker.
At the September program, Louise read excerpts from The Speed of Light, which starts when a baby's eyes open at birth, tells how we learn about the world in the first few months after birth, then explains how people gradually learned that we are part of a bigger universe.
Her first book, The Speed of Light, hypothesizes that the speed of light is slowing down, and that it affects such things as the Earth's climate to the size of cells in our bodies.
Louise will soon be attending a major scientific conference in Paris as an invited speaker.
At the September program, Louise read excerpts from The Speed of Light, which starts when a baby's eyes open at birth, tells how we learn about the world in the first few months after birth, then explains how people gradually learned that we are part of a bigger universe.
...and let's not forget our "Pop-Up" poets...
Diane Revell read "Roaring Winds," a poem about being awake, safe in bed, while listening to a storm rage outside.
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Jim Gibbons read a self-described "love" poem entitled "Take Your Love and Shove It Up Your Heart."
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Holly Algood read "New Descendants," a poem written by Eila Algood welcoming their newly-born grandchild into the family.
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Dave Fouts read a poem inspired by a quote from the Buddha: "It is your mind that creates the world." In Dave's version, "Tuesday Soup": "You are the one who eats. You are the one being eaten, and you are the cook who prepares the soup."
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Thanks to Diann Wilson for her photos.
Eila Algood thanks the North Kohala Public Library for promotion, set-up and clean-up.
Joy Fisher, who wrote the narrative, thanks Eila and the readers for providing the information without which this story could not have been written (because Joy was sailing down the Rhine River when this event took place and therefore couldn't attend the reading).
Our Pop-Up Bookstore is Doing Well
Hawaii Writers Guild members had good reason to smile on August 31, 2019. Not only was our "pop-up bookstore" picked as the "featured business" that day, but every writer displaying sold copies of their books. From left, Jim Gibbons, Louise Riofrio, Jada Rufo, Amy Elizabeth Gordon and Steven Foster. Great job, everyone! The bookstore is "popping up" about once every two weeks at the Pukulani Stables Farmers Market in Waimea. If you are interested in joining the group, contact Louise Riofrio, the Guild's Events Director.
Susanna Moore's Critique Workshop:
Worthwhile and Well-Attended
Above, Susanna Moore leads a critique workshop for the Hawaii Writers Guild on August 26
Seventeen writers from North Kohala and Waimea attended author Susanna Moore's Critique Workshop at the North Kohala Public Library on August 26. A part-time resident of Kapaau, Moore teaches writing skills at Princeton University. This was her first workshop for the HawaiiWriters Guild. It was free and open to the public.
Moore made the following general points:
- Editing is key to creating good work.
- Include reading aloud as it often provides better understanding and insight and is especially good for testing rhythm.
- Initially, ignore grammar, spelling and focus instead on the "Big Picture" such as the following: structure, meaning, rhythm, tone and time.
- After the "Big Picture" read, do line editing, including to eliminate unnecessary words. She noted some words that should be avoided as unnecessary, such as "perhaps", "likely" and "almost".
Moore urged writers to know the follow three things before they start writing:
- Who is the narrator? (If it is a first-person narrator, remember the narrator will not know the inner thoughts of other characters. If the narrator is omniscient, it's still important to reveal information slowly in order to maintain tension.)
- Where is the narrator?
- When is the event taking place – long past, recent past or currently?
Moore made the following points about dialogue:
- Dialogue is one of the harder skills to master, but the best use of dialogue serves two purposes: 1) to reveal character; or 2) to advance the plot.
- In most cases, the writer should eliminate repetitive dialogue that might occur in real conversation. She noted, however, that repetition may be used to make a point.
- She urged the writer to keep in mind people often speak elliptically. For instance, they may avoid answering a question by changing the topic; or by responding to a question with another question.
She also made these points:
- Assume your reader is as smart or smarter than you. Don’t state the obvious (Paris does not need to be stated as Paris, France, Napoleon is well known without any explanation of his place in history).
- Make use of graphics to convey meaning. Examples were using extra blank lines or a small graphic symbol between paragraphs to indicate a change in narrative or time or other transition.
Two brave members of the Hawaii Writers Guild, Donna Beumier and Michael Foley, submitted pieces to be critiqued. Their pieces were posted on our website so those attending could read them in advance and contribute comments during the critique. Applying the points she had outlined, Moore led the critique of each of the submitted pieces and encouraged others to join in.
At the end of the evening, Diann Wilson called on two Guild members present to let others know about the writing critique groups (or writer support groups) in the North Kohala and Waimea areas.
- Diane Revell described the group that meets once a month on the third Tuesday from 10am until noon at the North Kohala Library. The group is usually facilitated by Eila Algood with Diane substituting as needed.
- Dave Fouts described the group that meets weekly on Tuesdays from 10am until noon at Tutu’s House in Waimea. Dave and Bruce Stern act as facilitators for this group. Dave had copies of the guidelines used in this group available to show those interested.
Writers Voice Stories About Journeys
Virginia Fortner takes the audience on a journey to China
We take many journeys in our lives. Sometimes we go in person; sometimes we are transported through story.
There are stories that take us to other lands; stories that take us on a spiritual journey to heal a broken spirit; stories that let us experience an adventure we would never, ever have the courage to try in real life; and coming-of-age stories that take us on a journey toward adulthood, no matter what our actual age may be.
Those attending the Writers Voices authors reading at Thelma Parker Memorial Library took all those journeys in one evening on August 7, 2019.
There are stories that take us to other lands; stories that take us on a spiritual journey to heal a broken spirit; stories that let us experience an adventure we would never, ever have the courage to try in real life; and coming-of-age stories that take us on a journey toward adulthood, no matter what our actual age may be.
Those attending the Writers Voices authors reading at Thelma Parker Memorial Library took all those journeys in one evening on August 7, 2019.
Virginia Fortner, a Guild member from North Kohala, is a versatile writer and an adventurous traveler. She manages to combine the two in her new novel-in-progress, China Conundrum.
China Conundrum is loosely based on Virginia's own experiences as a teacher in China. The passage she read occurs early in the book when the recently-arrived main character spends a Saturday with new acquaintances and reflects on the fact that Chinese hospitality is wearing her out.
When a co-worker, Bobo, commands the newcomer to come for a visit, she must walk 20 blocks to Bobo's home to meet her husband. Settled on the couch for a "little rest," she inquires of the husband about his job. His English is heavily accented. She thinks he says he "sells tours," and she begins to get excited. Maybe he can help her plan a tour to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. But no, he actual sells "tools" not "tours."
It's the beginning of a long day filled with introductions to other new friends, communal cooking and eating, a visit to a temple and a performance of Rimsky Korsakov's "Scheherazade." Back at the university where she teaches and lives by 9:30 p.m., the newcomer falls asleep out of sheer exhaustion before she can even begin to relive the adventures of the day.
China Conundrum is loosely based on Virginia's own experiences as a teacher in China. The passage she read occurs early in the book when the recently-arrived main character spends a Saturday with new acquaintances and reflects on the fact that Chinese hospitality is wearing her out.
When a co-worker, Bobo, commands the newcomer to come for a visit, she must walk 20 blocks to Bobo's home to meet her husband. Settled on the couch for a "little rest," she inquires of the husband about his job. His English is heavily accented. She thinks he says he "sells tours," and she begins to get excited. Maybe he can help her plan a tour to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. But no, he actual sells "tools" not "tours."
It's the beginning of a long day filled with introductions to other new friends, communal cooking and eating, a visit to a temple and a performance of Rimsky Korsakov's "Scheherazade." Back at the university where she teaches and lives by 9:30 p.m., the newcomer falls asleep out of sheer exhaustion before she can even begin to relive the adventures of the day.
After he completed four years in the Air Force in 1970, Waimea Guild member Steven Foster yearned to be a writer.
Subsequent to finishing a B.A. degree at Biola College in 1976, Steven's writing jobs ranged from a smoke-filled newspaper office to a more lofty stint with Campus Crusade.
In 2019, Steven published his first novel, Spirit of an Eagle (notice the picture on his tee shirt), a deeply-moving story about the spiritual quest of Army medic Anthony Lorenzo to embrace life again after his return from Vietnam and the tragic death of his young wife.
The passage Steven read begins:
"Anthony Lorenzo was flat on his back in freezing snow, and he stared in amazement at a two-foot tall bald eagle, which sat on his chest. 'I remember you,'" Anthony says.
The eagle flies away. Was it just a hallucination? You'll have to read Steven's book to find out. (You won't be disappointed.)
Subsequent to finishing a B.A. degree at Biola College in 1976, Steven's writing jobs ranged from a smoke-filled newspaper office to a more lofty stint with Campus Crusade.
In 2019, Steven published his first novel, Spirit of an Eagle (notice the picture on his tee shirt), a deeply-moving story about the spiritual quest of Army medic Anthony Lorenzo to embrace life again after his return from Vietnam and the tragic death of his young wife.
The passage Steven read begins:
"Anthony Lorenzo was flat on his back in freezing snow, and he stared in amazement at a two-foot tall bald eagle, which sat on his chest. 'I remember you,'" Anthony says.
The eagle flies away. Was it just a hallucination? You'll have to read Steven's book to find out. (You won't be disappointed.)
Waimea native Jada Tan Rufo also had a story about an experience she had while living in China. "The Dinoconda" is a blog entry about her ride on China's first 4-D roller coaster. What is that, exactly?
According to CNN travel, Jada told us, the Dinoconda is "the scariest two minutes of your life." According to Jada, "It is hell on rails."
Although Jada admitted she is not a "roller coaster fan," she waited in line with her friends for nearly an hour in the hot May summer sun to experience this adventure, thinking, right up to the last moment, "how the hell am I going to get out of this line?"
She got out of the line by being buckled and strapped and harnessed into her seat on the Dinoconda.
"Then we slowly started pulling out of the station.
"Clackety clackety clackety clackety"...
The scariest two minutes of Jada's life were beginning.
According to CNN travel, Jada told us, the Dinoconda is "the scariest two minutes of your life." According to Jada, "It is hell on rails."
Although Jada admitted she is not a "roller coaster fan," she waited in line with her friends for nearly an hour in the hot May summer sun to experience this adventure, thinking, right up to the last moment, "how the hell am I going to get out of this line?"
She got out of the line by being buckled and strapped and harnessed into her seat on the Dinoconda.
"Then we slowly started pulling out of the station.
"Clackety clackety clackety clackety"...
The scariest two minutes of Jada's life were beginning.
Bob Lupo, a Guild member from Hakalau, read an excerpt from his new novel-in -progress, American Sin.
Set in the 1960s, the story describes the coming-of-age journey of three teenagers as they navigate the gritty streets of New York City.
Lupo's chosen scenes revisted Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the death of John F. Kennedy as his young protagonists struggle with what it means to live uneasily in a multiracial society and in a violent gun culture where even presidents aren't safe from assassination.
One of the characters says: "After the bloodbath of the past Century, it seemed we entered a new age, Yeah, don't laugh--a Camelot."
...
"JFK's murder is live. It's prime time. It destroys the myth of the New Age. We are again off the tracks." He sighs. "I feel we are falling from the sky, a mountain top, the Sky Deck of The Empire State."
"It's America's funeral procession," another character comments.
"Were you thinking of what we're living through today when you decided to write this book?" a member of the audience asked Bob after the reading. Looking troubled and tense, Bob admitted he was.
Set in the 1960s, the story describes the coming-of-age journey of three teenagers as they navigate the gritty streets of New York City.
Lupo's chosen scenes revisted Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the death of John F. Kennedy as his young protagonists struggle with what it means to live uneasily in a multiracial society and in a violent gun culture where even presidents aren't safe from assassination.
One of the characters says: "After the bloodbath of the past Century, it seemed we entered a new age, Yeah, don't laugh--a Camelot."
...
"JFK's murder is live. It's prime time. It destroys the myth of the New Age. We are again off the tracks." He sighs. "I feel we are falling from the sky, a mountain top, the Sky Deck of The Empire State."
"It's America's funeral procession," another character comments.
"Were you thinking of what we're living through today when you decided to write this book?" a member of the audience asked Bob after the reading. Looking troubled and tense, Bob admitted he was.
Pictures courtesy of Jada Tan Rufo
Narrative by Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Narrative by Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Donna Beumler at Kona Stories
Picture courtesy of Diane Revell
It could have been intimidating for a new author. There was standing room only at Kona Stories bookstore on August 6, 2019, when Hawaii Writers Guild member Donna Beumler stepped up to the microphone to read from her recently-published first novel, Criminal/Lawyer. But Donna had a couple of things going for her.
First of all, she is a former criminal prosecutor, defense attorney and superior court judge, so she knows of what she writes and she knows how to command attention. And she did that as she read from and discussed her new book about attorney Alice Dreyer and her clients--murderers, rapists, drug dealers and thieves.
Secondly, there were at least five other Guild members there who had driven down to Keauhou from North Kohala and Waimea through a thunderstorm to cheer her on. Afterwards, Donna sent us an email saying:
"Much mahalo to each of you for making the drive to Keauhou yesterday evening and braving the weather to attend the Words and Wine event!
"I have a fair amount of anxiety when it comes to my writing life, and seeing you all there was simply the support I needed to get through the event."
And that's exactly why we do it!
--Joy Fisher
Public Relations Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
First of all, she is a former criminal prosecutor, defense attorney and superior court judge, so she knows of what she writes and she knows how to command attention. And she did that as she read from and discussed her new book about attorney Alice Dreyer and her clients--murderers, rapists, drug dealers and thieves.
Secondly, there were at least five other Guild members there who had driven down to Keauhou from North Kohala and Waimea through a thunderstorm to cheer her on. Afterwards, Donna sent us an email saying:
"Much mahalo to each of you for making the drive to Keauhou yesterday evening and braving the weather to attend the Words and Wine event!
"I have a fair amount of anxiety when it comes to my writing life, and seeing you all there was simply the support I needed to get through the event."
And that's exactly why we do it!
--Joy Fisher
Public Relations Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
Louise Riofrio tending our pop-up bookstore at the Christmas in July Fair at the King Kam on July 27, 2019. Jim Gibbons and Jada Tan Rufo also attended the event.
Oh, the Things Writers Do to Promote Our Wares!
On Saturday, July 27th guild members Jada Tan Rufo, Louise Riofrio, and Jim Gibbons made
the early morning drive to the King Kamehameha Hotel for the bi-annual Jo Ann Williams
Christmas Craft Fair. Since the fair was in July it was her Christmas in July fair.
All three authors sold and signed books and made great contacts for future events. We
happened to meet the new owner of the Kona Bay Bookstore on Kaiwi Street in the Old
Industrial Area and we were invited to visit Privateer’s Cove on Hualalai Road. Jada also
met another vendor, a childhood friend, who was helping to sell children’s books to promote reading in children.
But the most entertaining part was when our very own Events Coordinator, Louise Riofrio, walked
and clucked like a chicken to win a door prize. (In order for vendors to be able to sell their wares,
fair coordinators ask participants to donate one of their items to give away as a door prize.)
If you want to see the video of our illustrious and very talented events coordinator strut her stuff, check
out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HAWAIIWG/videos/365078537523664/ .
Going to fairs and farmers’ markets is a great way to get out and meet our readers and to
promote HWG -- even if we have to cluck like a chicken!
If you are interested in having your books sold at the next craft fair or farmers’ market, please contact Louise Riofrio, our best clucker...I mean events coordinator.
(Story and video by Jada Tan Rufo. Thanks, Jada!)
Hawaii Writers Guild Sponsors
New Marketing Workshop
Your book is published. Now what? Louise Riofrio, Hawaii Writers Guild Events Coordinator, presented the Guild's first marketing workshop on July 25, 2019 at Tutu's House.
About 12 people turned out to learn the finer points of this essential skill from one of our finest practitioners. The workshop was free and open to the public.
The workshop covered:
1) The immediate aftermath of publishing a book
2) Finding a core audience
3) Doing signings at bookstores
4) Lecturing on cruise ships
5) Appealing to an audience
6) Getting lots of publicity
Mainland Members Join Locals at June
Writers' Voices in Waimea
Carol McMillan leads off the evening with a tale about outdoor cooking in Africa.
Geographical distances, both physical and thematic, converged in the community room at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea on June 5, 2019, when mainland members joined readers from the Big Island to share stories of adventures in far-flung places.
For the first time ever, two Hawaii Writers Guild members from the mainland, Carol McMillan from Washington and Mark Kelly from Colorado, shared the microphone with two local readers, Amy Elizabeth Gordon from Waimea and Paul Bryant from Laupahoehoe.
Carol McMillan, an anthropologist who loves languages and adventures in equal measure, gave us an unexpected taste of Africa in her memoir about an entomology expedition across the southern half of that continent in the 1960s.
Her non-academic responsibilities included cooking for the members of the expedition. One night after lighting the campfire, Carol set about making spaghetti and salad. When a tiny black beetle dropped into the salad dressing, Carol noticed at least a dozen similar dark dots in the cabbage. Laboriously, she picked out the tiny bodies of beetles from the salad and noodle pot-- but no part of her wanted to look into the pot of dark sauce.
"Too hungry and tired to worry, I served dinner. No one noticed anything peculiar. Flavored with exhaustion, the spaghetti tasted fine. I cleaned up the dinner and crawled into bed, acknowledging that we must surely now be seasoned campers--seasoned with salt, oregano and unidentified beetles."
Carol is currently house-hunting in Waimea, and we are looking forward to having her and her sense of humor join us full time on the Big Island in the near future.
Her non-academic responsibilities included cooking for the members of the expedition. One night after lighting the campfire, Carol set about making spaghetti and salad. When a tiny black beetle dropped into the salad dressing, Carol noticed at least a dozen similar dark dots in the cabbage. Laboriously, she picked out the tiny bodies of beetles from the salad and noodle pot-- but no part of her wanted to look into the pot of dark sauce.
"Too hungry and tired to worry, I served dinner. No one noticed anything peculiar. Flavored with exhaustion, the spaghetti tasted fine. I cleaned up the dinner and crawled into bed, acknowledging that we must surely now be seasoned campers--seasoned with salt, oregano and unidentified beetles."
Carol is currently house-hunting in Waimea, and we are looking forward to having her and her sense of humor join us full time on the Big Island in the near future.
Mark Kelly is an adjunct professor of astronomy at Arapahoe College in Colorado, but he readily acknowledges that writing mind-bending science fiction is his passion.
Kelly puts his scientific expertise to good use in his debut novel, Mauna Kea Rising, just published this year:
In "2K25" as a group of family and friends sets sail for the British Hawaiian islands on a 40-foot sailboat named Ohana, an "X-class" solar flare shoots out toward the Earth, a solar storm that may reach Earth's orbit within a week. If it hits the Earth, it'll create a geomagnetic storm matching the Carrington Event of 1859. Back then, people didn't rely much on electrical devices, but that storm nevertheless blew out thousands of miles of telegraph lines and shocked telegraph operators.
"Imagine if this happened today. Our society can't live without the power grid and the internet," one character muses. And so the story begins...
Kelly puts his scientific expertise to good use in his debut novel, Mauna Kea Rising, just published this year:
In "2K25" as a group of family and friends sets sail for the British Hawaiian islands on a 40-foot sailboat named Ohana, an "X-class" solar flare shoots out toward the Earth, a solar storm that may reach Earth's orbit within a week. If it hits the Earth, it'll create a geomagnetic storm matching the Carrington Event of 1859. Back then, people didn't rely much on electrical devices, but that storm nevertheless blew out thousands of miles of telegraph lines and shocked telegraph operators.
"Imagine if this happened today. Our society can't live without the power grid and the internet," one character muses. And so the story begins...
Amy Elizabeth Gordon read a moving excerpt from her memoir/self-empowerment book Moonshot: Aim High, Dive Deep and Live an Extraordinary Life.
"We buried my mom's mom when I was fifteen," Amy's excerpt began. "I remember standing in Chemistry class on Monday, crying. I didn't know where else to cry.
...
"She died on a Sunday in May, Mother's Day, of cirrhosis. She was 72, mom was 48, I was 15. The multi-generational trauma of alcohol abuse carried forth."
Things are different now, and how they got to be different is the story Amy tells in her uplifting book.
The night of the reading, the book was still "soon to be published." Now it is out and available from Balboa Press. Congratulations, Amy Elizabeth!
Paul Bryant, a founding member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, has lived in Laupahoehoe since leaving Japan in 1990.
He read from his memoir-in-progress, A Fool for Love, which is comprised of autobiographical short stories gleaned from 60 years of a rich multicultural life beginning with his arrival in Japan on his 10th birthday.
The excerpt Paul shared took place in New York state after his by then elderly parents were seriously injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Paul, who describes himself as "an eye for an eye" kind of guy, was determined to avenge this act of harm visited on his parents.
Then living in Hawaii, Paul flew back to New York to look for a way to even the score. He found one. Paul describes his act of revenge succinctly in graphic language that may shock some. He then concludes: "It was a really satisfying trip."
He read from his memoir-in-progress, A Fool for Love, which is comprised of autobiographical short stories gleaned from 60 years of a rich multicultural life beginning with his arrival in Japan on his 10th birthday.
The excerpt Paul shared took place in New York state after his by then elderly parents were seriously injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Paul, who describes himself as "an eye for an eye" kind of guy, was determined to avenge this act of harm visited on his parents.
Then living in Hawaii, Paul flew back to New York to look for a way to even the score. He found one. Paul describes his act of revenge succinctly in graphic language that may shock some. He then concludes: "It was a really satisfying trip."
Pictures courtesy of Jada Tan Rufo
Narrative by Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Narrative by Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Two Hawaii Writers Guild Members read at Words and Wine on June 4, 2019
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Dave Fouts Louise Riofrio
Hawaii Writers Guild members Dave Fouts and Louise Riofrio were featured readers at Kona Stories book store's authors' reading, Words and Wine, on June 4, 2019.
Dave read from his new book of poems and prose poems, Tuesday Soup. Rich in imagery and extended metaphor, Dave's poems plumb the depths of the human condition with irony-edged compassion.
Louise read from her nonfiction exploration of Pacific migration, Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific.
Guild members Jim Gibbons, Joy Fisher and Jada Tan Rufo toasted Dave and Louise in Keauhou at dinner before the reading and then joined the enthusiastic audience attending the presentations. Jada Tan Rufo captured the moment in pictures.
Dave read from his new book of poems and prose poems, Tuesday Soup. Rich in imagery and extended metaphor, Dave's poems plumb the depths of the human condition with irony-edged compassion.
Louise read from her nonfiction exploration of Pacific migration, Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific.
Guild members Jim Gibbons, Joy Fisher and Jada Tan Rufo toasted Dave and Louise in Keauhou at dinner before the reading and then joined the enthusiastic audience attending the presentations. Jada Tan Rufo captured the moment in pictures.
Hawaii Writers Guild Members
Staff Our Pop-Up Bookstore at
Pukalani Stables May 25, 2019
From left, Mark Kelly, Virginia Fortner and Louise Riofrio display their books at HWG's pop-up bookstore at Pukalani Stables Farmers Market on May 25, 2019. Not shown, Jada Tan Rufo, who took the picture, and Joy Fisher, PR director, who passed out flyers for the June 5 Writers Voices reading. Business was brisk. Mark, a Guild member from Colorado, was on the island to promote his new science fiction book, Mauna Kea Rising. Louise reported he sold out his copies. The bookstore is set to "pop-up" at Pukalani Stables about twice a month as the Guild tests its viability as an outlet for members' work.
Hawaii Writers Guild Initiates "Pop-Up Bookstore"
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Hawaii Writers Guild Events Director Louise Riofrio presided over the first appearance of the Guild's "Pop-Up Bookstore" at Pukalani Stables Farmers' Market in Waimea on May 18, 2019.
In the past, the Guild has sponsored tables at special events such as the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival and Christmas in July at the King Kamehameha Hotel in Kailua-Kona. The idea to start a Pop-Up Bookstore at a local farmers' market came from the fertile imagination of Riofrio, who is well-known for her innovative marketing techniques. Not one to shun work, Riofrio rose early to set up her table for the 7 a.m. opening of the market. Initially, books by Riofrio and Guild member Jim Gibbons were on display, but later in the morning Guild members Duncan Dempster and Bob Lupo stopped by to take advantage of the new marketing opportunity. Guild brochures and flyers announcing our next Writers' Voices presentation on June 5 were also on display. Although the bookstore will not "pop-up" every week, it will appear again on Saturday, May 25. Guild members wishing to sell their books should contact Riofrio at 319-8079. (We have a larger table, but she will need help with it.) |
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The Speed of Light Stirs Discussion at Tutu's House
Hawaii Writers Guild member Louise Riofrio led a discussion of her book The Speed of Light at Tutu's House in Waimea on April 18, 2019. Riofrio, who is educated in physics and astronomy, wrote her book after working as a scientist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Riofrio read from her book and illustrated her scientific hypotheses about the speed of light with a slide show she presented to the more than 30 people in attendance. The audience engaged in lively discussion with the author.
Riofrio is the Events Director for the Hawaii Writers Guild. The event was free and open to the public.
Riofrio read from her book and illustrated her scientific hypotheses about the speed of light with a slide show she presented to the more than 30 people in attendance. The audience engaged in lively discussion with the author.
Riofrio is the Events Director for the Hawaii Writers Guild. The event was free and open to the public.
Popular Self-Publishing Workshop Repeats
Sam Cudney's Self-Publishing 101 workshop was brought back to the Thelma Parker Memorial Library by popular demand on April 17, 2019. The first workshop, initiated by the Hawaii Writers Guild and sponsored by the library, was held on August 29, 2018. It proved so popular, requests for it to be repeated could not be ignored.The repeat performance was also well-attended.
Cudney, a long-time member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, has published a book on self-publishing entitled How to Publish your Book for Free. The workshop featured a slide presentation narrated by Cudney demonstrating the intricacies of the self-publishing process using readily available tools such as Word and Kindle Direct Publishing.
The workshop was free and open to the public.
Cudney, a long-time member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, has published a book on self-publishing entitled How to Publish your Book for Free. The workshop featured a slide presentation narrated by Cudney demonstrating the intricacies of the self-publishing process using readily available tools such as Word and Kindle Direct Publishing.
The workshop was free and open to the public.
First Time Reader Joins Veterans
at April Writers' Voices
Audience members focus on first-time reader Heather Rivera
The audience heard a new writer's voice at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea when Dr. Heather Rivera led off the readings at the April 3 Writers' Voices program. Dr. Rivera, a new member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, faced the audience bravely as the evening's first reader.
She was followed by three veteran members of the Guild, Duncan Dempster, Jada Tan Rufo and Cecilia Johansen. It was the last appearance for Johansen who recently relinquished her position as emcee of the Writers Voices presentations in preparation for a move back to the mainland. We are sorry to lose her as an active member of the group, but she will continue to be a member of the Guild and we look forward to word of the publication of her new books.
She was followed by three veteran members of the Guild, Duncan Dempster, Jada Tan Rufo and Cecilia Johansen. It was the last appearance for Johansen who recently relinquished her position as emcee of the Writers Voices presentations in preparation for a move back to the mainland. We are sorry to lose her as an active member of the group, but she will continue to be a member of the Guild and we look forward to word of the publication of her new books.
Although new to the Hawaii Writers Guild, Dr. Heather Rivera is no novice to writing. The author of nine books of fiction and non-fiction, Rivera holds a creative writing certificate from Wesleyan University as well as a PhD in Parapsychic Science.
She read from her most recent novel, Twice Again,which combines knowledge from both of her fields of study. Twice Again is the story of a woman's unexpected empowerment after death from violent domestic abuse. When she jolts awake in the body of a woman named Bridget, she has a second chance to become the woman she was meant to be. Will she succeed? Passages from the reading indicate that she will.
When Bridget's roommate tells the protagonist she can pick out any deodorant she wants at the supermarket, she is stunned. Remembering her controlling husband from her previous life, she reveals: "I can't remember the last time I chose something for myself. I'm giddy as I grab a pink one from the shelf."
She read from her most recent novel, Twice Again,which combines knowledge from both of her fields of study. Twice Again is the story of a woman's unexpected empowerment after death from violent domestic abuse. When she jolts awake in the body of a woman named Bridget, she has a second chance to become the woman she was meant to be. Will she succeed? Passages from the reading indicate that she will.
When Bridget's roommate tells the protagonist she can pick out any deodorant she wants at the supermarket, she is stunned. Remembering her controlling husband from her previous life, she reveals: "I can't remember the last time I chose something for myself. I'm giddy as I grab a pink one from the shelf."
Duncan Dempster, a founding board member of the Hawaii Writers Guild and its webmaster, read an excerpt from his newly-published novel, Where are You? A sequel to his debut novel, Chapel on the Moor, the book reunites characters from the first novel after an interlude of nearly half a century.
In the new novel, the lead female character, Merritt, now a widow in her seventies, has a new encounter with Frank, who is now in a long-term marriage, and sparks fly once again between the two of them.
"Words were neither wanted nor needed. Words would taint a perfect union of disparate souls; sounds would distract the rediscovery of lost possibilities; interruptions would spoil the exquisite symmetry of a moment -- no reasons, no explanations, no thoughts even, only the soft, sweet, relentless pull of mutual attraction, as ineffable, and dead-still silent as the moon's tidal draw on oceans, as strong as the techtonic crawl of continents, as deep as buried shards of lost opportunities. A spoken word, if either one could even produce it, would shatter the moment."
In the new novel, the lead female character, Merritt, now a widow in her seventies, has a new encounter with Frank, who is now in a long-term marriage, and sparks fly once again between the two of them.
"Words were neither wanted nor needed. Words would taint a perfect union of disparate souls; sounds would distract the rediscovery of lost possibilities; interruptions would spoil the exquisite symmetry of a moment -- no reasons, no explanations, no thoughts even, only the soft, sweet, relentless pull of mutual attraction, as ineffable, and dead-still silent as the moon's tidal draw on oceans, as strong as the techtonic crawl of continents, as deep as buried shards of lost opportunities. A spoken word, if either one could even produce it, would shatter the moment."
Jada Tan Rufo, a long-time member of the Hawaii Writers Guild and its photographer and videographer, spent 14 years teaching English as a Second Language in China before returning to the land of her birth, Hawaii.
Jada distilled her 14-year adventure into a memoir called Banana Girl: An Asian-American Woman's Life in China. The book takes place during a single school year in a small town in China.
For the April reading, Jada selected a scene in which she and another ESL teacher, Samantha, try out a Chinese restaurant which purports to serve western food.
"We looked at our menus and tried to read them. Tried is the operative word because Samantha tried to order 'Italy noodles with white milk sauce' and I tried to order a 'three tired sandwich' -- Italian noodles with an alfredo sauce, and an egg, ham and cheese sandwich.
...
"Eating western food cooked by a Chinese establishment can be just as amusing as reading a Chinglish menu ... . When Samantha got her 'Italy noodles,' she noticed that it was just that: flat noodles with a white sauce. No vegetables.
...
"As for my 'tired sandwich,' it was just a matter of erroneous spelling of tiered."
Jada distilled her 14-year adventure into a memoir called Banana Girl: An Asian-American Woman's Life in China. The book takes place during a single school year in a small town in China.
For the April reading, Jada selected a scene in which she and another ESL teacher, Samantha, try out a Chinese restaurant which purports to serve western food.
"We looked at our menus and tried to read them. Tried is the operative word because Samantha tried to order 'Italy noodles with white milk sauce' and I tried to order a 'three tired sandwich' -- Italian noodles with an alfredo sauce, and an egg, ham and cheese sandwich.
...
"Eating western food cooked by a Chinese establishment can be just as amusing as reading a Chinglish menu ... . When Samantha got her 'Italy noodles,' she noticed that it was just that: flat noodles with a white sauce. No vegetables.
...
"As for my 'tired sandwich,' it was just a matter of erroneous spelling of tiered."
A native Californian, Cecilia Johansen grew up in Los Angeles, far from Hawaii. Both her parents instilled in her a love of genealogy which later became an inspiration for her writing.
In 1982, Cece married Charles Kanewa, a full-blooded Hawaiian living in California. A year after Charles died in 2003, she met Bernard Johansen, Charles' cousin. She fell in love with the handsome cowboy and, in a leap of faith, moved to Hawaii, married him and settled in lush up-country Waimea.
Family stories from the lives of the two cousins, who grew up in Kapa'ahu in the Puna District, inspired Cece's first book, The Canoe Maker's Son. Cecilia then picked another ancestry leaf--this time from her own father's family, to write about.
At the April reading, Cece read from a novella called The Captain and the Lady, a story strand she discovered during research into her father's family which eventually demanded a separate life as a book in its own right.
Set in the 1750s, The Captain and the Lady is a love story between Sally Waitt and the captain of her father's ship, the Truelove. As a young girl, Sally asks her father why the ship is named Truelove, then awaits his answer with a mixture of delight and shyness:
"My delight overpowered me, but I was suddenly taken with a bout of shyness and buried my face in the safety of the cravat's ruffles surrounding his neck. It did not deter me, however, as I eagerly heard the cries of gulls and sailors combined with slapping sails and ropes whipped by gusty breezes causing a noisy excitement and a lusty spirit of the open sea. I was hooked."
" 'It's named for your mother, my true love, Sally' " her father replies.
In 1982, Cece married Charles Kanewa, a full-blooded Hawaiian living in California. A year after Charles died in 2003, she met Bernard Johansen, Charles' cousin. She fell in love with the handsome cowboy and, in a leap of faith, moved to Hawaii, married him and settled in lush up-country Waimea.
Family stories from the lives of the two cousins, who grew up in Kapa'ahu in the Puna District, inspired Cece's first book, The Canoe Maker's Son. Cecilia then picked another ancestry leaf--this time from her own father's family, to write about.
At the April reading, Cece read from a novella called The Captain and the Lady, a story strand she discovered during research into her father's family which eventually demanded a separate life as a book in its own right.
Set in the 1750s, The Captain and the Lady is a love story between Sally Waitt and the captain of her father's ship, the Truelove. As a young girl, Sally asks her father why the ship is named Truelove, then awaits his answer with a mixture of delight and shyness:
"My delight overpowered me, but I was suddenly taken with a bout of shyness and buried my face in the safety of the cravat's ruffles surrounding his neck. It did not deter me, however, as I eagerly heard the cries of gulls and sailors combined with slapping sails and ropes whipped by gusty breezes causing a noisy excitement and a lusty spirit of the open sea. I was hooked."
" 'It's named for your mother, my true love, Sally' " her father replies.
Pictures provided by Jada Tan Rufo.
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
Joy can be reached at (808) 238-0551.
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
Joy can be reached at (808) 238-0551.
Report from the AWP Writers Conference
By Cecilia Johansen
The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference and Bookfair kicked off with registration on March 27. I was already at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon on March 23 to scope out the place and take some tours to acquaint myself with the local territory. Joy Fisher joined me on the 26th and we shared a room during the conference.
Our first job was to navigate the five-minute ride to Portland’s Conference Center. Portland has a wonderful city rail service (the MAX train) that stopped a short block from the hotel which took Joy and me to the conference center. With only a light crowd of early registrants, we easily navigated the winding TSA-like lines to get to banks of computers to insert our preregistration code and print out our name badges. Now we were official event-goers.
I went off to take an Accessibility Tour which provided members with a four-day-free-ride ticket on the MAX train and a ribbon for my first-time-new-member status. Presenters oriented us to the distances between meeting rooms and the location of restrooms, computer stations, yoga for writers’ space, and elevators.
They did not divulge, however, the many miles we would walk, climb, or ride to maneuver among the 15,000 souls who were attending the conference. There were Mamava Lactation Suites, Sober AWP “recovery from anything” meeting rooms, quiet and meditation areas, and an author portraits studio where you could get “just right” photos for your next book jacket. Plus, you could take a stroll through the mammoth Bookfair and discover the location of concessions, bars and lounges—one has to eat and drink at such places!
There were 290 offerings of readings, workshops and panel discussion on Thursday alone, including subjects such as Writing the Transcendent; Fighting Sexual Misconduct in the Literary World; Empathy and Exploitation: Immersion Writing Among Vulnerable Populations; Reaching Climax: Girls with Sexual Agency; How to Win a Writing Fellowship; Arab/Indigenous: Palestinian, Indigenous North African & Arab/Native Art; and Playwriting for Novelists – just to name a few.
I only attended two on the first day: Bridging the Gap: How & Why Historical Writers Build Bridges to the Past, and Tipping the Scales: Writing Women’s Lives in Biography & Historical Fiction.
Friday was a madhouse with attendees given only 15 minutes to traverse the distances between events. Some were so crowded that attendees were lined up against the walls when the seats were filled. I chose five from the hundreds of offerings, including:
So You’ve Got a Book Deal—Now What? How to Make the Best Use of Pre-launch. I missed the introductions of the five leaders, but at least three of them seemed to be from Amazon. The second event was Tell Me a Story: Getting a Debut Collection Published (this was mainly about short story collections). My other choices included Obsession in the Archives: The Art of Research in Fiction and Poetry; and From the First “The End” to Hitting Send: On Revising the Novel. Joy and I attended the final event together. It was Advice to Nonprofit Organizations Seeking Funding from the NEA. National Endowment for the Arts matching grants are something the Hawaii Writers Guild can apply for once we’ve had our 501(c)(3) status for three years.
On a personal note:
I skipped my last event at the AWP conference on Saturday morning (Wait! Wait! Don’t Sign That: A Writer’s Guide to Book Contract Basics) because of an opportunity that I could not pass up. As an author writing a historical novel about my family’s westward migration, my heart’s desire was to see my father’s birthplace – Dallas, Oregon. With the assistance of personal guides, I got to fulfill that desire.
After a long six-month trek from Missouri, Dad’s family, the Kimseys, finally reached the end of the trail – Oregon City. Fifty miles further on they came upon what they believed was the promised land – 640 acres of the most beautiful farmland anyone could have ever imagined. Sixty-four years later, my father was born in Dallas, Oregon, just a few miles west of Salem.
I had a 1910 census which showed where Dad’s father, mother, and four siblings lived – the address and the street name, but, after 108 years, that house was no longer there. However, the Dallas’ library (basically a store front along Main Street) was LOADED with pioneer information. I found our family name in many volumes and copied a few pages, but I wondered whether I could have found everything there was to see even if I’d stayed to research for a month.
At the heritage museum in Salem, I saw a wonderful film about the Methodist history of the area—which answered my question: If the Kimseys were such staunch Baptists, how was it my Dad turned out to be a Methodist?
Before heading back to Portland, my guides took me to a restaurant for a taste of a special dessert they knew about. On the way back to Portland, we took a ferry across the Multnomah River – that was the icing on the cake, and that day was the whipped cream on the top of my trip to Oregon.
Cece next to her book The Canoe Makers Son, which was on display at the AWP Bookfair.
(NOTE from Joy: Cece also visited some retirement homes near her brother and sister-in-law in Pinole, California, on this trip and she has since moved back to the mainland. She was a founding member of the Hawaii Writers Guild and a member of its board of directors until shortly before her move. We wish her well and look forward to reading her new historical novel about her family’s westward migration.)
Best Turnout Ever
at March 2019 North Kohala Reading
Forty people assembled at the North Kohala Library on March 25 to hear the original work of 12 members of the Hawaii Writers Guild from three islands. So many people showed up for the reading that its location had to be moved to a larger space in the interior of the library from the usual meeting room.
Emcee Eila Algood scheduled six regular readers, whose readings were interspered by "pop-up" poets in the audience who were allocated one or two minutes apiece. Because Guild membership has grown to include writers from Maui, Kaui and Oahu, Eila reached out to members on other islands to include them in the North Kohala reading, and one member from Maui and another from Kauai responded to the call. Although the off-islan member could not be present in person, they sent their work and Eila found local readers to read for them.
"It was a lot of work," Eila acknowledged. But juding by the reception, it was worth it.
Emcee Eila Algood scheduled six regular readers, whose readings were interspered by "pop-up" poets in the audience who were allocated one or two minutes apiece. Because Guild membership has grown to include writers from Maui, Kaui and Oahu, Eila reached out to members on other islands to include them in the North Kohala reading, and one member from Maui and another from Kauai responded to the call. Although the off-islan member could not be present in person, they sent their work and Eila found local readers to read for them.
"It was a lot of work," Eila acknowledged. But juding by the reception, it was worth it.
Eila Algood, hardworking emcee
Eila started the evening by introducing the Guild;s new president, Diann Wilson, a North Kohala resident, who gave an overview of the Guild and its activities. Wilson was also a reader at the event.
After Wilson's remarks, cowboy poet Pete Cameron "popped-up" from the audience and recited a heartfelt poem about the open spaces of Kohala and the changes that are occuring in the area. In addition to Pete, pop-up poets included Laura Burkhart; Virginia Fortner, who sang a song accompanied by guitar music about a "Buddist Cowboy;" Helena Kim, with poetry set in the islands; Margaret King Zacharias from Kauai, whose poem was read by Holly Algood; and Jim Gibbons, who offered a tongue-in-cheek complaint about aging.
After Wilson's remarks, cowboy poet Pete Cameron "popped-up" from the audience and recited a heartfelt poem about the open spaces of Kohala and the changes that are occuring in the area. In addition to Pete, pop-up poets included Laura Burkhart; Virginia Fortner, who sang a song accompanied by guitar music about a "Buddist Cowboy;" Helena Kim, with poetry set in the islands; Margaret King Zacharias from Kauai, whose poem was read by Holly Algood; and Jim Gibbons, who offered a tongue-in-cheek complaint about aging.
"Pop-Up" Poets
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Pete Cameron Laura Burkhart Virgina Fortner Helena Kim Holly Algood Jim Gibbons
Louise Riofrio, dressed for the occasion, presented passages from her most recent nonfiction book, Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific, about migration in the Pacific spanning a period of 6000 years.
Working with a scientific team at NASA that found signs of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars in the 1990s inspired Louise to muse about how human migration might have spread across the islands of the Pacific here on Earth. Just as the planets are separated by the vastness of space, the islands of the Pacific are separated by the vastness of the ocean.
Could it be that early Hawaiian settlers came from Taiwan via Alaska before the voyagers from Tahiti arrived in our islands? You can read about the evidence in Louise's new book.
Carla "Aleili" Orellana is well known by the North Kohala crowd in her capacity as a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and Belly Dance Movement Artist. But she is also a writer and an entertaining reader.
If you've heard Carla read before, you know she's been working on a book called Tales of a Snake Dancer about her adventures with her belly-dancing partner, Suleman Aziz, a boa constrictor.
At this reading, Carla read a chapter from Tales of a Snake Dancer called "Nubian Hand Popping."
Mahealani Perez Wendt, a native Hawaiian rights activist and renowned poet, as well as a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild from Maui, couldn't be at the reading in person, but she was with us in spirit, represented by two of her fine poems. "Voyage" appears in the preface to the legal textbook, Native Hawaiian Law: A Treatise, and "Keauhou" appeared in the February 2019 issue of Flux: The Current of Hawai'i magazine.
Mahealani's poems were read by Irma Decenzo and Ku'u Lei Perez.
For those of you who would like to see and hear Mahealani herself, check online for the March 13, 2019 PBS show Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox, where Mahealani was a guest.
Mahealani's poems were read by Irma Decenzo and Ku'u Lei Perez.
For those of you who would like to see and hear Mahealani herself, check online for the March 13, 2019 PBS show Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox, where Mahealani was a guest.
Diann Wilson, the current president of the Hawaii Writers Guild, travelled with her husband to Hawaii when she was 63 to celebrate her retirement from the "corporate rat race." That trip turned out to be a turning point: when her husband broke his rib, they ended up buying property in Kohala and became nut farmers.
Diann has found great joy in her transition from corporate leader to nut farmer and writes short stories about it under the working title Goodbye Big City, Hello Big Island. One of these days, she hopes to stop writing and start publishing.
For the North Kohala reading in March, Diann chose one of her short stories entitled "Secrets."
For most of her adult life, Linda Petrucelli has lived on islands -- Taiwan, Manhattan and, for the past 19 years, here in Hawaii.
A feminist theologian and ordained minister, Linda holds degrees from Yale Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary and has served congregations in Hilo and Honomu.
Since retiring to Hawi, Linda has begun writing short stories under 1,000 words. At the North Kohala reading in March, she read two of her flash fiction stories, "Big Island Guidebook," which appeared in the March 2019 issue of Kyso Flash, an online literary magazine, and "Figure Eight on the Waves," which won first place in the WOW! Women on Writing Fall 2018 Flash Fiction Contest.
Donna Maltz' tagline is: "Why retire when I can inspire?"
Donna has been an "Eco-Bohemian Entrepreneur" since 1982 and has founded several small businesses. Her most recent business is an online company called Soil to Soul Solutions, which provides a platform for social and environmental entrpreneurs.
She is the author of Yummy Wilderness Wonders and has written a memoir that will be released in the near future.
At the March reading, Donna read from her memoir, Living Like the Future Matters.
(Pictures and story derived from material provided by Jada Tan Rufo, Diann Wilson and Eila Algood. Thank you for the community effort.)
First Writers' Voices of 2019 Draws A Crowd
Writers' Voices' started 2019 with a surge in attendance on February 6 as audience members, many first time attendees, filled the chairs arranged for them and an additional row hastily set up to accommodate the overflow.
Although all four writers presented prose scenes, the presentations were rich in variety because of the diversity of the subject matter, which ranged from young adult fiction to a high tech thriller to historical nonfiction, with biting political satire thrown in for good measure.
Although all four writers presented prose scenes, the presentations were rich in variety because of the diversity of the subject matter, which ranged from young adult fiction to a high tech thriller to historical nonfiction, with biting political satire thrown in for good measure.
Many of the newcomers in the audience were friends of our first reader, Amara Cudney, who had spread the word about the bi-monthly authors reading and had brought cookies as treats for the audience. The cookies were sweet, but it soon became clear that Amara's reading was serious.
Amara struck a stark tone as she read a scene describing a traffic accident caused by her drunken protagonist, a teenage girl, from her book-in-progress, Words She Couldn’t Say, a young adult novel about how events that we think have ruined us are often the very ones that cause the deepest healing.
But healing was far in the future as the scene revealed the young protagonist regaining consciousness in pain after she has wrecked her car and left the life of an innocent motorist hanging in the balance. The layering of one painful detail on top of another created a relentless tone that demanded the listeners' attention.
In answer to a question from an audience member, Amara acknowledged it had been a wrenching scene to write, but what kept her at it were her grandchildren, Amara said. "One in particular who just doesn't get it." Amara was determined to reach this young adult while she still can, while the events in the book are still fiction.
Amara struck a stark tone as she read a scene describing a traffic accident caused by her drunken protagonist, a teenage girl, from her book-in-progress, Words She Couldn’t Say, a young adult novel about how events that we think have ruined us are often the very ones that cause the deepest healing.
But healing was far in the future as the scene revealed the young protagonist regaining consciousness in pain after she has wrecked her car and left the life of an innocent motorist hanging in the balance. The layering of one painful detail on top of another created a relentless tone that demanded the listeners' attention.
In answer to a question from an audience member, Amara acknowledged it had been a wrenching scene to write, but what kept her at it were her grandchildren, Amara said. "One in particular who just doesn't get it." Amara was determined to reach this young adult while she still can, while the events in the book are still fiction.
If Amara's stark depiction of a painful reality made listeners want to turn their attention to an exciting escape, the next reading by Bruce Stern provided the perfect opportunity to do so.
Bruce read a selection from his recently published book, The Fuel Saver Conspiracy, A Peter Jones Mystery. In this high-tech adventure, a new invention opens the door to danger and intrigue in exotic settings and foreign lands.
Rather than introducing us to his protagonist, Bruce chose to up the tension by introducing us instead to the arch villain of the novel:
"Philip Ogletree stood by a window of his office looking over the city center. Business was good, perhaps too good, as it made the money he was siphoning off an increasingly large target. Being in the Caymans meant little oversight from the bank regulators, or business authorities for that matter."
Nevertheless, Philip was worried that the ISO auditor Peter Jones might be on to his scheme.
"Philip would be a lot happier if Peter Jones was simply no longer in the picture."
Bruce read a selection from his recently published book, The Fuel Saver Conspiracy, A Peter Jones Mystery. In this high-tech adventure, a new invention opens the door to danger and intrigue in exotic settings and foreign lands.
Rather than introducing us to his protagonist, Bruce chose to up the tension by introducing us instead to the arch villain of the novel:
"Philip Ogletree stood by a window of his office looking over the city center. Business was good, perhaps too good, as it made the money he was siphoning off an increasingly large target. Being in the Caymans meant little oversight from the bank regulators, or business authorities for that matter."
Nevertheless, Philip was worried that the ISO auditor Peter Jones might be on to his scheme.
"Philip would be a lot happier if Peter Jones was simply no longer in the picture."
Louise Riofrio, giving her first reading as a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, presented passages from the Prologue of her most recent nonfiction book, Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific, about migration in the Pacific spanning a period of 6,000 years.
Working with a scientific team at NASA that found signs of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars in the 1990s inspired Louise to muse about how human migration might have spread across the islands of the Pacific here on Earth. Just as the planets are separated by the vastness of space, the islands of the Pacific are separated by the vastness of the ocean. She began researching all available sources, including oral history and genetic evidence, and her research led to her current book.
In her Prologue, Refrio writes: "Oral history tells of an ancient sea odyssey to Alaska, and a later voyage to Hawaii. Genetic evidence supports this story, and points to a beginning near Taiwan." Could it be that early Hawaiian settlers came from Taiwan via Alaska before the voyagers from Tahiti arrived in our islands? You can read about the evidence in Louise's new book.
Working with a scientific team at NASA that found signs of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars in the 1990s inspired Louise to muse about how human migration might have spread across the islands of the Pacific here on Earth. Just as the planets are separated by the vastness of space, the islands of the Pacific are separated by the vastness of the ocean. She began researching all available sources, including oral history and genetic evidence, and her research led to her current book.
In her Prologue, Refrio writes: "Oral history tells of an ancient sea odyssey to Alaska, and a later voyage to Hawaii. Genetic evidence supports this story, and points to a beginning near Taiwan." Could it be that early Hawaiian settlers came from Taiwan via Alaska before the voyagers from Tahiti arrived in our islands? You can read about the evidence in Louise's new book.
Bob Lupo closed the evening of readings with an excerpt from his second novel, Extremities-4, published in 2003, which he describes as “an adult morality tale about the perils of being human and animal.”
A satire on human nature, Extremities-4 tells the story of four afflicted individuals vilified and chased by society because of a Simian-like disease of the limbs which transforms either a hand or a foot into a claw-like appendage reminiscent of an earlier stage of evolution.
In the scene Bob read, the four are confined in a hospital for testing and diagnosis. They protest their involuntary confinement, but to no avail. Bob assured the audience, however, that the book has a happy ending, albeit an unconventional one.
"I wrote this book during a time when I was unhappy with the direction our government was taking," Bob explained. One can only wonder what devious plots Bob's inventive mind is hatching during the current political era.
The audience responded to the invitation to question the authors about their work, and lively discussions followed each reading.
A satire on human nature, Extremities-4 tells the story of four afflicted individuals vilified and chased by society because of a Simian-like disease of the limbs which transforms either a hand or a foot into a claw-like appendage reminiscent of an earlier stage of evolution.
In the scene Bob read, the four are confined in a hospital for testing and diagnosis. They protest their involuntary confinement, but to no avail. Bob assured the audience, however, that the book has a happy ending, albeit an unconventional one.
"I wrote this book during a time when I was unhappy with the direction our government was taking," Bob explained. One can only wonder what devious plots Bob's inventive mind is hatching during the current political era.
The audience responded to the invitation to question the authors about their work, and lively discussions followed each reading.
Pictures by Jada Tan Rufo.
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director.
Joy can be reached at [email protected]
Guild Member Heather Rivera
at Kona Stories' Words 'n' Wine
Hawaii Writers' Guild Member Heather Rivera smiles at her book table after giving a well-received reading from her newest book, Twice Again, at Kona Stories' Words 'n' Wine event on February 5, 2019. Dr. Rivera was also one of five Guild members who published books during 2018 who gave presentations at the Hawaii Writers' Guild Annual Dinner on January 19.
Hawaii Writers Guild Books for Sale at the
Cherry Blossom Festival
Story and Pictures by Jada Tan Rufo
Our Hawaii Writers Guild welcomed in the Year of the Boar at the 26th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival on February 2, 2019 with a BANG! Literally. Guild Authors welcomed visitors to our table amidst the clanging of the cymbals signaling the traditional Lion Dance performance.
From left, Mrs. Steven Foster, Steven Foster, Jim Gibbons and Louise Riofrio welcome customers to the Guild book booth on Feb.2nd.
Although HWG is a relative newcomer to the Cherry Blossom, the festival has been a part of Waimea for the past twenty-six years. Mahalo to Guild Events Director Cece Johansen for getting us a space. And mahalo nui loa to Jim Gibbons who got up at 5 a.m. so he could be at the site by 6:30 a.m. to set up. Thanks also goes out to Dave Fouts, Louise Riofrio, Bruce Stern, Bryan Furer, Jada Tan Rufo and Steven Foster and his wife for working our table.
Our heartfelt thanks also goes out to the 2019 Festival Planning Committee and the Hawaii County Parks and Recreation. We would not have gotten this vital public exposure without their assistance. Gang xie xie ni men!
Our heartfelt thanks also goes out to the 2019 Festival Planning Committee and the Hawaii County Parks and Recreation. We would not have gotten this vital public exposure without their assistance. Gang xie xie ni men!
Gong Xi Fa Cai. Kung Hee Fat Choy.
Happy Lunar New Year!
January is a beautiful month in Waimea and it lived up to its reputation as members of the Hawaii Writers Guild came together at Anna Ranch for our Second Annual Dinner and Election of Officers. Thirty seven members and guests gathered together in fellowship to break bread, talk writing, hear about the accomplishments of the Guild during the previous year, honor members who had published books in 2018, and elect our officers for 2019.
Bruce Stern, our vice president, reported on our accomplishments during 2018, and they were impressive. The Guild had continued its tradition of authors readings, free and open to the public, in North Kohala, Volcano and in Waimea, and, in addition, had sponsored its first writing and publishing workshops, also free and open to the public. We had tables at three events during the year where members could sell their books, and we had staffed a table at the Kauai Writers Conference and expanded our membership and reputation. We now have members on Maui, Oahu and Kauai, as well as the Island of Hawaii. Perhaps most exciting of all, we had begun the process to become a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
We'd learned a lot from our first annual dinner and those lessons helped us improve this year's dinner. For starters, the dinner was catered by Lilikoi Cafe and Foodland, so we had a buffet with appetizers, main courses and desserts to please a variety of tastes:
Bruce Stern, our vice president, reported on our accomplishments during 2018, and they were impressive. The Guild had continued its tradition of authors readings, free and open to the public, in North Kohala, Volcano and in Waimea, and, in addition, had sponsored its first writing and publishing workshops, also free and open to the public. We had tables at three events during the year where members could sell their books, and we had staffed a table at the Kauai Writers Conference and expanded our membership and reputation. We now have members on Maui, Oahu and Kauai, as well as the Island of Hawaii. Perhaps most exciting of all, we had begun the process to become a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
We'd learned a lot from our first annual dinner and those lessons helped us improve this year's dinner. For starters, the dinner was catered by Lilikoi Cafe and Foodland, so we had a buffet with appetizers, main courses and desserts to please a variety of tastes:
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We changed the configuration of the tables to make it easier for people to mingle with one another, and mingle they did.
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We added an hour to the event so we could have presentations by five of our members who had published books during 2018. There were others who had published, but they couldn't all attend. Those who were at the dinner were eager to share their publishing experiences and their work with other members.
From left, above, Joy Fisher, who interviewed the members who had published in 2018; and Louise Riofrio, Dr. Heather Rivera, Sam Cudney, Bruce Stern and Dave Fouts, who shared their publishing experiences and their new work with the rest of us. Sharing their success was fun and inspiring. It'll be interesting to see who publishes during 2019.
We were on a tight schedule, but we kept to it, and by the end of the evening, we had elected a new slate of officers to lead the Guild during 2019. Here are your officers for 2019:
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Diann Wilson, President Bruce Stern, Vice President Diane Revell, Secretary Bob Lupo, Treasuer
A special thank you to Cecilia Johansen, our events director, who headed up the organizing committee for the dinner. And a sincere word of thanks to all the members who came early to help set up and stayed late to help clean up. Your willingness to lend a hand was heartwarming.
Finally, saving the best for last, here's a video of pictures from the dinner made by our photographer, Jada Tan Rufo.
Finally, saving the best for last, here's a video of pictures from the dinner made by our photographer, Jada Tan Rufo.
Dinner Pictures and video by Jada Tan Rufo
Narrative by Joy Fisher
Last Reading of the Year for Writers' Voices
Cecilia Johansen, Events Director for the Hawaii Writers Guild, returned as host of Writers' Voices for its year end finale on December 5 at Thelma Parker Memorial Library.
The number of presenters swelled to five for the event as the result of a last minute request by a member to join the panel of authors reading their original works. Who could say no to such a request so close to Christmas?
Presenting their work were Virginia Fortner from North Kohala, Nancy Baenziger from Mauna Lani, and Jim Gibbons, Jada Tan Rufo and Greer Woodward from Waimea.
While holiday themes were not neglected, the subject matter varied as much as the genres, which included fiction, poetry, memoir and just the right touch of light-hearted fantasy.
The number of presenters swelled to five for the event as the result of a last minute request by a member to join the panel of authors reading their original works. Who could say no to such a request so close to Christmas?
Presenting their work were Virginia Fortner from North Kohala, Nancy Baenziger from Mauna Lani, and Jim Gibbons, Jada Tan Rufo and Greer Woodward from Waimea.
While holiday themes were not neglected, the subject matter varied as much as the genres, which included fiction, poetry, memoir and just the right touch of light-hearted fantasy.
Virginia Fortner read from her gritty novel about sin and redemption, At the Edge. Set in Wild Horse Plains, Montana, the book is about a Midwestern preacher who has run away from his Kansas congregation and his pedophile past and returned to the Bitteroot Mountains of his childhood.
In the scene Virginia read, Pastor Ed finds himself wandering in the rugged beauty of the mountains, looking for a place to hide from his past, from humanity and possibly from himself. No longer in possession of the agility of his youth, the debauched pastor slips on the rocks and takes a hard fall. Has he come all this way to die in the wilderness, or can he find redemption amid the beauty of this wilderness? He is truly "at the edge," death on one side, possible redemption on the other, which will it be?
In the scene Virginia read, Pastor Ed finds himself wandering in the rugged beauty of the mountains, looking for a place to hide from his past, from humanity and possibly from himself. No longer in possession of the agility of his youth, the debauched pastor slips on the rocks and takes a hard fall. Has he come all this way to die in the wilderness, or can he find redemption amid the beauty of this wilderness? He is truly "at the edge," death on one side, possible redemption on the other, which will it be?
Nancy Baenziger, a first-time reader at a Guild event, splits her time between Hawaii Island and Oregon and her interests between neurobiology and the creative arts.
She read three first-person seasonal poems from a forthcoming book which has a title in three languages, English, Hawaiian and Saami, the last, one of her own indigenous lineages. The English title, appropriate for this presentation, is Voices.
The speaker in the first poem, titled "Joseph," is easy enough to identify, but Nancy wondered how many people managed to identify the speakers in the second and third poems, titled, respectively, "Burden" and "Valediction on an Unfinished Fugue." (My guess is that the speaker in "Burden" is a camel sleeping in the manger, but I can't even hazard a guess about the identity of the speaker in the third poem.) Do tell us, Nancy. (She did tell me when I sent this out for corrections. I was wrong about #2, but not too far wrong. I would never have guessed #3 in a million years.)
She read three first-person seasonal poems from a forthcoming book which has a title in three languages, English, Hawaiian and Saami, the last, one of her own indigenous lineages. The English title, appropriate for this presentation, is Voices.
The speaker in the first poem, titled "Joseph," is easy enough to identify, but Nancy wondered how many people managed to identify the speakers in the second and third poems, titled, respectively, "Burden" and "Valediction on an Unfinished Fugue." (My guess is that the speaker in "Burden" is a camel sleeping in the manger, but I can't even hazard a guess about the identity of the speaker in the third poem.) Do tell us, Nancy. (She did tell me when I sent this out for corrections. I was wrong about #2, but not too far wrong. I would never have guessed #3 in a million years.)
Jim Gibbons read a piece from his memoir, Flashbacks. "Alotta Lipski" describes his encounters with another teacher when he was a new sixth grade teacher at Little Lake Valley Middle School in California.
Although it was Alotta's first year teaching sixth grade, she had taught at that school for several years already and was wise to the peculiarities of the teaching culture there and she knew the students. One day, after examining his student list and listening to his complaints, Alotta said: "The new teacher always gets dumped on...But they really STUCK IT to you."
"Some of these kids should be put back in Special Ed, some should be split up, and a few should be sent to Reform School," Alotta said.
Jim managed to finish the school year despite his difficult class composition and a close sexual encounter with Alotta, who moved to Wisconsin the following year. He never saw her again. (P.S. Alotta Lipski, Jim says, is a pseudonym.)
Although it was Alotta's first year teaching sixth grade, she had taught at that school for several years already and was wise to the peculiarities of the teaching culture there and she knew the students. One day, after examining his student list and listening to his complaints, Alotta said: "The new teacher always gets dumped on...But they really STUCK IT to you."
"Some of these kids should be put back in Special Ed, some should be split up, and a few should be sent to Reform School," Alotta said.
Jim managed to finish the school year despite his difficult class composition and a close sexual encounter with Alotta, who moved to Wisconsin the following year. He never saw her again. (P.S. Alotta Lipski, Jim says, is a pseudonym.)
Jada Tan Rufo read from her 2017 book, The Zone, a historical novel based on actual facts that took place in 1937 Nanking, now Nanjing, during the period known as the "Rape of Nanking."
In the passage she read, Japanese soldiers have come to a girls' school in China where village women have taken refuge; the soldiers are seeking 100 women to serve in a licensed brothel.
The school mistress is aghast, but a translator explains that the Japanese major in charge believes that if he can find 100 women to work in a brothel, his soldiers will stop molesting "innocent and decent" women.
The soldiers round up all the women they can find hiding at the school and they are brought to a central location where the school mistress addresses them, apologetically asking if there are any prostitutes in the crowd who would be willing to go with the soldiers. To her surprise, one-by-one 21 women step forward. They are rounded up and taken away.
After the soldiers leave, a fearful woman asks: "Will they come back?"
"They won't," the school mistress replies with a clenched fist and defiant voice. "They will not do so if it is in my power to prevent it."
In the passage she read, Japanese soldiers have come to a girls' school in China where village women have taken refuge; the soldiers are seeking 100 women to serve in a licensed brothel.
The school mistress is aghast, but a translator explains that the Japanese major in charge believes that if he can find 100 women to work in a brothel, his soldiers will stop molesting "innocent and decent" women.
The soldiers round up all the women they can find hiding at the school and they are brought to a central location where the school mistress addresses them, apologetically asking if there are any prostitutes in the crowd who would be willing to go with the soldiers. To her surprise, one-by-one 21 women step forward. They are rounded up and taken away.
After the soldiers leave, a fearful woman asks: "Will they come back?"
"They won't," the school mistress replies with a clenched fist and defiant voice. "They will not do so if it is in my power to prevent it."
Greer Woodward restored the festive atmosphere with her short story, "A Cat of Many Kitchens," which played with secrets, history, recipes, a touch of time travel, cats and magic.
When Evelyn Craig relocates to a condo in Florida after losing her job due to age discrimination, her hope of rebuilding her life by writing a cookbook is momentarily dashed when she discovers her treasured family recipes have been lost in transit.
But the universe "twitched its ear" and sent her a cat with a coat the color of "the clear, delicate yellow of fresh butter." The mysterious cat seemed to appear and disappear at will, conjuring up French delicacies to tempt Evelyn out of her despair--perfect madeleines that, in the next moment were ruined. What did it mean? It was a challenge, Evelyn decided. She would have to start from scratch and teach herself the hard way, without relying on family recipes. She got to work, and the mysterious cat simply melted away.
Our next Writers' Voices program will be on Wednesday, February 6, same time, same place. Come listen!
Pictures provided by Jada Tan Rufo. Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director.
Joy can be reached at jfisher979@ yahoo.ca.
When Evelyn Craig relocates to a condo in Florida after losing her job due to age discrimination, her hope of rebuilding her life by writing a cookbook is momentarily dashed when she discovers her treasured family recipes have been lost in transit.
But the universe "twitched its ear" and sent her a cat with a coat the color of "the clear, delicate yellow of fresh butter." The mysterious cat seemed to appear and disappear at will, conjuring up French delicacies to tempt Evelyn out of her despair--perfect madeleines that, in the next moment were ruined. What did it mean? It was a challenge, Evelyn decided. She would have to start from scratch and teach herself the hard way, without relying on family recipes. She got to work, and the mysterious cat simply melted away.
Our next Writers' Voices program will be on Wednesday, February 6, same time, same place. Come listen!
Pictures provided by Jada Tan Rufo. Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director.
Joy can be reached at jfisher979@ yahoo.ca.
Volcano Writers Autumn Reading
Story and Pictures by Jada Tan Rufo
On November 10th, 2018, our Volcano writers held their Autumn Reading at Ira Ono's Volcano Garden Arts. The theme for the evening was a combination of scary and apocalyptic stories mixed with an “attitude of gratitude.”
As you can see by the eager hands reaching out in the picture at the right, the audience had an "attitude of gratitude" for the autumn feast laid out for them during the intermission by the Volcano writers. Volcano writers always treat their audience with a good pot-luck and wine.
The Volcano Writers Group, organized by Bryan Furer, is growing in number, and that showed at the reading. No less than six writers--including one "guest reader" -- and a "performer" presented their selections of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and performance art for the enthusiastic audience.
As you can see by the eager hands reaching out in the picture at the right, the audience had an "attitude of gratitude" for the autumn feast laid out for them during the intermission by the Volcano writers. Volcano writers always treat their audience with a good pot-luck and wine.
The Volcano Writers Group, organized by Bryan Furer, is growing in number, and that showed at the reading. No less than six writers--including one "guest reader" -- and a "performer" presented their selections of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and performance art for the enthusiastic audience.
Bryan Furer kicked things off with a passage from his novel Passenger, which will soon be made into a movie. His passenger, a guy named Rufus, discovers that he can walk through anything, including other people:
"Back in First Class Rufus brightened with an idea that he had been mulling over in the back of his mind for some time now. It was time to do something about it. He turned to Alec.
“'Hey! I was thinking. If you can pass through me, I can pass through you,' Rufus theorized. 'I’ve got to try something. Excuse me.'
"He then vaporized and disappeared. A light breeze blew past Alec, who now sat completely alone and contemplated what had just transpired."
Oooh! Can’t wait to see the movie! Keep us posted Bryan!
Vitus Themad -- who counts it a great victory if his poems make women weep -- read two romantic poems titled “I Fall Upon You” and “The Proposal”. He also read “Text Alert” and “Arbor Vitae”. But the poem I think everyone can relate to is “The Writer’s Prayer” in which he prays:
"Dear Lord,
"When thou observest my search history sendeth me not to the recycle bin. Deleteth me not from thy hard drive but put me on my desktop forever.
"Oh God of gods spare me my mortal memory the internal server in the Cloud. That when I gaze upon the blue screen of death some semblance of my work might be recorded."
We writers can ALL relate to that.
"Dear Lord,
"When thou observest my search history sendeth me not to the recycle bin. Deleteth me not from thy hard drive but put me on my desktop forever.
"Oh God of gods spare me my mortal memory the internal server in the Cloud. That when I gaze upon the blue screen of death some semblance of my work might be recorded."
We writers can ALL relate to that.
Lehua Wells shared two short stories about her adventures with her dog Ola. She also shared a story of gratitude, “Surviving Cancer,” in which she recalled a birthday celebration she had more than twenty years ago:
"I’d only recently returned to work after suffering months of horror-movie treatments for a very virulent form of breast cancer. These treatments were designed to ... let me live! I’d been slashed, burned, and poisoned, as we called it in our support group. The surgery was the easiest, but then came chemo and radiation. I put a bowl of sliced limes at bedside each night in hopes the fragrance could help me through the agonizing nights of nausea. I obediently lay still under the raptor-like machine that burned me with radiation, swelling and purpling my armpit and splitting the skin like a rotting avocado. I slept for days at a time, unable to walk, from the draining effects of all of it. But I’d done it all, and was sure in my heart that I’d be rewarded with the privilege of reaching old age. So I was in a good mood as the 'buts' came my way. I was still bald, and was greatly enjoying my big hair - Reba McEntire wig, and felt like a million dollars.
A year later Wells drove to the hospital for her one-year bill of health check- up. After going through all the imaging there was a delay and the images had to be re-taken.
"The doctor explained that the cancer was back. I was shattered, and moaned over having to go through chemo again. And now I got to the REAL worst part. He was quiet for a few moments and said, 'You don’t understand. Your tumor is resistant to chemo. Chemo is not an option.'
"The only option was a radical mastectomy. So that’s what we did. I would later learn that my chances of living 5 years had gone from 6 in 10 down to 3 in10. I tried to stay cheerful. I was invited to give a talk on 'The Grim Reaper’s Classroom' at various venues, to share what I was learning. I wrote a piece on “Top Ten Reasons to Jettison Your Hooters.' But I was so scared. I knew, like I’d never known before, how much I wanted a chance to live my life.
"Thanksgiving is nearly here. Each year, when we’re gathered at the table, I ask us to clasp hands and I lead our prayer. In my personal religion I do prayers of gratitude, and of repentance and of re-dedication to being a kinder person, but I never do prayers of asking. I figure, if there’s really a God, then I’d be a total asshole to be telling her/him what to do. So I just speak from the heart, and it goes sort of like this:
"'I am so grateful that we are together. I’m so grateful we can share a meal, and hug each other, and see the beauty in each other’s eyes. I’m grateful that we have food to eat, and that we can share it in this loving home.'
"Twenty years later I’m still here. I’m surrounded by people with heart and talent, people who inspire me and give me strength. Every additional day is a gift. May you all enjoy the same."
Thank you, Lehua, for sharing your personal story.
"I’d only recently returned to work after suffering months of horror-movie treatments for a very virulent form of breast cancer. These treatments were designed to ... let me live! I’d been slashed, burned, and poisoned, as we called it in our support group. The surgery was the easiest, but then came chemo and radiation. I put a bowl of sliced limes at bedside each night in hopes the fragrance could help me through the agonizing nights of nausea. I obediently lay still under the raptor-like machine that burned me with radiation, swelling and purpling my armpit and splitting the skin like a rotting avocado. I slept for days at a time, unable to walk, from the draining effects of all of it. But I’d done it all, and was sure in my heart that I’d be rewarded with the privilege of reaching old age. So I was in a good mood as the 'buts' came my way. I was still bald, and was greatly enjoying my big hair - Reba McEntire wig, and felt like a million dollars.
A year later Wells drove to the hospital for her one-year bill of health check- up. After going through all the imaging there was a delay and the images had to be re-taken.
"The doctor explained that the cancer was back. I was shattered, and moaned over having to go through chemo again. And now I got to the REAL worst part. He was quiet for a few moments and said, 'You don’t understand. Your tumor is resistant to chemo. Chemo is not an option.'
"The only option was a radical mastectomy. So that’s what we did. I would later learn that my chances of living 5 years had gone from 6 in 10 down to 3 in10. I tried to stay cheerful. I was invited to give a talk on 'The Grim Reaper’s Classroom' at various venues, to share what I was learning. I wrote a piece on “Top Ten Reasons to Jettison Your Hooters.' But I was so scared. I knew, like I’d never known before, how much I wanted a chance to live my life.
"Thanksgiving is nearly here. Each year, when we’re gathered at the table, I ask us to clasp hands and I lead our prayer. In my personal religion I do prayers of gratitude, and of repentance and of re-dedication to being a kinder person, but I never do prayers of asking. I figure, if there’s really a God, then I’d be a total asshole to be telling her/him what to do. So I just speak from the heart, and it goes sort of like this:
"'I am so grateful that we are together. I’m so grateful we can share a meal, and hug each other, and see the beauty in each other’s eyes. I’m grateful that we have food to eat, and that we can share it in this loving home.'
"Twenty years later I’m still here. I’m surrounded by people with heart and talent, people who inspire me and give me strength. Every additional day is a gift. May you all enjoy the same."
Thank you, Lehua, for sharing your personal story.
Kathy Gaiser-Licht was the only performer at our reading. She shared a dream she had about encountering a six- foot centipede in her piece titled “Shamanic Dream.” Kathy even brought a mask as a prop to explain the dream to us.
“I’m going to face this six-foot centipede who’s standing in this corner,” she explains. In one corner of our tent is the centipede mask that has been tied to a plant.
Kathy has some burning incense.
“When I see her, I get a can of fumes and I stick it under her face. It doesn’t kill her. But it knocks her out. She falls to the chair.”
The mask falls.
“Then my mother comes into the dream and says, ‘Honey, you can’t let her suffer. She’s suffering. She’s dying. She could be dying a long time.’
“So my mother hands me -- I call these swizzle sticks. I am instructed to kill the centipede. She’s offering herself as a sacrifice to me. I stab her. Then I’m instructed to remove one of these horns.”
Kathy cuts off the horn from the mask and puts it to her ear.
“When I go to Kauai, I put it to my ear and I hear the ocean. The resolution to this whole story is that the horn from the centipede called me to Hawaii. I was told to come here through this shamanic dream.”
“I’m going to face this six-foot centipede who’s standing in this corner,” she explains. In one corner of our tent is the centipede mask that has been tied to a plant.
Kathy has some burning incense.
“When I see her, I get a can of fumes and I stick it under her face. It doesn’t kill her. But it knocks her out. She falls to the chair.”
The mask falls.
“Then my mother comes into the dream and says, ‘Honey, you can’t let her suffer. She’s suffering. She’s dying. She could be dying a long time.’
“So my mother hands me -- I call these swizzle sticks. I am instructed to kill the centipede. She’s offering herself as a sacrifice to me. I stab her. Then I’m instructed to remove one of these horns.”
Kathy cuts off the horn from the mask and puts it to her ear.
“When I go to Kauai, I put it to my ear and I hear the ocean. The resolution to this whole story is that the horn from the centipede called me to Hawaii. I was told to come here through this shamanic dream.”
RJ (a.k.a. R Janice Parker) read a short story about her recent experience with seizure disorder:
"I’ve gone from a type triple A person to a type B. Sleep mostly. Just staying home. Getting a few things done. Throwing stuff out which is good and necessary. A bit of cleaning, organizing, laundry, dishes, odds and ends. Sleeping, reading, resting. Better to stay home as after ten doctors and hospitals I won’t have a whole lot of extra. I can focus on eating and entertaining myself at home. A little YouTube goes a long way. Not enough attention for movies and I couldn’t watch much screen time for five or six days anyway. Uncomfortable on the brain. So just doing easy stuff as I can.
"Have I told you before? Don’t remember. Sorry if I’m repeating myself. It’s just over a week since I was in ER with either a TIA or a seizure. I think a seizure is more likely. Did a lot of research on YouTube and Google. Looks like a seizure. Imitates prior ones I’ve had with temple lobe slowing issues. I don’t think I have epilepsy. Also, I don’t want anyone to try and get me to stop driving. I live out in the rainforest. There’s no public transportation. Epilepsy diagnosis I’ll fight. And no one’s pushing so far luckily. Another blessing. One less thing to think about."
"I’ve gone from a type triple A person to a type B. Sleep mostly. Just staying home. Getting a few things done. Throwing stuff out which is good and necessary. A bit of cleaning, organizing, laundry, dishes, odds and ends. Sleeping, reading, resting. Better to stay home as after ten doctors and hospitals I won’t have a whole lot of extra. I can focus on eating and entertaining myself at home. A little YouTube goes a long way. Not enough attention for movies and I couldn’t watch much screen time for five or six days anyway. Uncomfortable on the brain. So just doing easy stuff as I can.
"Have I told you before? Don’t remember. Sorry if I’m repeating myself. It’s just over a week since I was in ER with either a TIA or a seizure. I think a seizure is more likely. Did a lot of research on YouTube and Google. Looks like a seizure. Imitates prior ones I’ve had with temple lobe slowing issues. I don’t think I have epilepsy. Also, I don’t want anyone to try and get me to stop driving. I live out in the rainforest. There’s no public transportation. Epilepsy diagnosis I’ll fight. And no one’s pushing so far luckily. Another blessing. One less thing to think about."
Our guest reader was Lynne Farr who shared a passage from her memoir Shinglish.
She explained that the title comes from the way her Japanese boyfriend Shingo speaks English. Lynne shared a story in which Shingo also tells a friend to “learn Shinglish”.
In her story she shared their debate about which is the staple food in their home -- rice or potatoes. When they invited a Korean guest over for a meal Shingo asked if he liked the rice.
Janet Carpenter shared a short story titled “Gratitude with Attitude.” The underlying message was that we should choose to be grateful even when it seems inappropriate or inconvenient.
Final note from Jada:
In keeping with the theme of gratitude, we were all appreciative of Ira Ono and his staff for opening his place to us. I am also personally grateful for them allowing me to kick off my shoes and explore their Art Center and Garden and for their delicious food, especially that potato chowder. That has got to be the sexiest chowder I have ever tasted. Mahalo Ira!
From left,Cece Johansen, Virginia Fortner, Duncan Dempster and Louise Riofrio staff the Hawaii Writers Guild table at the Christmas Craft Fair held at the King Kamehaha Hotel in Kailua-Kona on November 23 and 24.
Hawaii Writers Guild Members Sell their Books
at the Jo Ann Williams Christmas Craft Fair
Pictures and story by Jada Tan Rufo
Our HWG is gaining more exposure. Several of our Guild members were at the Jo Ann Williams Christmas Craft Fair over the two day event on November 23 and 24 to sell and sign books while promoting the Guild. We passed out flyers and business cards and talked to a lot of people who otherwise would not have known that there is a writers guild in Hawaii.
Our first day, Cece Johansen, Louise Riofrio, Virginia Fortner, Duncan Dempster, and Jada Tan Rufo were all there meeting people and signing books. On day two it was Cece, Jada, Louise, and Jim Gibbons. We had a lot of people who were interested in native Alaskan and Polynesian cultures. Since Louise's book Discovery is about that, she did very well at the fair. Her books SOLD OUT!
I had encounters with a fellow ESL teacher who had also taught in China, as well as with a young man who has a podcast about Asian Americans and the issues we face. Perhaps you will hear me on a future podcast.
Jim also had an encounter with another fair vendor, a retired police officer who had written a book on his experiences, Behind the Badge. Jim told him about the existence of our writers guild and gave him our information. Jim also was able to barter with this man book-for-book. Virginia also was also able to barter with other vendors to get more exposure.
There were fun moments as well. They had door prizes and lucky number draws. Jim and I made out like bandits in that category. He got a prize for having a Santa-like beard, while I had to show pictures of bugs and a selfie with a hotel employee. I also pulled a muscle while trying to walk like a turkey. After all that effort I should get something!
Our next fair event is the Waimea Heritage Cherry Blossom Festival which is on February 2, 2019. If you are interested in reserving a spot at the HWG table, please contact Cece.
Our HWG is gaining more exposure. Several of our Guild members were at the Jo Ann Williams Christmas Craft Fair over the two day event on November 23 and 24 to sell and sign books while promoting the Guild. We passed out flyers and business cards and talked to a lot of people who otherwise would not have known that there is a writers guild in Hawaii.
Our first day, Cece Johansen, Louise Riofrio, Virginia Fortner, Duncan Dempster, and Jada Tan Rufo were all there meeting people and signing books. On day two it was Cece, Jada, Louise, and Jim Gibbons. We had a lot of people who were interested in native Alaskan and Polynesian cultures. Since Louise's book Discovery is about that, she did very well at the fair. Her books SOLD OUT!
I had encounters with a fellow ESL teacher who had also taught in China, as well as with a young man who has a podcast about Asian Americans and the issues we face. Perhaps you will hear me on a future podcast.
Jim also had an encounter with another fair vendor, a retired police officer who had written a book on his experiences, Behind the Badge. Jim told him about the existence of our writers guild and gave him our information. Jim also was able to barter with this man book-for-book. Virginia also was also able to barter with other vendors to get more exposure.
There were fun moments as well. They had door prizes and lucky number draws. Jim and I made out like bandits in that category. He got a prize for having a Santa-like beard, while I had to show pictures of bugs and a selfie with a hotel employee. I also pulled a muscle while trying to walk like a turkey. After all that effort I should get something!
Our next fair event is the Waimea Heritage Cherry Blossom Festival which is on February 2, 2019. If you are interested in reserving a spot at the HWG table, please contact Cece.
Jim Gibbons, Cece Johansen and Jada Tan Rufo smile for the
camera at the Christmas Craft Fair.
HAWAII WRITERS GUILD GOES TO
THE KAUAI WRITERS CONFERENCE
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Hawaii Writers Guild member Amara Cudney staffing our table at the Kauai Writers Conference.The conference was held November 9-11 at the Kauai Marriott Resort.
Five intrepid members of the Hawaii Writers Guild and a sixth soon-to-be Guild applicant ventured to the Garden Isle in November to breathe in the intoxicating atmosphere created by some 400 writers together in one space at one time talking story about writing.
Amara Cudney, accompanied by husband Sam, who volunteered to staff our table and take pictures, arrived early in the week so that Amara could participate in one of the multi-day master classes that preceded the weekend conference.
Cecilia Johansen, Joy Fisher and one of the Guild's newest members, Louise Riofrio, flew in later for the weekend conference. We all shared staffing duties, but Louise logged in the most hours at the table. (Thanks, Louise!)
David Katz, a coordinator of the Kauai Writers Conference, had arranged for the Guild to have a table at no cost right next to the conference registration area, so we had good exposure to writers attending the conference. Although writers had flown in from all parts of the United States, there were many from the neighbor islands, and we were able to spread the word about the Guild. Our pens, business cards and trifolds were popular, and more than 40 writers from Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island signed up for more information.
Despite our staffing duties, we all managed to partake of the rich offerings at the conference. In addition to craft presentations by well-known writers such as Jane Smiley, Alice Hoffman, Scott Turow and local favorite Kaui Hart Hemmings, there were workshops and panel discussions on the business of writing -- marketing and dealing with agents and publishers. In other words, there was something for everyone, and we each had our special interests.
Cecilia Johansen took advantage of the one-on-one meetings available with agents and publishers, which she found "rather intimidating." She found the panel discussions and presentations "informative and sometimes entertaining," and enjoyed being "in the presence of eminent authors, some of whom had had their books turned into movies." (Kaui Hart Hemmings, author of The Descendants, was one.)
Joy Fisher appreciated Scott Turow's opening remarks regarding "The Sources of Inspiration." "He's a writer and a lawyer, like I was, so I could identify with his point of view." She especially liked his gently ironic sense of humor which soon had the audience laughing about the trials and tribulations of the writing life.
For Connie Samuelson, a regular at Tutu's House Writers Support Group in Kamuela, it was time to take the next step in her writing life -- a decision to apply to join the Hawaii Writers Guild -- as well as to celebrate a landmark birthday while attending the conference.
From left, Joy Fisher, Connie
Samuelson and Cecilia Johansen.
For Louise Riofrio, pictured at right, being on Kauai was a happy experience. "I had a wonderful time with other writers and agents."
Keenly aware that the point of writing a book is to sell it, Louise brought along books from Scott Turow, Jane Smiley and Kaui Hart Hemmings to have autographed as evidence that they had succeeded in selling a book to her.
A dedicated marketer of her own books as well, Louise sold 30 copies of her books at the conference. and is looking forward to other events where she can sell her books.
She also picked some agents to meet with. "One agent who lives in the Islands was interested in my book Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific. I met a second agent who was interested in my book about Africa. For a writer at my career stage the agent meetings were worth the fee."
Keenly aware that the point of writing a book is to sell it, Louise brought along books from Scott Turow, Jane Smiley and Kaui Hart Hemmings to have autographed as evidence that they had succeeded in selling a book to her.
A dedicated marketer of her own books as well, Louise sold 30 copies of her books at the conference. and is looking forward to other events where she can sell her books.
She also picked some agents to meet with. "One agent who lives in the Islands was interested in my book Discovery: Alaska to Hawaii and the Pacific. I met a second agent who was interested in my book about Africa. For a writer at my career stage the agent meetings were worth the fee."
The conference wasn't all study and selling, however. Part of the attraction, especially to mainland writers, was the magic of its location, so conference organizers wisely built in a Hawaiian cultural component. The conference opened with a traditional pule and hula ceremony. Also included with the conference fee was a Sunday brunch at Kilohana Plantation, a historic landmark which houses a locally renowned restaurant, and on Saturday night there was a free Makana concert which included as much disquisition on cultural customs as it did slack key guitar music.
As was fitting, Makana also sang "Hawaii Aloha" at a brief closing ceremony on the beach at the end of the conference. After that ceremony, Joy thanked David Katz in person for arranging for the Hawaii Writers Guild to have a table in such a good location, and he, in turn, invited us to "do it again" next year.
As was fitting, Makana also sang "Hawaii Aloha" at a brief closing ceremony on the beach at the end of the conference. After that ceremony, Joy thanked David Katz in person for arranging for the Hawaii Writers Guild to have a table in such a good location, and he, in turn, invited us to "do it again" next year.
Late afternoon shadows stretch long at the closing ceremony of the Kauai Writers Conference.
A New Banner Announces Our Writers' Voices
A new vinyl banner hung at the entrance to the Parker Ranch Shopping Center all day on Wednesday October 3, proudly announcing to the cars entering the shopping center and those just passing by on the street that our Writers' Voices were going to be raised in story and poetry that very night at the Thelma Parker Library just next door. The banner is a new addition to our promotional efforts and will be used on the day of every Writers' Voices reading as a final reminder that today is the day to come listen.
Our Writers' Voices dropped to three-part harmony on October 3 when one of our announced readers was unable to appear, but the topics of the remaining three readers generated such lively discussions that the program coasted home right on schedule, not a minute sooner.
Ironically, the topics generating the lively discussions centered on illness and death. This was not a themed reading, it was coincidental; but the honesty and bravery of the readers struck a chord with the audience that made communication flow.
Ironically, the topics generating the lively discussions centered on illness and death. This was not a themed reading, it was coincidental; but the honesty and bravery of the readers struck a chord with the audience that made communication flow.
Dave Fouts shared three of his favorite prose poems, "She is Indiana," "At Sea" and "A Second Chance with the Dead."
Prose poems are more compressed than ordinary prose, filled with the kind of imagery you expect to find in poetry, including extended metaphors.
You can't listen to prose poems with one ear; they demand your full attention, but when you give them that attention, the experience can leave you transformed.
In the hands of the right author, prose poems are intellectually stimulating, artistically pleasing, and emotionally moving. Dave is that kind of author.
Here are some excerpts from "A Second Chance with the Dead" to prove the point:
"At dusk, memories of people I loved who died rise up more solid and intense than any other time of day or night. My wife, my mother, my father, my brother, even aunts and old friends make themselves known...
"...I imagine there existing somewhere out there a peaceful, quiet place that is lined with long rows of doors. And behind those doors you would find someone dear you loved that died, who you thought you'd never see again...
"The doorway would be like a womb that I pull them through, and once through the door, each would stagger about, crying with joy at being in the land of the living...
"There would be such beautiful chaos, with the dead and the living excited and talking all at the same time, each having so much to say...
"...we all would use this second chance to start over by being very kind and loving, this time leaving no room for regrets..."
Prose poems are more compressed than ordinary prose, filled with the kind of imagery you expect to find in poetry, including extended metaphors.
You can't listen to prose poems with one ear; they demand your full attention, but when you give them that attention, the experience can leave you transformed.
In the hands of the right author, prose poems are intellectually stimulating, artistically pleasing, and emotionally moving. Dave is that kind of author.
Here are some excerpts from "A Second Chance with the Dead" to prove the point:
"At dusk, memories of people I loved who died rise up more solid and intense than any other time of day or night. My wife, my mother, my father, my brother, even aunts and old friends make themselves known...
"...I imagine there existing somewhere out there a peaceful, quiet place that is lined with long rows of doors. And behind those doors you would find someone dear you loved that died, who you thought you'd never see again...
"The doorway would be like a womb that I pull them through, and once through the door, each would stagger about, crying with joy at being in the land of the living...
"There would be such beautiful chaos, with the dead and the living excited and talking all at the same time, each having so much to say...
"...we all would use this second chance to start over by being very kind and loving, this time leaving no room for regrets..."
Diane Revell is a retired software engineer who started writing in earnest after moving to Hawaii from Washington four years ago.
When she arrived wearing sunglasses, I wondered whether she was shielding herself from the intimate exposure demanded by the personal nature of her topic--her participation in an Alzheimer's disease medical study. I was wrong; the sunglasses were merely hiding the fading remnants of a black eye caused by distraction due to a pet, her missing a step and a hard landing on concrete.” .
It was the first time Diane had read her writing on this particular topic publicly, but she was open and candid and the audience responded to her willingness to discuss her feelings about the possibility that she might, some day, exhibit clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease as both her parents had before they died.
Diane read both a poem and an essay about this topic, as well as some other short poems. The essay, entitled "Generation Study 2--My Story" described the experience of her parents, the screening she underwent to determine whether she was eligible to participate in the study to test the effectiveness of a new drug to prevent the development of clinical symptoms of the disease, and the reasons she chose to participate once she was deemed eligible.
Her poem, "Now 2018" was meant as an introduction to the essay, but it revealed her unflinching resolve to face the implications of what a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease might mean for her future. Here is "Now 2018."
This is my now
I must deal with somehow
Preclinical disease is symptom free
Though worry is a symptom
it seems to me
Contemplation of changes preordained
Memories lost, new ones not retained
Judgment reduced, living becomes a chore
Not just for me but for those I adore
or care farmed out, a high-priced penalty
until Alzheimer's disease reduces me
to a funeral expense reality
When she arrived wearing sunglasses, I wondered whether she was shielding herself from the intimate exposure demanded by the personal nature of her topic--her participation in an Alzheimer's disease medical study. I was wrong; the sunglasses were merely hiding the fading remnants of a black eye caused by distraction due to a pet, her missing a step and a hard landing on concrete.” .
It was the first time Diane had read her writing on this particular topic publicly, but she was open and candid and the audience responded to her willingness to discuss her feelings about the possibility that she might, some day, exhibit clinical symptoms of Alzheimer's disease as both her parents had before they died.
Diane read both a poem and an essay about this topic, as well as some other short poems. The essay, entitled "Generation Study 2--My Story" described the experience of her parents, the screening she underwent to determine whether she was eligible to participate in the study to test the effectiveness of a new drug to prevent the development of clinical symptoms of the disease, and the reasons she chose to participate once she was deemed eligible.
Her poem, "Now 2018" was meant as an introduction to the essay, but it revealed her unflinching resolve to face the implications of what a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease might mean for her future. Here is "Now 2018."
This is my now
I must deal with somehow
Preclinical disease is symptom free
Though worry is a symptom
it seems to me
Contemplation of changes preordained
Memories lost, new ones not retained
Judgment reduced, living becomes a chore
Not just for me but for those I adore
or care farmed out, a high-priced penalty
until Alzheimer's disease reduces me
to a funeral expense reality
Jim Gibbons is a former newspaper columnist who lived in Northern California for 40 years before moving to Waimea 10 years ago.
Jim read an essay from his memoir Flashbacks about his unexpected final encounter with an old teammate from his track team: "Brian Murphy Takes a Hike Dec. 2007."
Jim was in a Waikiki condo one evening in 2007 when he saw a television news story about a tourist named Brian Murphy who had decided to take a hike from the Visitor Center at the 9,000-foot level on Mauna Kea to the mountain peak at 13,796 feet. A park ranger had tried to discourage him from going, but the man left anyway and two hours later it snowed. When the park closed, the man's car was still in the parking lot. A search was organized the next day.
Jim had known a Brian Murphy years before. They had been teammates on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee track team and Brian Murphy had often beaten Jim in certain events. But Jim wasn't sure it was the same man, until he saw a picture of him with his grandchild on television. "That's him," Jim told his wife.
Jim tried to follow the news as the search continued, and he did a lot of reminiscing about Murphy, about how cocky and self-confident he had always been, about how Jim would listen to him because--"well, because he didn't really want to listen to me."
Jim even went to the Visitor Center on Mauna Kea two years later to talk to the park ranger who was the last person to talk to Brian Murphy, but the ranger wasn't there. But there was another man in the group that day who started retelling the story of the tourist who left to hike up the mountain and got lost in a blizzard. Jim couldn't resist telling them he had known the man, but they either didn't believe him, or they thought Jim was just some "big-mouth bull shitter."
"I wished I'd just kept my mouth shut and listened, but that's another thing I never did very well, except when Brian Murphy was talking," Jim wrote.
Six years later, Brian Murphy's remains were recovered at the 12,000-foot level about a mile off the trail, suggesting he had gotten lost in the snow storm. He was wearing a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sweatshirt.
Jim read an essay from his memoir Flashbacks about his unexpected final encounter with an old teammate from his track team: "Brian Murphy Takes a Hike Dec. 2007."
Jim was in a Waikiki condo one evening in 2007 when he saw a television news story about a tourist named Brian Murphy who had decided to take a hike from the Visitor Center at the 9,000-foot level on Mauna Kea to the mountain peak at 13,796 feet. A park ranger had tried to discourage him from going, but the man left anyway and two hours later it snowed. When the park closed, the man's car was still in the parking lot. A search was organized the next day.
Jim had known a Brian Murphy years before. They had been teammates on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee track team and Brian Murphy had often beaten Jim in certain events. But Jim wasn't sure it was the same man, until he saw a picture of him with his grandchild on television. "That's him," Jim told his wife.
Jim tried to follow the news as the search continued, and he did a lot of reminiscing about Murphy, about how cocky and self-confident he had always been, about how Jim would listen to him because--"well, because he didn't really want to listen to me."
Jim even went to the Visitor Center on Mauna Kea two years later to talk to the park ranger who was the last person to talk to Brian Murphy, but the ranger wasn't there. But there was another man in the group that day who started retelling the story of the tourist who left to hike up the mountain and got lost in a blizzard. Jim couldn't resist telling them he had known the man, but they either didn't believe him, or they thought Jim was just some "big-mouth bull shitter."
"I wished I'd just kept my mouth shut and listened, but that's another thing I never did very well, except when Brian Murphy was talking," Jim wrote.
Six years later, Brian Murphy's remains were recovered at the 12,000-foot level about a mile off the trail, suggesting he had gotten lost in the snow storm. He was wearing a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sweatshirt.
Pictures provided by Jada Tan Rufo.
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director.
Joy can be reached at jfisher979@ yahoo.ca.
Six Guild Members Share their Work with North Kohala Audience
The North Kohala Library Community Room gradually filled with its usual enthusiastic crowd on September 17 in anticipation of a bountiful Fall harvest of new offerings of original writing by members of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
One at a time, as if showcasing rich and tasty dishes at a banquet, emcee Eila Algood introduced six Guild members from North and South Kohala who offered the fruits of their writing labors to the obviously hungry audience.
One at a time, as if showcasing rich and tasty dishes at a banquet, emcee Eila Algood introduced six Guild members from North and South Kohala who offered the fruits of their writing labors to the obviously hungry audience.
The first reader called to the podium was Carla Orellana, who has entertained past audiences with tales of her experiences with her boa constrictor partner, Suleman Aziz, when she was a snake dancer.
Her piece on September 17 predated her acquaintance with Suleman, however, and took her audience all the way back to the beginning of her belly dancing career with a short essay called "The Dance-OH!-Gram Bachelor Party."
On this particular occasion, Carla had been hired by the bachelor's fiancee to present a hand-written note to her intended husband during the dance. Back in those days (the 1980s) belly dancers were often confused with strippers, however, and when Carla entered the small living room where she was to dance for the bachelor and his male guests, she sensed the potential for chaos when they began shouting enthusiastically: "Take it Off."
Survival instinct kicked in. Carla swept around the room and her swirling skirts forced the men to back up against the walls. When a couple of particularly inebriated guests dared to approach her, she dispatched one by the clang of her finger cymbals in close proximity to his ears. When the second approached, she threw her veil over him and herself and, with one hand, "grabbed his nose with those little, metal finger cymbals, pinched hard and gave it a good, strong twist."
The man "reeled backward out of the veil and stumbled against his buddies. No one else but he knew what dangers hide behind the veil," but from then on, the men seemed to settle down to watch a young woman perform a sacred feminine dance of ancient beauty, and Carla, noting the transformation in their demeanor, realized she had a more important calling for her dances than she had known--teaching the art of appreciation and respect.
Her piece on September 17 predated her acquaintance with Suleman, however, and took her audience all the way back to the beginning of her belly dancing career with a short essay called "The Dance-OH!-Gram Bachelor Party."
On this particular occasion, Carla had been hired by the bachelor's fiancee to present a hand-written note to her intended husband during the dance. Back in those days (the 1980s) belly dancers were often confused with strippers, however, and when Carla entered the small living room where she was to dance for the bachelor and his male guests, she sensed the potential for chaos when they began shouting enthusiastically: "Take it Off."
Survival instinct kicked in. Carla swept around the room and her swirling skirts forced the men to back up against the walls. When a couple of particularly inebriated guests dared to approach her, she dispatched one by the clang of her finger cymbals in close proximity to his ears. When the second approached, she threw her veil over him and herself and, with one hand, "grabbed his nose with those little, metal finger cymbals, pinched hard and gave it a good, strong twist."
The man "reeled backward out of the veil and stumbled against his buddies. No one else but he knew what dangers hide behind the veil," but from then on, the men seemed to settle down to watch a young woman perform a sacred feminine dance of ancient beauty, and Carla, noting the transformation in their demeanor, realized she had a more important calling for her dances than she had known--teaching the art of appreciation and respect.
Greer Woodward has written in many genres, but one of her favorites is fantasy. Her offering on this particular evening was closer to horror, however, and writers in the audience could easily discern the frustration born of thwarted attempts to birth a story.
In "About Your Recent Stories," a tightly-controlled fantasy writer finds his control over his plots and his life slipping away when his main character, a creature who appears in many guises in his stories, infuses him with the desire for revenge after the writer's long-time girlfriend leaves him.
The creature, frustrated that the author's stories never let him have free rein to kill and destroy, goads the author as it becomes clear that the girlfriend has been cheating on him. It complains about the author's plots, where death and destruction are threatened but always interrupted before the end of the story. "All so I could be thwarted and sacrificed for the edification of your readers. You hurt me so you could be loved."
It mocks the author's restraint in the face of undeniable knowledge about his girlfriend's infidelities. After she leaves him, the author, under thrall of the creature and his own rage, writes a new story in which the creature, in the guise of a yeti, finally has free rein to kill and destroy; the landscape of the story runs red with blood.
"How long did you think you could keep me under control?" the creature taunts. "I have been very convenient for you. Now it is time to consider how you might be convenient for me."
In "About Your Recent Stories," a tightly-controlled fantasy writer finds his control over his plots and his life slipping away when his main character, a creature who appears in many guises in his stories, infuses him with the desire for revenge after the writer's long-time girlfriend leaves him.
The creature, frustrated that the author's stories never let him have free rein to kill and destroy, goads the author as it becomes clear that the girlfriend has been cheating on him. It complains about the author's plots, where death and destruction are threatened but always interrupted before the end of the story. "All so I could be thwarted and sacrificed for the edification of your readers. You hurt me so you could be loved."
It mocks the author's restraint in the face of undeniable knowledge about his girlfriend's infidelities. After she leaves him, the author, under thrall of the creature and his own rage, writes a new story in which the creature, in the guise of a yeti, finally has free rein to kill and destroy; the landscape of the story runs red with blood.
"How long did you think you could keep me under control?" the creature taunts. "I have been very convenient for you. Now it is time to consider how you might be convenient for me."
Jada Tan Rufo is a former English as a Second Language teacher who spent 14 years teaching in China. She read from her new book, The Zone, a historical novel based on actual facts that took place in 1937 Nanking, now Nanjing, during the period known as the "Rape of Nanking."
In the passage she read, Japanese soldiers have come to a girls' school in China where village women have taken refuge; the soldiers are seeking 100 women to serve in a licensed brothel.
The school mistress is aghast, but a translator explains that the Japanese major in charge believes that if he can find 100 women to work in a brothel, his soldiers will stop molesting "innocent and decent" women.
The soldiers round up all the women they can find hiding at the school and they are brought to a central location where the school mistress addresses them, apologetically asking if there are any prostitutes in the crowd who would be willing to go with the soldiers. To her surprise, one-by-one 21 women step forward. They are rounded up and taken away.
After the soldiers leave, a fearful woman asks: "Will they come back?"
"They won't," the school mistress replies with a clenched fist and defiant voice. "They will not do so if it is in my power to prevent it."
In the passage she read, Japanese soldiers have come to a girls' school in China where village women have taken refuge; the soldiers are seeking 100 women to serve in a licensed brothel.
The school mistress is aghast, but a translator explains that the Japanese major in charge believes that if he can find 100 women to work in a brothel, his soldiers will stop molesting "innocent and decent" women.
The soldiers round up all the women they can find hiding at the school and they are brought to a central location where the school mistress addresses them, apologetically asking if there are any prostitutes in the crowd who would be willing to go with the soldiers. To her surprise, one-by-one 21 women step forward. They are rounded up and taken away.
After the soldiers leave, a fearful woman asks: "Will they come back?"
"They won't," the school mistress replies with a clenched fist and defiant voice. "They will not do so if it is in my power to prevent it."
Jim Gibbons moved to Waimea 10 years ago after spending the previous 40 years in Northern California where he held a variety of interesting jobs and wrote a weekly column called Footnotes, about running, for The Willits News.
The piece he read for the North Kohala audience was called "Part-time Work for Full-time Pay" from his book Flashbacks: A Memoir.
The story takes place in February 1985 when Jim returns from a vacation in Mexico and needs to find both a new place to live and a source of income.
One friend gave him a guest cottage to stay in and another gave him some extra marijuana starts. Jim the entrepreneur reports the price for marijuana that year hit $2,000 a pound. He harvested 12 pounds. He earned more money from those plants than he did for his whole final year of teaching in the public school system.
The friend who gave Jim the starts summed it up: "Growing pot is part-time work for full-time pay."
(P.S.: Jim reports he did pay taxes on the money he earned from his marijuana growing adventure.)
The piece he read for the North Kohala audience was called "Part-time Work for Full-time Pay" from his book Flashbacks: A Memoir.
The story takes place in February 1985 when Jim returns from a vacation in Mexico and needs to find both a new place to live and a source of income.
One friend gave him a guest cottage to stay in and another gave him some extra marijuana starts. Jim the entrepreneur reports the price for marijuana that year hit $2,000 a pound. He harvested 12 pounds. He earned more money from those plants than he did for his whole final year of teaching in the public school system.
The friend who gave Jim the starts summed it up: "Growing pot is part-time work for full-time pay."
(P.S.: Jim reports he did pay taxes on the money he earned from his marijuana growing adventure.)
Virginia Fortner, a prolific writer from North Kohala, accompanied by Mike Eaton (see picture at left) appeared together. The two of them collaborated on a memoir of Eaton's life called A Design of his Own.
Eaton, a sunny-tempered lad who grew up in sunny Southern California during the golden age of surfing in the 1960s, earned a lasting reputation for the unique design of his surfboards, which came to be known as Modern Longboards.
During the longboard-to-short era, some designers started making boards as short as 5 feet, six inches, but their performance wasn't smooth and older surfers not in the best of shape found it difficult to control them. Mike kept his boards around six feet long. "It's always easier to buy longer boards than to wipe out or get younger," he observed.
Eaton sought out Virginia's help for his memoir after a stroke left him unable to write. But he could still talk, and he soon won her over to his cause. "As a Hawaii tale-teller, Mike had me hooked long before we began his life's story," she said.
Eaton, a sunny-tempered lad who grew up in sunny Southern California during the golden age of surfing in the 1960s, earned a lasting reputation for the unique design of his surfboards, which came to be known as Modern Longboards.
During the longboard-to-short era, some designers started making boards as short as 5 feet, six inches, but their performance wasn't smooth and older surfers not in the best of shape found it difficult to control them. Mike kept his boards around six feet long. "It's always easier to buy longer boards than to wipe out or get younger," he observed.
Eaton sought out Virginia's help for his memoir after a stroke left him unable to write. But he could still talk, and he soon won her over to his cause. "As a Hawaii tale-teller, Mike had me hooked long before we began his life's story," she said.
Jan Asch has lived on the Big Island since 2005 and in North Kohala since 2014. She's published several children's books, some poems, an album of original children's music and several one-act plays.
She is also the organizer of an annual Ten-Minute Play Festival in North Kohala, and she believes ten-minute plays are easy and fun to write.
To prove the point, Jan read one of her own ten-minute plays, entitled "The Favor," a fantasy about two Irish men who are old friends talking story in their favorite pub.
One thing became clear immediately: Jan does a great Irish brogue!
Jan is currently organizing another Ten-Minute Play Festival, and is looking for both plays and actors. If you are interested in participating, just email her at [email protected], or call or text her at 808-938-6404. She asks that your play be about 2,000 words, not part of a longer play, but a one-act play that stands alone and runs about ten minutes long.
She is also the organizer of an annual Ten-Minute Play Festival in North Kohala, and she believes ten-minute plays are easy and fun to write.
To prove the point, Jan read one of her own ten-minute plays, entitled "The Favor," a fantasy about two Irish men who are old friends talking story in their favorite pub.
One thing became clear immediately: Jan does a great Irish brogue!
Jan is currently organizing another Ten-Minute Play Festival, and is looking for both plays and actors. If you are interested in participating, just email her at [email protected], or call or text her at 808-938-6404. She asks that your play be about 2,000 words, not part of a longer play, but a one-act play that stands alone and runs about ten minutes long.
If you were unable to attend this program on September 17 and wish you could have heard it, you are in luck. After being edited into a two-hour show, it is now going to be played on KNKR, North Kohala’s community radio station, 96.1 FM on the following dates:
October 7th 4pm - 6pm
October 14th 4pm - 6pm
If you live in North Kohala, you can tune in on your radio: 96.1 FM
If you are anywhere else in the world, you can stream it on: KNKR.org
After the shows have aired, it will be archived on Special Broadcasts at this web address: http://knkr.org/archives/special-broadcasts/
Thank you to Jada Tan Rufo for taking pictures for this article.
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director. Questions? Contact Joy at [email protected]
Narrative by Joy Fisher, public relations director. Questions? Contact Joy at [email protected]
Hawaii Writers Guild will make its Presence Known
at The Kauai Writers Conference !
Exciting news just keeps on coming! The Hawaii Writers Guild will have its own table at the Kauai Writers Conference at the Kauai Marriott in Lihue from November 9-11. What a great way to make our existence known to writers from all over the United States!
So far, four Hawaii Writers Guild members are committed to going: Cecilia Johansen, Joy Fisher and Sam and Amara Cudney. Cecilia, Joy and Amara will be attending the many conference workshops and socializing with the authors, agents, editors and publishers who will be attending; Sam has graciously agreed to staff our table while Amara is busy soaking up words of wisdom at the workshops.
It's not too late for you to join us, and we encourage you to consider this great event. Here's a link to the Kauai Writers Conference website for you to explore: www.kauaiwritersconference.com/
Take a good look at all the events available: in addition to workshops, there are pitch sessions, manuscript critiques and consultations with publishers. Master Classes are scheduled between November 5th and 8th. And all conference attendees will receive a free ticket to a special concert by Makana. Wow!
--Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
[email protected]
So far, four Hawaii Writers Guild members are committed to going: Cecilia Johansen, Joy Fisher and Sam and Amara Cudney. Cecilia, Joy and Amara will be attending the many conference workshops and socializing with the authors, agents, editors and publishers who will be attending; Sam has graciously agreed to staff our table while Amara is busy soaking up words of wisdom at the workshops.
It's not too late for you to join us, and we encourage you to consider this great event. Here's a link to the Kauai Writers Conference website for you to explore: www.kauaiwritersconference.com/
Take a good look at all the events available: in addition to workshops, there are pitch sessions, manuscript critiques and consultations with publishers. Master Classes are scheduled between November 5th and 8th. And all conference attendees will receive a free ticket to a special concert by Makana. Wow!
--Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
[email protected]
Our First Public Workshops are Now Part of History
Thanks to Eila Algood and Sam Cudney
Eila and Holly Algood, second and third from the left, standing, and participants in their Pride Writing Workshop in Honolulu on September 1, 2018, render their opinion of the event with shaka signs.
They are part of history now and workshop leaders and participants are both reporting success for our first ever free writing and publishing workshops open to the public.
Hawaii Writers Guild member Eila Algood reported "deep sharing" was achieved in her Pride Writing Workshops, two of which were held on the Big Island in August and the third, co-sponsored by the LGBT Legacy Foundation, in Honolulu on September 1. The Honolulu workshop was co-facilitated by Eila's wife, Holly Algood, also a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild. Both women are experienced writers and workshop leaders.
The Pride Writing Workshops were designed as a place in which members of the LGBTQ community could explore their experiences in a "safe space." Eila has said she would also like to facilitate a Pride Writing Workshop in Kailua-Kona at some time in the future, so stay tuned!
Sam Cudney's "Self-Publishing 101", presented at the Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library in Waimea on August 29, also won praise from those attending. Bryant Ching, a relatively new member of the Guild, whose manuscript was used for the computerized demonstration, was enthusiastic.
Ching "went to the writers workshop on 8/29/18 not knowing what to expect-wow, was I blown away." The new author left "really impressed" with Cudney's knowledge and eagerness to share that knowledge. "I originally thought this writers guild might be a waste of time: boy was I wrong. Every member I have been in contact has been very helpful," Ching reported.
Bruce Stern, vice president of the Hawaii Writers Guild, who also attended Cudney's publishing workshop, said "Sam did a great job, especially considering the very limited time available. I also was very impressed."
A word of thanks is also due the staff of the Thelma Parker library, which recognized the interest of the public in a self-publishing workshop and waived the rental fee for their facility. In fact, the vast majority of people attending the workshop were members of the public who were not members of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
Both workshop initiators provided valuable service to the public at large. Thanks Eila and Sam for stepping forward with your ideas. You have set a good example for us all.
Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Hawaii Writers Guild member Eila Algood reported "deep sharing" was achieved in her Pride Writing Workshops, two of which were held on the Big Island in August and the third, co-sponsored by the LGBT Legacy Foundation, in Honolulu on September 1. The Honolulu workshop was co-facilitated by Eila's wife, Holly Algood, also a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild. Both women are experienced writers and workshop leaders.
The Pride Writing Workshops were designed as a place in which members of the LGBTQ community could explore their experiences in a "safe space." Eila has said she would also like to facilitate a Pride Writing Workshop in Kailua-Kona at some time in the future, so stay tuned!
Sam Cudney's "Self-Publishing 101", presented at the Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library in Waimea on August 29, also won praise from those attending. Bryant Ching, a relatively new member of the Guild, whose manuscript was used for the computerized demonstration, was enthusiastic.
Ching "went to the writers workshop on 8/29/18 not knowing what to expect-wow, was I blown away." The new author left "really impressed" with Cudney's knowledge and eagerness to share that knowledge. "I originally thought this writers guild might be a waste of time: boy was I wrong. Every member I have been in contact has been very helpful," Ching reported.
Bruce Stern, vice president of the Hawaii Writers Guild, who also attended Cudney's publishing workshop, said "Sam did a great job, especially considering the very limited time available. I also was very impressed."
A word of thanks is also due the staff of the Thelma Parker library, which recognized the interest of the public in a self-publishing workshop and waived the rental fee for their facility. In fact, the vast majority of people attending the workshop were members of the public who were not members of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
Both workshop initiators provided valuable service to the public at large. Thanks Eila and Sam for stepping forward with your ideas. You have set a good example for us all.
Joy Fisher
PR Director
Hawaii Writers Guild
(808) 238-0551
Welcome, Writers' Voices;
A Hui Hou, Cecilia Johansen
From left, Michael Eaton, the subject of Virginia Fortner's new book, A Design of His Own, authors Virginia Fortner and Jada Tan Rufo, Emcee Cecilia Johansen, authors Paul Bryant, Bruce Stern and Greer Woodward.
August 1 marked a night of transitions. First, it marked the transition from the old name of our authors' reading, Lit Nite, to its new name, Writers' Voices, a name that suggests the diversity of our authors, their ideas and their imaginations. On hand to demonstrate that diversity, were our readers for the evening, Virginia Fortner, Jada Tan Rufo, Paul Bryant, Bruce Stern and Greer Woodward.
In addition, the evening marked the last night Cecilia Johansen was scheduled to emcee the event, at least for awhile. Cecilia, the Events Director for the Hawaii Writers Guild, has recently moved from Waimea to Kailua-Kona and is taking a hiatus from her Guild duties as she transitions into her new life.
In addition, the evening marked the last night Cecilia Johansen was scheduled to emcee the event, at least for awhile. Cecilia, the Events Director for the Hawaii Writers Guild, has recently moved from Waimea to Kailua-Kona and is taking a hiatus from her Guild duties as she transitions into her new life.
Virginia Fortner, a Guild member from North Kohala, brought a very special guest with her. Michel Eaton is the subject of her new book, A Design of His Own, a biography of an adventurer who is perhaps best known as the designer of surfboards recognized for their unique shapes.
Writing biography was a departure for Fortner, who has written essays, poetry, a novel, children's stories, a dissertation and even a short play featured at a recent festival in North Kohala. Nevertheless, when Eaton came to her asking for help in writing his story, she couldn't turn him down.
He sought out Fortner's help after a stroke deprived him of his ability to write, though not his ability to tell stories.
"As a Hawaii tale-teller, Mike had me hooked long before we began his life's story," she said. His tales "usually ended in a chuckle, often at himself." While writing his story, Fortner says she "gained great respect for a man who broke records, shaped surfboards, gained friends, and met late-life health challenges."
"The story's mine," Eaton says, "a California boy who grew up in surfing's golden age. I couldn't weigh the gold, but I felt it."
The two of them shared that story with our audience on August 1. If you weren't there, but would like to "feel the gold", look for the book, on sale now somewhere near you.
Writing biography was a departure for Fortner, who has written essays, poetry, a novel, children's stories, a dissertation and even a short play featured at a recent festival in North Kohala. Nevertheless, when Eaton came to her asking for help in writing his story, she couldn't turn him down.
He sought out Fortner's help after a stroke deprived him of his ability to write, though not his ability to tell stories.
"As a Hawaii tale-teller, Mike had me hooked long before we began his life's story," she said. His tales "usually ended in a chuckle, often at himself." While writing his story, Fortner says she "gained great respect for a man who broke records, shaped surfboards, gained friends, and met late-life health challenges."
"The story's mine," Eaton says, "a California boy who grew up in surfing's golden age. I couldn't weigh the gold, but I felt it."
The two of them shared that story with our audience on August 1. If you weren't there, but would like to "feel the gold", look for the book, on sale now somewhere near you.
Jada Tan Rufo, a long-time member of the Writers'
Support Group at Tutu's house, and a Guild member from Waimea, rewarded us with a scene from her memoir, Banana Girl, that gave assurance that comfort food and friendship are both attainable even when you find yourself in a foreign land.
Banana Girl is a memoir of Rufo's years teaching English in China.The title refers to the fact that, although she is of Chinese heritage ("yellow on the outside"), she was born in the United States and grew up in American culture ("white on the inside").
After she had been teaching in China for almost 12 years, Jada moved to a new assignment in Xinghua, where she discovered a "minority" restaurant in the Muslim quarter. The restaurant was clean, the food was good and the staff and owner were friendly. The passage she read was about her first encounter with this restaurant and its crew.
After first meeting the owner, Jada wrote, "I knew I was going to come here quite often because of this man's hospitality. He had shown me more hospitality in just one visit than Danny [her new boss] had shown me in the two weeks I had been in Xinghua."
A comforting passage for all of us who have, at one time or another, been strangers in a strange land, badly in need of a friendly welcome. Thanks, Jada.
Support Group at Tutu's house, and a Guild member from Waimea, rewarded us with a scene from her memoir, Banana Girl, that gave assurance that comfort food and friendship are both attainable even when you find yourself in a foreign land.
Banana Girl is a memoir of Rufo's years teaching English in China.The title refers to the fact that, although she is of Chinese heritage ("yellow on the outside"), she was born in the United States and grew up in American culture ("white on the inside").
After she had been teaching in China for almost 12 years, Jada moved to a new assignment in Xinghua, where she discovered a "minority" restaurant in the Muslim quarter. The restaurant was clean, the food was good and the staff and owner were friendly. The passage she read was about her first encounter with this restaurant and its crew.
After first meeting the owner, Jada wrote, "I knew I was going to come here quite often because of this man's hospitality. He had shown me more hospitality in just one visit than Danny [her new boss] had shown me in the two weeks I had been in Xinghua."
A comforting passage for all of us who have, at one time or another, been strangers in a strange land, badly in need of a friendly welcome. Thanks, Jada.
Guild member Bruce Stern has recently completed a new high-tech novel, The Fuel Saver Project: A Peter Jones Story. Bruce took the opportunity of his first-time appearance at our authors reading to share a passage from that novel that explores the character of his protagonist.
The passage relates an incident while Peter is driving on a road in Wales (the book is replete with local color as the result of Bruce's intimate knowledge of European locations). The reader learns Peter has been tailed by a couple of motorcyclists.
In the excerpt, Peter is forced off the road by one of them and his driver's side window is shattered. Could it have been by a bullet? Given the gun laws in the U.K., Peter knows if it was a bullet, he is in trouble. Is it because of the new fuel-saver project he is working on for some companies?
But Peter doesn't react the way you and I might:
"Rather than scare him off, which in fact was the plan, the incident had the exact opposite effect. Peter wanted to know more about what might be happening with the companies he worked with, or what he might know that would cause someone to be worried about him."
Bruce is designing the cover for his new book now, which means it won't be long before you can buy a copy for yourself and find out the answers revealed by Peter's obstinate probing. One thing we know by the subtitle, A Peter Jones Story--this is meant to be the first of many Peter Jones stories penned by Bruce, so whatever else may happen in the book, Peter will survive!
The passage relates an incident while Peter is driving on a road in Wales (the book is replete with local color as the result of Bruce's intimate knowledge of European locations). The reader learns Peter has been tailed by a couple of motorcyclists.
In the excerpt, Peter is forced off the road by one of them and his driver's side window is shattered. Could it have been by a bullet? Given the gun laws in the U.K., Peter knows if it was a bullet, he is in trouble. Is it because of the new fuel-saver project he is working on for some companies?
But Peter doesn't react the way you and I might:
"Rather than scare him off, which in fact was the plan, the incident had the exact opposite effect. Peter wanted to know more about what might be happening with the companies he worked with, or what he might know that would cause someone to be worried about him."
Bruce is designing the cover for his new book now, which means it won't be long before you can buy a copy for yourself and find out the answers revealed by Peter's obstinate probing. One thing we know by the subtitle, A Peter Jones Story--this is meant to be the first of many Peter Jones stories penned by Bruce, so whatever else may happen in the book, Peter will survive!
Like Bruce Stern, Guild member Paul Bryant is intimately familiar with foreign lands. In Paul's case, the land is Japan, where he lived for many years. Paul is gathering a collection of his short nonfiction pieces for publication into a book of collected essays about his life in Japan.
His essays illuminate the culture that he knew so well and often shock us with the cultural differences between what most of us know from our lives in America and what Paul experienced in Japan.
The piece he chose to read at Writers' Voices demonstrated how things can go awry when one country tries to adopt the popular culture of another country.
"Bekurri Kamra" tells the story of what happened in the 1970s when Paul became enmeshed in the production of a Japanese version of the then-popular U.S. television show, Candid Camera.
When Paul was given an opportunity to join the cast of Bekurri Kamra, he signed on the dotted line without seeing the pilot of the show because the pay was good. But when he finally saw the debut, he was appalled. The first skit pranked the popular singer Agnes Chan, a friend of Paul's. Agnes was asked to translate for an interview with an Australian about his experience of Japan. It was a set-up: the questions were straightforward, but the Aussie's answers were rude, bordering on obscene, and calculated to embarrass Agnes, which they did.
The second skit was even worse, pranking a son about the supposed death of his mother.
Paul decided he wanted no part of this awful show, but he had signed the contract. What could he do? If you knew Paul, you'd know he would come up with a plan, and he did. Paying a visit to the show's producer, Paul pretended to have a question about his contract and casually asked to see the company copy.
"I'd signed each corner page with my initials while the final sheet had my full signature. With amazing speed I quickly tore out my signature, wadded it into a ball and shoved it into my mouth. ... I did the same thing for the three initialed corners, popping them into my mouth as well.
"I'd never eaten paper before but it was soon mushy enough to swallow, which I did. All the while the producer just sat there as though in shock. With my mission over I headed out the door saying nothing more."
His essays illuminate the culture that he knew so well and often shock us with the cultural differences between what most of us know from our lives in America and what Paul experienced in Japan.
The piece he chose to read at Writers' Voices demonstrated how things can go awry when one country tries to adopt the popular culture of another country.
"Bekurri Kamra" tells the story of what happened in the 1970s when Paul became enmeshed in the production of a Japanese version of the then-popular U.S. television show, Candid Camera.
When Paul was given an opportunity to join the cast of Bekurri Kamra, he signed on the dotted line without seeing the pilot of the show because the pay was good. But when he finally saw the debut, he was appalled. The first skit pranked the popular singer Agnes Chan, a friend of Paul's. Agnes was asked to translate for an interview with an Australian about his experience of Japan. It was a set-up: the questions were straightforward, but the Aussie's answers were rude, bordering on obscene, and calculated to embarrass Agnes, which they did.
The second skit was even worse, pranking a son about the supposed death of his mother.
Paul decided he wanted no part of this awful show, but he had signed the contract. What could he do? If you knew Paul, you'd know he would come up with a plan, and he did. Paying a visit to the show's producer, Paul pretended to have a question about his contract and casually asked to see the company copy.
"I'd signed each corner page with my initials while the final sheet had my full signature. With amazing speed I quickly tore out my signature, wadded it into a ball and shoved it into my mouth. ... I did the same thing for the three initialed corners, popping them into my mouth as well.
"I'd never eaten paper before but it was soon mushy enough to swallow, which I did. All the while the producer just sat there as though in shock. With my mission over I headed out the door saying nothing more."
Guild member Greer Woodward's imagination touches on the magical. Her fantasy stories often explore human foibles and the magic that saves characters from themselves.
In "Catmint Tea," the story she read at Writers' Voices, Greer explored the romance between two people from Old Money who lived in neighboring mansions along the Connecticut River.
In the beginning of the story, Alison Biddle and Harold Twiddle share evenings with each other while sharing their lives with their respective cats, Scruples and Cinders--"complete" cats, if you know what I mean.
This placid existence changes drastically when Harold discovers a new tea shop and brings Alison a box of catmint tea.
"It's hard to say what brings about magic," the narrator says. But when Alison drinks the catmint tea, magic arrives. Instead of finding herself in bed with her cat, she finds herself lying next to "the most beautiful man in the world."
When Harold drinks the catmint tea, he has a similar experience with his cat, Cinders, who is a female. Naturally, these new relationships complicate the long-standing friendship between Alison and Harold. Eventually their new love objects, as well as their cats, disappear. Her suspicions aroused, Alison throws away the catmint tea.
"In magic's last moment, in its final poof, there is a curious flash, between the light of wishes and the light of day. ... As Alison returned home, the sky blinked. Of all she might have seen, of all her moment might have heralded, what she saw was--Harold," so saith the narrator.
A happy ending ensues. Even the cats come home. Cinders now has four kittens which have sapphire eyes--just like Scruples'.
And with that touch of magic lingering in the air, our first Writers' Voices program came to an end.
In "Catmint Tea," the story she read at Writers' Voices, Greer explored the romance between two people from Old Money who lived in neighboring mansions along the Connecticut River.
In the beginning of the story, Alison Biddle and Harold Twiddle share evenings with each other while sharing their lives with their respective cats, Scruples and Cinders--"complete" cats, if you know what I mean.
This placid existence changes drastically when Harold discovers a new tea shop and brings Alison a box of catmint tea.
"It's hard to say what brings about magic," the narrator says. But when Alison drinks the catmint tea, magic arrives. Instead of finding herself in bed with her cat, she finds herself lying next to "the most beautiful man in the world."
When Harold drinks the catmint tea, he has a similar experience with his cat, Cinders, who is a female. Naturally, these new relationships complicate the long-standing friendship between Alison and Harold. Eventually their new love objects, as well as their cats, disappear. Her suspicions aroused, Alison throws away the catmint tea.
"In magic's last moment, in its final poof, there is a curious flash, between the light of wishes and the light of day. ... As Alison returned home, the sky blinked. Of all she might have seen, of all her moment might have heralded, what she saw was--Harold," so saith the narrator.
A happy ending ensues. Even the cats come home. Cinders now has four kittens which have sapphire eyes--just like Scruples'.
And with that touch of magic lingering in the air, our first Writers' Voices program came to an end.
Photographs at the reading courtesy Guild member Jada Tan Rufo. Contact Jada at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
Hawaii Writers Guild Members Present Workshops
One of the goals the Hawaii Writers Guild Board set for 2018 was to sponsor writing and publishing workshops open to the public. Thanks to the active efforts of HWG members Eila Algood and Sam Cudney, we are proud to announce that we are about to achieve that goal.
Many of you know Eila as the host of our authors readings in North Kohala. Now Eila has developed a PRIDE Writing Workshop for members of the LGBTQ community who would like to learn to write about their experiences in a safe space.
Three workshops have already been scheduled, two on the Big Island and one in Honolulu. The first workshop on the Big Island will be held at Tutu's house in Waimea on August 18 from 3-4:30 p.m. The second will be held on August 28 from 3:30-5 p.m.at the North Kohala Public Library.
The Honolulu workshop is set for September 1 from 10-11:30 a.m. at the University of Phonenix in Topa Financial Center, 745 Fort St., Suite 2000. It is being co-sponsored by the LGBT Legacy foundation and will be co-facilitated by Holly Algood, Eila's wife. Both women are published authors and experienced workshop leaders.
These workshops are all open to the public at no charge.
For addresses of all venues, see the information posted on our Events Calendar page. If you have questions, you can contact Eila directly at [email protected]
Many of you know Eila as the host of our authors readings in North Kohala. Now Eila has developed a PRIDE Writing Workshop for members of the LGBTQ community who would like to learn to write about their experiences in a safe space.
Three workshops have already been scheduled, two on the Big Island and one in Honolulu. The first workshop on the Big Island will be held at Tutu's house in Waimea on August 18 from 3-4:30 p.m. The second will be held on August 28 from 3:30-5 p.m.at the North Kohala Public Library.
The Honolulu workshop is set for September 1 from 10-11:30 a.m. at the University of Phonenix in Topa Financial Center, 745 Fort St., Suite 2000. It is being co-sponsored by the LGBT Legacy foundation and will be co-facilitated by Holly Algood, Eila's wife. Both women are published authors and experienced workshop leaders.
These workshops are all open to the public at no charge.
For addresses of all venues, see the information posted on our Events Calendar page. If you have questions, you can contact Eila directly at [email protected]
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When Guild member Sam Cudney met with the head librarian at the Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library in late July to discuss his workshop on self-publishing, it was clear he had a proposal that piqued her interest. Apparently patrons had been inquiring about the availability of writing workshops. Initially, the library proposed to charge the Hawaii Writers Guild, the sponsor of the workshop, $25 for the room rental, which we would gladly have paid in order to bring Sam's expertise to the public.
However, before we could sign the papers, the library had changed its mind -- the library would sponsor the event itself and the room rental charge would be waived. The event is already posted on the library's website, scheduled for Wednesday, August 29 at 6 p.m. in the library meeting room where we have our public readings.
Sam, a Waikoloa-based freelance editor and writer, has written several books, including one called How to Publish Your Book for Free. Using the library's projector and screen, his own computer and a manuscript on loan for the occasion, Sam will demonstrate how an author can format his or her own manuscript for either e-book or print publication using currently available platforms such as CreateSpace.
This workshop is also being made available to the public at no charge. For information about how to register, call the Thelma Parker Library at 887-6067. But do it soon. All indications are that this workshop is going to be very popular.
New Faces, Distinct Voices at June Lit Nite
in Waimea
Joy Fisher, facing camera, filled in as emcee for Events Coordinator Cece Johansen at our June authors reading in Waimea.
There was a new face in front of the audience as Joy Fisher did her best to fill in for Events Coordinator Cece Johansen as emcee, and there were a few new faces looking back at her from the audience as well during our June 6 authors reading at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea.
Although all the authors reading that night had presented work in at least one previous Guild event, they spoke in distinct voices at our June reading, both because they brought material never before shared with our audience and because their voices were assisted by our brand new microphone and sound system. (Thanks go to Bruce Stern for hauling it over and setting it up.)
Even though we didn't yet have a mic stand and the readers chose to sit rather than juggle their scripts in one hand and the new mic in the other, they all looked pretty happy about the new arrangement, because they had smiles on their faces. (Or maybe our photographer for the evening, Sam Cudney, is just so good he was able to catch their fleeting smiles.)
Although all the authors reading that night had presented work in at least one previous Guild event, they spoke in distinct voices at our June reading, both because they brought material never before shared with our audience and because their voices were assisted by our brand new microphone and sound system. (Thanks go to Bruce Stern for hauling it over and setting it up.)
Even though we didn't yet have a mic stand and the readers chose to sit rather than juggle their scripts in one hand and the new mic in the other, they all looked pretty happy about the new arrangement, because they had smiles on their faces. (Or maybe our photographer for the evening, Sam Cudney, is just so good he was able to catch their fleeting smiles.)
David Fouts, a Guild member from Honokaa, is co-facilitator of the Writers Support Group at Tutu's House in Waimea. His newest published book is entitled Was This It?, but Dave shared a poem and short prose piece at this reading.
The poem was entitled "About Praying," and the prose piece was called "Jesus is Rising." Now, the titles do suggest a religious theme, and it is true that Dave once acquired free housing in Alaska for himself and his family by taking on the role of a lay minister, but it's doubtful his sermons from those days sounded anything like the sharply ironic pieces he read on June 6.
For example, "About Praying" begins:
"You should know now, prayers don't/
make it to heaven, not even close..."
(If I told you what the narrator was praying for, we'd both blush, so you'll just have to wonder.)
"Jesus is Rising" recalled the Easter theme,
"Jesus has risen." But in this prose piece, Jesus keeps on rising, passing "yellow moons and dead planets" until "[a]n irreligious person might ask, 'Just where in the hell is this fellow going?' "
The poem was entitled "About Praying," and the prose piece was called "Jesus is Rising." Now, the titles do suggest a religious theme, and it is true that Dave once acquired free housing in Alaska for himself and his family by taking on the role of a lay minister, but it's doubtful his sermons from those days sounded anything like the sharply ironic pieces he read on June 6.
For example, "About Praying" begins:
"You should know now, prayers don't/
make it to heaven, not even close..."
(If I told you what the narrator was praying for, we'd both blush, so you'll just have to wonder.)
"Jesus is Rising" recalled the Easter theme,
"Jesus has risen." But in this prose piece, Jesus keeps on rising, passing "yellow moons and dead planets" until "[a]n irreligious person might ask, 'Just where in the hell is this fellow going?' "
Eliza Cahill, a Guild member from Waimea, is the other co-facilitator of the Writers Support Group at Tutu's House; she is also the current president of the Hawaii Writers Guild.
Eliza had just returned from a research trip to Poland for her holocaust novel-in-progress, Eleven Years of Silence, but kept her prior commitment to read at our authors night despite the long flight home.
The visit to a concentration camp, she reported, helped her visualize what her point-of-view character, Esther, saw when Josef Mengele came to take her outside the barracks one night to show her the full moon.
A romantic interlude between a concentration camp prisoner and the Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death"? Could such a thing even be possible? Eliza says she likes to dissect the depths of the human psyche in her writing. She sliced fearlessly into the psyches of both characters in the excerpt she chose to read for us that night.
Eliza had just returned from a research trip to Poland for her holocaust novel-in-progress, Eleven Years of Silence, but kept her prior commitment to read at our authors night despite the long flight home.
The visit to a concentration camp, she reported, helped her visualize what her point-of-view character, Esther, saw when Josef Mengele came to take her outside the barracks one night to show her the full moon.
A romantic interlude between a concentration camp prisoner and the Nazi doctor known as the "Angel of Death"? Could such a thing even be possible? Eliza says she likes to dissect the depths of the human psyche in her writing. She sliced fearlessly into the psyches of both characters in the excerpt she chose to read for us that night.
Bob Lupo, a Guild member from Hakalau, was born and raised in New York city. He says he was weaned on baseball and spaghetti, served as a medic in the military and was a Wall Street junk bond analyst before turning to writing full time.
People say you should write what you know, so it should not come as a surprise that most of the above experiences (well, maybe not the spaghetti and junk bond analysis) provided an authoritative ring of truth to the excerpt Bob read from his most recent novel, Bleacher Heaven, an arresting tale of good cops chasing bad cops through the South Bronx as baseball fans are mesmerized by the seemingly never-ending drama of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.
It begins: "Deacon Chance leans against the hospital 'bed, staring at Denzel Brown in the dark and weeps.
...Deke raises his hulk from the bed and walks to the window. There it is. Yankee Stadium, lights ablaze in the distance, kissing the opaque night. Is there hope?"
People say you should write what you know, so it should not come as a surprise that most of the above experiences (well, maybe not the spaghetti and junk bond analysis) provided an authoritative ring of truth to the excerpt Bob read from his most recent novel, Bleacher Heaven, an arresting tale of good cops chasing bad cops through the South Bronx as baseball fans are mesmerized by the seemingly never-ending drama of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.
It begins: "Deacon Chance leans against the hospital 'bed, staring at Denzel Brown in the dark and weeps.
...Deke raises his hulk from the bed and walks to the window. There it is. Yankee Stadium, lights ablaze in the distance, kissing the opaque night. Is there hope?"
Amara Cudney, a Guild member from Hakalau, wrote her first full-length book after moving to Hawaii and has since published several others now available on Amazon. She is currently working on a young adult novel.
At our June reading, she presented a short story
called "The Inventory." The title refers to the fourth step of an alcohol and addiction recovery program, when addicts recite the inventory of the things in their past which weigh them down with resentment. They do this so they can open themselves to the "light of the spirit" and a new way of life.
When young Angie reaches this important step, she is not the only one enlightened. As Angie struggles to give voice to her most painful memories, her sponsor, Sylvia, whose son died of an overdose, is also flooded with an insight that changes her life:
"As she stared at this girl, she wondered. Is this the mother of my grandchild? Could it be possible?"
At our June reading, she presented a short story
called "The Inventory." The title refers to the fourth step of an alcohol and addiction recovery program, when addicts recite the inventory of the things in their past which weigh them down with resentment. They do this so they can open themselves to the "light of the spirit" and a new way of life.
When young Angie reaches this important step, she is not the only one enlightened. As Angie struggles to give voice to her most painful memories, her sponsor, Sylvia, whose son died of an overdose, is also flooded with an insight that changes her life:
"As she stared at this girl, she wondered. Is this the mother of my grandchild? Could it be possible?"
Joy Fisher is a Guild member from Waimea. In addition to subbing for Cece as emcee in June, Joy also read the opening chapter from her new memoir-in-progress, Souvenirs of Canada: A Memoir of an American Exile.
In 2007, Joy ran away from George Bush's America, expecting never to return. However, in 2016 she did return, eagerly anticipating life under our first woman president. Two months later, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
So why is Joy smiling?Joy replies "I once had a lover whose favorite saying was: irony--ya gotta love it."
And that's why her memoir of an ultimately failed attempt to flee the country is so damn funny!
In 2007, Joy ran away from George Bush's America, expecting never to return. However, in 2016 she did return, eagerly anticipating life under our first woman president. Two months later, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
So why is Joy smiling?Joy replies "I once had a lover whose favorite saying was: irony--ya gotta love it."
And that's why her memoir of an ultimately failed attempt to flee the country is so damn funny!
The presentations finished a few minutes before 7 p.m., so we had time to convene a panel of all the readers and take questions from the audience. That also provided an opportunity for the writers to question each other, an opportunity seized eagerly by the always curious scribes.
Lava covers a road in Leilani Estates on May 4, 2018.
A Shakin' Good Time was had by All
at our Spring Reading in Volcano
The theme of the Spring Reading presented by the Volcano Writers Group and the Hawaii Writers Guild at Volcano Garden Arts on May 5, 2018 was "Love is in the Air." But more than love was in the air that night as the Volcano Goddess Pele continued to demonstrate her power after the 6.9 earthquake that accompanied a volcanic eruption in nearby Leilani Estates the day before.
Readers fell silent twice during the three-hour-long program as aftershocks, one of them a magnitude 4.0, shook Ira Ono's Big Tent. But both times, the tent held, and the readings went on. Originally, nine authors were scheduled, four from Volcano and five from Waimea, but because of the chaos caused by the eruption (including closure that day of the military camp where the Waimea writers had booked a cabin for an overnight stay) only five authors were present, three from Volcano and two from Waimea. However, those five had come prepared with longer than usual pieces and/or more than one piece to read so that the original plan of two sets with an intermission between for wine and pupus could be retained.
Readers fell silent twice during the three-hour-long program as aftershocks, one of them a magnitude 4.0, shook Ira Ono's Big Tent. But both times, the tent held, and the readings went on. Originally, nine authors were scheduled, four from Volcano and five from Waimea, but because of the chaos caused by the eruption (including closure that day of the military camp where the Waimea writers had booked a cabin for an overnight stay) only five authors were present, three from Volcano and two from Waimea. However, those five had come prepared with longer than usual pieces and/or more than one piece to read so that the original plan of two sets with an intermission between for wine and pupus could be retained.
Emcee Janet Carpenter, a Volcano writer, welcomes the audience at the commencement of the reading.
Little did she know what Pele had in store.
Little did she know what Pele had in store.
The theme for the evening included a subtitle warning that, although love was in the air, it might include some strange and creepy tales (the Volcano writers group seems to have a penchant for the strange and creepy), so the offerings were diverse, ranging from heartfelt love poems that brought even the author to tears to a horror tale of a creature lurking in a dark pond stalking her next meal of human flesh.
Paul Bryant started the evening off with a personal essay about getting fired from the Volcano Art Center years ago when he was new to the islands after he was encouraged to bring his "wife" to an Art Center event, and instead showed up with his male lover. He sued for discrimination and, five-and- a-half-years later, won a substantial monetary settlement from the Art Center. Paul was disappointed that there appeared to be no members from the Art Center board in the audience to hear his story.
Vitus "the mad" read two selections of poems from his collection, Vitus the Mad's Little Book of Poems. The poems ranged from the hellish ("Another Summer in Satan's Armpit" about his stint fixing pipes for a water company in Tucson, Arizona, during the height of a summer heat wave), to sublime love poems, including "A Love Poem of Old Egypt," "The Proposal," and "For the Angel with Whom I Dance," a heartfelt tribute to the woman whose love transformed him.
Joy Fisher, from Waimea, read a love story about Crystal Cove #5, a beach cottage in Southern California she described as the "chrysalis" of her heart, where she lived when she became a feminist, and then a lesbian, and then a lawyer, and which she finally had to leave when she had to "make my way in the world as my own person and not as a wife." In the second set, Joy read a cheeky piece called "It's Never Too Late for a Happy Ending," also with a focus on homes, about a discussion among lesbians of a "certain age" who try to figure out how to combine households when they fall in love late in life.
Bryan Furer, coordinator of the Volcano Writers Group, read excerpts from two strange and creepy, but none-the-less hilarious, tales. The first was from his book, Five Steps to Sheep, about a vampire who moves to Hilo and is trying his best to give up his taste for human blood. When he sneaks into a hospital to steal blood from their supply and, mistaken as a new doctor, is pulled in to assist in a surgical procedure, he has all he can do to keep from licking up the patient's blood. Bryan's second reading, from his book, Passenger, described the adventures in Limbo of its main character, Rufus, after he discovers he is dead. (It should be noted that the second, larger, aftershock of the evening occurred during this reading, enhancing the creepiness of the tale considerably.)
Janet Carpenter closed each set. Her first reading was a short story called "The Pond" about a creature lurking below the dark waters, just waiting for its next meal of human flesh. In it, a character named Nathan scrambles out of the pond just in time, but not before scraping his skin on the rough rock, leaving behind drops of blood that the creature laps up. Janet's second presentation was much lighter, a piece about a cat named Chubbs who becomes an unlikely hero when he saves his colony from an attack by an unknown enemy. Janet ended the evening reading with a light-hearted tribute to our host, Ira Ono, owner of Volcano Garden Arts, a poem called "When You Exit through the Gift Shop."
For those of us who stayed in Volcano after the reading, the excitement continued in our respective places of abode when we were shaken by two more aftershocks before the night was over. It was truly a night to remember!
For those of us who stayed in Volcano after the reading, the excitement continued in our respective places of abode when we were shaken by two more aftershocks before the night was over. It was truly a night to remember!
Spring Wrap-Up in North Kohala
Eila Algood, host of the Hawaii Writers Guild readings at the North Kohala Library, promised seven readers, including herself, for the final spring reading on April 9, but the disciplined readers finished a few minutes early. What to do? Why, ask for a volunteer, of course. And, of course, another eager reader stepped up to the microphone, giving the enthusiastic audience an unexpected, but welcome, bonus.
The readings on this night were multi-cultural and diverse, not constricted by a predetermined theme nor limited to a particular genre. What they had in common, first to last, was a demonstrated excellence in the craft of writing.
Amy Elizabeth Gordon led off with three short readings. The first was a hard-hitting, clever piece detailing three challenges from younger days when Amy had been advised to just "take it" in three different meanings of that phrase.
Amy's second piece imagined her own conception, on the night of the lunar landing of Apollo 11 on July 22, 1969. (She was born on April 3, 1970.)
Amy's final piece, in honor of National Poetry Month, described the flight of wild geese and advised: "You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." She credited the poet Mary Oliver for inspiration.
Amy's second piece imagined her own conception, on the night of the lunar landing of Apollo 11 on July 22, 1969. (She was born on April 3, 1970.)
Amy's final piece, in honor of National Poetry Month, described the flight of wild geese and advised: "You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." She credited the poet Mary Oliver for inspiration.
Although death was the theme of Paul Bryant's piece, "Marion Korn, 1919-1988," this short work of nonfiction was not grim. It was a fascinating account of how the clash of competing cultural traditions can sometimes cause consternation.
When Bryant's "surrogate mother", Aunt Marion, died in Japan, the family engaged a Japanese company to perform a memorial ceremony. The family, unfamiliar with Japanese ritual, did not know that part of the ceremony would involve exposing and handling Marion's cremains in a way that was likely to appall the westerners. But Bryant, who had lived in Japan for many years, knew about this ritual and could foresee the emotionally devastating consequences.
The story, layered with wry humor and cultural irony, recounted Bryant's successful intervention, which persuaded the company to change the ritual before any harm was done.
When Bryant's "surrogate mother", Aunt Marion, died in Japan, the family engaged a Japanese company to perform a memorial ceremony. The family, unfamiliar with Japanese ritual, did not know that part of the ceremony would involve exposing and handling Marion's cremains in a way that was likely to appall the westerners. But Bryant, who had lived in Japan for many years, knew about this ritual and could foresee the emotionally devastating consequences.
The story, layered with wry humor and cultural irony, recounted Bryant's successful intervention, which persuaded the company to change the ritual before any harm was done.
Eliza Cahill read an excerpt from her novel-in-progress, Eleven Years of Silence, a historical fiction about the Holocaust.
In the scene, one of the main characters, Esther, remembers an early meeting with Dr. Josef Mengele, later known to history as "the angel of death." Esther, newly arrived as a prisoner at Auschwitz, finds herself drawn to the handsome doctor with the civil manner because he intervenes to save her brother from a thrashing by the guards at the concentration camp.
During their encounter, Esther observes a line of people moving to the right and asks Mengele about it, as well as a strange, burning smell. The debonair doctor doesn't tell her that what she smells is the burning flesh of the people in the line moving to the right, prisoners he has ordered to be killed.
In the scene, one of the main characters, Esther, remembers an early meeting with Dr. Josef Mengele, later known to history as "the angel of death." Esther, newly arrived as a prisoner at Auschwitz, finds herself drawn to the handsome doctor with the civil manner because he intervenes to save her brother from a thrashing by the guards at the concentration camp.
During their encounter, Esther observes a line of people moving to the right and asks Mengele about it, as well as a strange, burning smell. The debonair doctor doesn't tell her that what she smells is the burning flesh of the people in the line moving to the right, prisoners he has ordered to be killed.
Wendy Noritake grew up on an island in the Salish Sea, the First Nations' name for an intricate body of water that connects the west coast of the Canadian mainland with Vancouver Island and the northern part of Washington.
Her grandfather's house was on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. When Wendy was a child, she spent time with him there, learning Japanese customs ("Don't use soap in the Japanese bath!"). Her story, "It's Seaweed Weather," recounted an incident that occurred around 1960 when Wendy was only eight years old.
There is, it appears, a certain kind of weather which, when coupled with the right tide, produces the exactly right time to gather seaweed for use in certain Japanese dishes. By the end of the story, little Wendy, thanks to her grandfather, has learned just when that time occurs.
Her grandfather's house was on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. When Wendy was a child, she spent time with him there, learning Japanese customs ("Don't use soap in the Japanese bath!"). Her story, "It's Seaweed Weather," recounted an incident that occurred around 1960 when Wendy was only eight years old.
There is, it appears, a certain kind of weather which, when coupled with the right tide, produces the exactly right time to gather seaweed for use in certain Japanese dishes. By the end of the story, little Wendy, thanks to her grandfather, has learned just when that time occurs.
The traditional Hawaiian moon calendar was divided into 12 months of 29 and-a-half phases that started with the new moon. (Every so often, they would add a 13th month to get the seasons back on track.)
Michael Foley read four short poems marking incidents associated with four different days of the Hawaiian Moon Calendar. Together, they told a story ending in a king's death.
On the day of the Kuhola Moon (the fifth day of the lunar month), when the moon was just a narrow strip of light, people mused about the restlessness that some of us call home. The second poem described an incident that occurred on 'Olekukahi (the seventh day of the lunar month; while, on Mohalu (the 12th day of the lunar month) two men talked about encountering death. Finally, on Lono (the 28th day of the lunar month, although the queen anticipated King David's homecoming, the king came home in a coffin.
Michael Foley read four short poems marking incidents associated with four different days of the Hawaiian Moon Calendar. Together, they told a story ending in a king's death.
On the day of the Kuhola Moon (the fifth day of the lunar month), when the moon was just a narrow strip of light, people mused about the restlessness that some of us call home. The second poem described an incident that occurred on 'Olekukahi (the seventh day of the lunar month; while, on Mohalu (the 12th day of the lunar month) two men talked about encountering death. Finally, on Lono (the 28th day of the lunar month, although the queen anticipated King David's homecoming, the king came home in a coffin.
Joy Fisher read a personal -- "very personal" -- essay about an incident that happened to her more than half a century ago. The broad theme of the essay was immediately apparent from the title:
"#Me, Too: The Doctor."
In the essay, the author revealed how, when she searched for a new doctor after moving to Las Vegas (her first time living far from home) she experienced something quite unexpected during her first visit: the nurse left the examining room and never came back and the doctor pulled out a camera and began photographing her "lady parts."
It wasn't until more than a decade later that she discovered, during a feminist self-examination workshop where participants compared pictures of their external genitalia, that the doctor had taken more than just pictures.
"#Me, Too: The Doctor."
In the essay, the author revealed how, when she searched for a new doctor after moving to Las Vegas (her first time living far from home) she experienced something quite unexpected during her first visit: the nurse left the examining room and never came back and the doctor pulled out a camera and began photographing her "lady parts."
It wasn't until more than a decade later that she discovered, during a feminist self-examination workshop where participants compared pictures of their external genitalia, that the doctor had taken more than just pictures.
Eila Algood, who usually limits her role at authors readings to hosting, added her voice as a reader to this final spring reading. She read a short poetic story that had recently been published in an anthology,
Queer Families, An LGBTQ True Stories Anthology.
The piece began with Eila's "coming out" after 16 years of marriage to a man, then described the pain of her divorce and the fight over custody of the children, followed by the stress of living through her new partner's cancer. Her partner recovered from that first bout with the disease, but later on the cancer returned and Eila's partner died.
Despite this series of painful events, eventually "new love melted" Eila's "chilled heart." She met another woman, fell in love again, and they are still living happily together!
Eila was the last scheduled reader, but when she looked at the clock after she finished, there was time for one more. And so ...
Queer Families, An LGBTQ True Stories Anthology.
The piece began with Eila's "coming out" after 16 years of marriage to a man, then described the pain of her divorce and the fight over custody of the children, followed by the stress of living through her new partner's cancer. Her partner recovered from that first bout with the disease, but later on the cancer returned and Eila's partner died.
Despite this series of painful events, eventually "new love melted" Eila's "chilled heart." She met another woman, fell in love again, and they are still living happily together!
Eila was the last scheduled reader, but when she looked at the clock after she finished, there was time for one more. And so ...
...Carla Orellana leaped to her feet, manuscript at the ready. Carla, well-known to audiences of Hawaii Writers Guild events for stories about her former belly-dancing partner, a large boa constrictor named Suleman Aziz, had a new topic to share with the delighted audience -- a tale about sailing to Hawaii on a small boat through a big sea when she was just 20 years old.
Carla's adventure on the Maisha (which she explained means "Dance of the Sea") lasted 30 days and 30 nights across the Pacific Ocean, and when her tale was over, we were all very glad she had survived that dance on the sea. Her dances with Suleman Aziz seemed tame by comparison!
Don't you wish you'd been at the North Kohala Library to hear all these fine readers? Summaries and reviews are all right, but when you hear the voices of the readers -- that's when the real magic happens.
Well, it's not too late. Do you see how many microphones there are in the pictures of the readers above? One was to amplify the readers' voices, but the other was to make an audio recording of the event. Eila has edited that recording and it will be aired on KNKR radio on Thursday, April 26, from 2-4 p.m.
Those who are within radio range of the North Kohala station can hear the program by tuning in to 96.1 FM on the dial. The rest of the world can catch the program by going to KNKR.org on their computers at any time (the program is posted). Here's the link:
knkr.org/archives/special-broadcasts/
North Kohala readings will resume later this year.
Well, it's not too late. Do you see how many microphones there are in the pictures of the readers above? One was to amplify the readers' voices, but the other was to make an audio recording of the event. Eila has edited that recording and it will be aired on KNKR radio on Thursday, April 26, from 2-4 p.m.
Those who are within radio range of the North Kohala station can hear the program by tuning in to 96.1 FM on the dial. The rest of the world can catch the program by going to KNKR.org on their computers at any time (the program is posted). Here's the link:
knkr.org/archives/special-broadcasts/
North Kohala readings will resume later this year.
Photographs at the reading courtesy Guild member Jada Tan Rufo. Contact Jada at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
April 4 Lit Nite in Waimea
Maui poet Mahealani Perez-Wendt addresses the audience
Liminal living, that sense of ambiguity or disorientation when making a transition from one stage or phase to another or crossing from one place to another was evoked by a quartet of writers from the Hawaii Writers Guild on April 4 during the semi-monthly Lit Nite presentation at Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea.
Guild member Peter Georgas, visiting the Big Island from his home in Minneapolis, evoked liminality in the passage he read from his 2017 novel, Theophanes' Virgin. In the book, the main character, Marcus, joins his mother on a trip to her Greek homeland, a place Marcus has never before seen despite his Greek heritage.
In the passage Georgas chose to read, Marcus finds himself standing in a Greek Orthodox Church where, for the first time, he experiences a sense of the culture and history his mother, an emigre from Greece, had had to leave behind.
"It's a novel, but I drew on my own experience and feelings when I wrote that passage," Georgas said, explaining that his mother had, indeed, left the land of her birth when she immigrated to the United States. When he went to Greece for the first time, he experienced just such a moment when he felt the dual nature of her cultural heritage and of his own.
Diane Revell, Guild member from Hawi, moved to North Kohala from Washington State. She is collecting her writings for a to-be-published book of poetry and short fiction. At Lit Nite, she began her reading with a poem that used the metaphor of flight to depict a passage from joy to depression: "Flight is no longer a memory ... I sink to the bottom."
She ended with a piece of short nonfiction about visiting her Dad in a nursing home. "This is your daughter. Do you know her name?" her mother asks. In the fog of his memory loss, he comes up with the wrong name. It is the first time her Dad has lost her name. "Okay, she replies agreeably to the incorrect name, "but most people call me Diane." Then she breaks out a maple bar to satisfy his sweet tooth and the liminal moment passes.
Diane's writing doesn't fall into limine for long. She often uses her short poems like anchors to tie her firmly to the moment. Pet mother to a dog and two cats, she read this short poem about one of her cats: "I made the bed with the help of the kitten. It only took twice as long."
How well I know that experience!
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Cecilia Johansen moved to up-country Waimea when she fell in love with a handsome Hawaiian cowboy who happened to be the cousin of her deceased first husband. Stories from the family lore of the two cousins, combined with extensive historical research, led to publication of The Canoe Maker's Son, a novel about an 18th Century Hawaiian man named Eleu who is hijacked onto a tall ship and spends years in the Pacific Northwest before making his way back home to Hawaii. Cece read a section about the main character's return home after his years away, a vivid description of Eleu's final canoe passage across the worst channel of all, the 'Alenuihaha between Maui and the Big Island. It is a dramatic and disorienting physical and psychological transition that brings Eleu home at last. |
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Our special guest on April 4 was Mahealani Perez-Wendt. Mahealani is a Guild member and award-winning poet from Maui. In 1993, she was the recipient of the Hawaii-based Elliott Cades award for literature. Her book of poetry, Uluhaimalama, was published by Kuleana 'Oiwi Press in 2007.
Mahealani's poetry sings the songs of her Hawaiian ancestors, the Kanaka Maoli, whose land was stolen from them and who have never given up the fight to regain sovereignty over that land.
The title of her book, Uluhaimalama, is the name of the garden established by Queen Lili'uokalani after the illegal overthrow of her government by the annexationist growers who formed a provisional government. The name of the garden carried an allegorical meaning: "As the plants grow up out of the dark earth into the light, so shall light come to the nation."
It was a fear-filled time when Hawaiians were forbidden to gather, but the provisional government allowed them to come together to plant and tend the garden. On October 11, 1894, the garden was planted under a full moon. It was the sacred night of hua on which it was believed all things planted would grow and flourish.
The queen was forbidden to read the newspapers, but as the flowers matured, her loyal subjects cut bouquets and wrapped them in newspapers and, in that way, smuggled the latest news in to their captive sovereign.
Mahealani recited and chanted her poems in the Hawaiian oral tradition. Most of the poems were from her book, and were arranged to tell the story of that overthrow and the determination of the people to regain their sovereignty. Her language makes use of the richness of metaphor, often referred to in Hawaiian as kaona, or "hidden meaning."
She began with a poem called "Iolani Palace," which invokes a gathering of the Kanaka Maoli at the queen's palace, named by the meaning of their names, named by their trades, named by their dress -- "We brocaded ones/We clothed in rags." The people, united. "We lift our torches/At the gates."
"For Lili'u" sings a requiem for their mother, the queen, symbol of the nation:
We search the empty garden, Uluhaimalama.
Papery flowers on melancholy earth. Now
Our song is for our mother.
Our nation.
Our rebirth.
"Ruminations," a newer poem not in the book, was a long narrative incorporating oli (chants). It laments that, although the palace was restored to its former glory, the people were not. One oli was to the god Kane; the other to the goddess Pele.
"Uluhaimalama" returns to the theme of gathering the people; it describes contemporary degredations, but it nevertheless ends on a note of resistance:
We have gathered
With manacled hands;
We have gathered
With shackled feet;
We have gathered
In the dust of forget
Seeking the vein
Which will not collapse.
.......
We have climbed
The high wire of treason --
We will not fall.
"Lili'ulani" describes the "dark night's vigil" of the people, but looks toward "morning's promise--"
Dawn unfolds
Many horizons,
Each horizon
Bringing its message
Of love's renewal.
Mahealani concluded with the short poem, "Holy Ground," an invocation to the moon:
O Moon
Lift the brittle white dust,
The red augury of tears.
Call forth the sea,
Enchant its blue heart--
Form this place holy,
And holy again.
Mahealani's poetry sings the songs of her Hawaiian ancestors, the Kanaka Maoli, whose land was stolen from them and who have never given up the fight to regain sovereignty over that land.
The title of her book, Uluhaimalama, is the name of the garden established by Queen Lili'uokalani after the illegal overthrow of her government by the annexationist growers who formed a provisional government. The name of the garden carried an allegorical meaning: "As the plants grow up out of the dark earth into the light, so shall light come to the nation."
It was a fear-filled time when Hawaiians were forbidden to gather, but the provisional government allowed them to come together to plant and tend the garden. On October 11, 1894, the garden was planted under a full moon. It was the sacred night of hua on which it was believed all things planted would grow and flourish.
The queen was forbidden to read the newspapers, but as the flowers matured, her loyal subjects cut bouquets and wrapped them in newspapers and, in that way, smuggled the latest news in to their captive sovereign.
Mahealani recited and chanted her poems in the Hawaiian oral tradition. Most of the poems were from her book, and were arranged to tell the story of that overthrow and the determination of the people to regain their sovereignty. Her language makes use of the richness of metaphor, often referred to in Hawaiian as kaona, or "hidden meaning."
She began with a poem called "Iolani Palace," which invokes a gathering of the Kanaka Maoli at the queen's palace, named by the meaning of their names, named by their trades, named by their dress -- "We brocaded ones/We clothed in rags." The people, united. "We lift our torches/At the gates."
"For Lili'u" sings a requiem for their mother, the queen, symbol of the nation:
We search the empty garden, Uluhaimalama.
Papery flowers on melancholy earth. Now
Our song is for our mother.
Our nation.
Our rebirth.
"Ruminations," a newer poem not in the book, was a long narrative incorporating oli (chants). It laments that, although the palace was restored to its former glory, the people were not. One oli was to the god Kane; the other to the goddess Pele.
"Uluhaimalama" returns to the theme of gathering the people; it describes contemporary degredations, but it nevertheless ends on a note of resistance:
We have gathered
With manacled hands;
We have gathered
With shackled feet;
We have gathered
In the dust of forget
Seeking the vein
Which will not collapse.
.......
We have climbed
The high wire of treason --
We will not fall.
"Lili'ulani" describes the "dark night's vigil" of the people, but looks toward "morning's promise--"
Dawn unfolds
Many horizons,
Each horizon
Bringing its message
Of love's renewal.
Mahealani concluded with the short poem, "Holy Ground," an invocation to the moon:
O Moon
Lift the brittle white dust,
The red augury of tears.
Call forth the sea,
Enchant its blue heart--
Form this place holy,
And holy again.
Photographs at the reading courtesy Guild member Jada Tan Rufo. Contact Jada at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
Text by Joy Fisher, public relation director. Contact Joy at: [email protected]
North Kohala Authors Readings Available on KNKR
The public reading held in North Kohala held on February 12 can be streamed online by going to KNKR.org. Here's a link: http://knkr.org/archives/special-broadcasts/ Many thanks to Eila Algood, who literally engineered this coup. Great job, Eila! She is planning to record the April 9 public reading as well. When it is available, we'll post it on line.
The public reading held in North Kohala held on February 12 can be streamed online by going to KNKR.org. Here's a link: http://knkr.org/archives/special-broadcasts/ Many thanks to Eila Algood, who literally engineered this coup. Great job, Eila! She is planning to record the April 9 public reading as well. When it is available, we'll post it on line.
Hometown Reads Launches Hawaii Page
Heeding a call from Hawaii Writers Guild member Ray Pace, Guild members joined other Hawaii writers to boost the Hawaii writers community over the minimum needed to launch a Hawaii site on Hometown Reads, a digital platform designed to connect local authors to their readership.
West Hawaii Today played its part by carrying a story of the launch in its "Everything Books" column on March 22.
Hawaii joins more than 100 other locations across the country that have sites featuring their local authors.
In addition to Pace, Guild members Eila Algood,Jada Tan Rufo, Bob Lupo, Joy Fisher, Gene Parola, Cecilia Johansen and Sam Cudney joined the site. Others are continuing to take advantage of this free service.
If you haven't joined this site yet, take a look at it at hometownreads.com/city/hawaii If like what you see, follow the directions to join so you can showcase your books in this digital window.
Remembering John Holland
Past and present members of the Tutu's House Writers' Support Group gathered on February 22 for their Eighth Annual Open House and Reading, this year dedicated to honoring the man who had mentored them all. Their memories of the late John Holland joined together to craft the many facets of his spirit as surely as the pictures on display conveyed the changing images of his appearance as he passed through the stages of his long life.
Facing the audience at the front of the room was a picture of the young John Holland, bare-chested and seemingly invincible in the prime of life; next to that, a picture of a slightly older John who nevertheless retained an impish grin; next to that, a shot from behind of a still older John, feet up on the banister of a lanai, contemplating a sunset almost gone from the sky.
Increasingly, the sky in the open threshold that framed the readers' podium resembled the one in the photograph, the light behind the Norfolk Island pine outside gradually fading into blackness, the voices of the readers punctuated by the soft sounds of coqui frogs until even the frogs fell silent, giving way to the memories of John, coming in waves of words from those who knew and loved him.
Facing the audience at the front of the room was a picture of the young John Holland, bare-chested and seemingly invincible in the prime of life; next to that, a picture of a slightly older John who nevertheless retained an impish grin; next to that, a shot from behind of a still older John, feet up on the banister of a lanai, contemplating a sunset almost gone from the sky.
Increasingly, the sky in the open threshold that framed the readers' podium resembled the one in the photograph, the light behind the Norfolk Island pine outside gradually fading into blackness, the voices of the readers punctuated by the soft sounds of coqui frogs until even the frogs fell silent, giving way to the memories of John, coming in waves of words from those who knew and loved him.
Emcee Eila Algood introduced the readers, but she took a moment to relate her own favorite story about John: how he created a space where she knew she was safe to talk about her wife, Holly.
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First reader up was Lorraine Urbic, Tutu's House program director, who recalled how John Holland approached her in 2008 to propose that Tutu's House offer space for a support group for writers. Trained as a poet herself, Lorraine was easily persuaded, and the Tutu's House Writers' Support Group was soon a reality with John at its helm. Reading "The Practice of Poetry," Lorraine asserted: "When a poem knocks, eventually you have to let it out -- like breathing." The same might be said for a good idea! |
John's widow, Catrinka Holland, then took her place behind the podium to disclose how, even now, she looks to John for direction and comfort in her new bereavement and how she can still find it in the writings that he left behind. To illustrate, she read a poem John wrote to her in March 2015, when she was away and he was missing her. "Wanderlust Accepted" described his coming to terms with her absence.
Dave Fouts, currently a co-coordinator of the Writers Support Group, paid tribute to John by reading a favorite piece of John's writing, "Sweat," which recalled the smell of his father during the drought years of the 1930s in the Midwest, when crops withered from a lack of rainfall and country families shared one tub of bathwater a week.
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Greer Woodward, the first person to join the newly-established writing group in 2008, shared three beginnings of John--the welcoming space he created in the workshop by his belief that everyone had stories to tell; the "sparkle and spark" with which he connected with others; and the beginning of John himself, born in 1928 in Fredonia, Kansas, and raised during the dustbowl of the 1930s. Greer read John's poem "Dust Storm Nights."
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Eliza Cahill, also a co-coordinator of the Writers Support Group, read a poem of John's, "Musings at Sunset," written when John lived in Nevada City, California, a locale where Eliza also once lived. "John knew how to share beauty," Eliza asserted with conviction.
John also taught Eliza to write about the hard things; she shared that lesson by reading a scene from her current work-in-progress, a novel about the Holocaust. |
Jada Rufo first met John in 2009, but soon moved to China. When she returned in 2012 to help care for her terminally ill father, John became her "go-to guy" for stress relief. John also brought comfort to her father, who enjoyed his visits. After John died, Jada sent a mental note to her late father to let him know John was up there with him and asking him to welcome John into his new neighborhood.
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Marc Gordon read a moving remembrance of John entitled "Dutch," about the death of two Hollands. In it, he recalled John's unfailing voicemails, inquiring to the end about Marc, his family and Marc's new job.
Marc described how, as John struggled to write the last of the recollections about his life, his own writing would bring him to tears, and how, in his last meeting with Marc, John bore witness to "riding it out." |
Paul Bryant wanted to write stories about his own life, but because he grew up in the family of a diplomat, his stories tended to be light and amusing. John told him, "Paul, you've got to stop writing about all this fluff and write about the gritty things in your life."
Paul revealed he had learned that lesson by reading "A Secret Held Too Long, 1964," relating an incident when Paul killed a man and his friend took the blame for it because he knew he had a legal defense that Paul did not have. |
Culminating the readings, Amy Elizabeth Gordon read what was perhaps one of the most beautiful "Dear John" letters ever written.
"Dear John," (Amy wrote in part) "Please continue to guide me in being a force for good. Your presence mattered, John, and it still matters now. You modeled for us how to be real, raw and vulnerable; how to be irreverently reverent. These are the reminders you leave us."
Throughout the evening, the readers spoke for John and about John and even to John, but at the end of the evening, through the magic of video, John had the final word when Eliza Cahill showed a video of John speaking for himself when he read from his novel, Yellow Bird, at a "Words and Wine" presentation at Kona Stories bookstore.
John is gone, but his wisdom and compassion live on in his writings and in our hearts. He will continue to inspire us all.
In keeping with John's founding principles, the Tutu's Writers' Support Group is a supportive, encouraging place to share one's writing. It is a free, open group for writers at all experience levels, from first-time writers to published authors. It meets every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until noon at Tutu's House, a community health and wellness center located at 54-1032 Mamalahoa Hwy, #304, in Waimea.
John is gone, but his wisdom and compassion live on in his writings and in our hearts. He will continue to inspire us all.
In keeping with John's founding principles, the Tutu's Writers' Support Group is a supportive, encouraging place to share one's writing. It is a free, open group for writers at all experience levels, from first-time writers to published authors. It meets every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until noon at Tutu's House, a community health and wellness center located at 54-1032 Mamalahoa Hwy, #304, in Waimea.
Photographs of the readers courtesy of Jada Tan Rufo
Text by Joy Fisher, grateful member of the Tutu's House Writers' Support Group
Text by Joy Fisher, grateful member of the Tutu's House Writers' Support Group
It Was All About Love at the North Kohala Library
Love in its many guises was recalled by members of the Hawaii Writers Guild reading from their original work at the North Kohala Library on February 12, just two days before Valentine's Day.
As is usual in the North Kohala presentations, the room was packed with avid listeners while emcee Eila Allgood worked her moderator's magic as she introduced the six authors who had consented to share their personal feelings about this most intimate of subjects.There was poetry, of course, and excerpts from memoirs and personal essays, but no fiction. Love is personal. But love is also varied, and the love objects described ran the gamut from spouses to a boa constrictor (yes, I said a boa constrictor), with a mountain ranch thrown in for good measure.
As is usual in the North Kohala presentations, the room was packed with avid listeners while emcee Eila Allgood worked her moderator's magic as she introduced the six authors who had consented to share their personal feelings about this most intimate of subjects.There was poetry, of course, and excerpts from memoirs and personal essays, but no fiction. Love is personal. But love is also varied, and the love objects described ran the gamut from spouses to a boa constrictor (yes, I said a boa constrictor), with a mountain ranch thrown in for good measure.
Donna Maltz led off with two short essays about her husband from her book-in-progress, From Soil to Soul: The Evolution of an Eco-Bohemian Entrepreneur. The first essay, "Hire for Good Reasons," told the story of how her husband-to-be first came into her life as her employee at her bakery in Homer, Alaska. The second, "Choose Your Partner Wisely," recounted the delicate dance of learning to function as business partners as well as spouses after they were married. That was a long time ago, but judging by Donna's enthusiastic ad-libbed comments, theirs is a drama that's likely to have a long run.
It was Pete Cameron 's debut reading as a new member of the Hawaii Writers Guild. Well-known in the community as a "cowboy poet," Pete has attended the Cowboy Poetry Gathering held in Elko, Nevada, and his ease in front of an audience was apparent. Pete led off with "To Sara, With Love," a poem he read to his wife at their wedding. He followed up with a number of other short works that he delivered from memory, including one about a man who ended up marrying a woman he ran over in a parking lot. Pete ended his turn at the microphone with a heart-felt poem to his ranch in North Kohala called "Ode to a Mountain Ranch."
Virginia Fortner, master of many genres, also chose poetry as the medium for her tales of love, but, all by herself, Virginia managed to illustrate the many varieties of love being addressed at this reading. Her first poem was to her ex-husband, a reminder that some forms of love can outlast even a marriage. Another nostalgic love poem was to her home town; while a third, a real tear-jerker, was about a dog she fostered but did not keep (don't worry, Virginia made sure "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" found a "forever" home). Her final love poem, "Of the Cloth," was about her mother, who died in her 90s in 2010. The poem described her mother's handiwork, a construction that survived her death, both tangibly and in an indelible, emotionally-charged memory.
Jada Rufo read an excerpt from her first published book, Banana Girl, a memoir of her experience teaching English as a second language in China. In answer to a question about the significance of the title, Jada said that, as a Chinese-American living in China, she learned that, like the fruit, she is "yellow on the outside and white on the inside." During her teaching years in China, Jada built many friendships with both her students and with the other teachers. Her reading on this night was about one of those friendships, with a colleague, Lisa, who was leaving and was not coming back. "In China," Jada said, when people say 'bon voyage,' they mean goodbye--forever."
Marc Gordon read a personal essay called "The Flounder and the Crab," reflecting on an argument he had with his wife during a trip to the beach. After the fight, Marc and his wife waded into the surf together, mask and snorkel on, for a look at the creatures of the ocean, which never seem to argue. But Marc spotted an interaction between a flounder and a crab that reminded him of the interlude between himself and his wife: the flounder seemed to pursue the crab, who would flee and then stop, seeming to wait for the flounder to follow. What was this game of pursuit and flight, he wondered, and was he the flounder or the crab?
If you've heard Carla "Aleili" Orellana read before, you know she's working on a book called Tales of a Snake Dancer about her adventures with her belly dancing partner, Suleman Aziz, a boa constrictor. In "A Hike with Suleman," Carla told the tale of a hike in the wilderness with Suleman. Even an encounter with some startled hikers couldn't diminish a serene moment on a sun-warmed rock with her beloved friend Suleman wrapped around her waist. But her carefree bounding down the hill afterwards disturbed Suleman's grip and equanimity; he turned to face her sternly, opened his jaws wide and struck her twice with his curved fangs. Carla kept dancing with Suleman for awhile after that, but, sadly, she never trusted him again.
After the readings concluded, members of the audience showed their appreciation. One man, who gave his name as Dell Haber, stood, declared he was not a writer but was inspired to read a poem of his own, which he did, and which was well-written and well-received. A woman in the front row rose to say that, although she was terribly frightened of snakes, Carla's story about Suleman had kept her riveted to her seat.
Are you sorry you missed the reading? Don't despair. Eila Allgood recorded the presentation for North Kohala radio station KNKR and, after some editing, the readings will be broadcast at some future time. We'll keep you posted on the date!
Are you sorry you missed the reading? Don't despair. Eila Allgood recorded the presentation for North Kohala radio station KNKR and, after some editing, the readings will be broadcast at some future time. We'll keep you posted on the date!
Off to a Good Start!
First Lit Nite of 2018 the Most Successful Yet
Cece Johansen, events coordinator, emcees the first Lit Nite of 2018 at the Thelma Parker Library in Waimea
When the rain started pouring down in Waimea around 3 p.m. on February 7, I was apprehensive. Our first Lit Nite of 2018 was slated to start at 5:30. Would anyone bother to venture out in such bad weather? We'd already had two days of electrical storms in Waimea, thunder cracking and claws of lightening scratching out jagged slashes across the sky; I feared the worst.
I needn't have worried. The weather goddess was kind; the rain stopped, the sun came out, and by 5:30, we had the largest crowd we'd ever assembled for Lit Nite at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library. A total of 21 people gathered to hear our speakers, and they were in for a treat.
Five Hawaii Writers Guild authors drove in from surrounding towns, three from Hawi, one from Honokaa, and one all the way from Hakalau. The diversity of their subject matter seized the attention of the crowd immediately and held it as, one after another, they shared their stories.
First up, Carla "Aleili" Orellana from Hawi read from her Tales of a Snake Dancer, vignettes from her life as a professional belly dancer with her boa constrictor, Suliman Aziz. The first piece, "The Beginning of the Tale," set the scene by describing Aleili's early close encounters with Suliman Aziz (she got accustomed to his presence by doing her housework with Suliman wrapped around her body). A short second tale told of how two hapless Mormon missionaries fled her front door when she answered it with Suliman encircling her body.
I needn't have worried. The weather goddess was kind; the rain stopped, the sun came out, and by 5:30, we had the largest crowd we'd ever assembled for Lit Nite at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library. A total of 21 people gathered to hear our speakers, and they were in for a treat.
Five Hawaii Writers Guild authors drove in from surrounding towns, three from Hawi, one from Honokaa, and one all the way from Hakalau. The diversity of their subject matter seized the attention of the crowd immediately and held it as, one after another, they shared their stories.
First up, Carla "Aleili" Orellana from Hawi read from her Tales of a Snake Dancer, vignettes from her life as a professional belly dancer with her boa constrictor, Suliman Aziz. The first piece, "The Beginning of the Tale," set the scene by describing Aleili's early close encounters with Suliman Aziz (she got accustomed to his presence by doing her housework with Suliman wrapped around her body). A short second tale told of how two hapless Mormon missionaries fled her front door when she answered it with Suliman encircling her body.
Next up was Donna Maltz, also from Hawi, who taught us a thing or two about hard negotiating tactics when she read us a story about how she convinced her reluctant father to finance the equipment for her new bakery in Alaska by hanging up on him during a long-distance phone call. How many of us would have thought of that--but it worked! Donna read the piece from her work-in-progress, Soil to Soul: The Evolution Of an Eco-Bohemian Entrepeneur. Who would think an "Eco-Bohemian" could evolve into such a hard bargaining enrepreneur?
Virginia Fortner, our third reader from Hawi, read "Go Tell Your Father," a piece of historical fiction based on stories about her mother's 95-year-long-life. Virginia is compiling this book as a memoir for her children and grandchildren. The story highlighted a communication style with which many of us may be painfully familiar, where direct communication is replaced by a system using the children to convey messages between the parents. Sometimes it's a wonder that we survive our childhoods.
Bob Lupo, a new Hawaii Writers Guild member from Hakalau, hit a home run with his first-ever presentation at Lit Nite, reading the first chapter of his book, A Buffalo's Revenge, a novel based on the year he served as a medic with the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry "Manchus" in Vietnam. That chapter started the book off with a bang--or several of them, depicting a battle scene where "our side" behaved with something less than magnanimity. It was a real stunner, but it had the unmistakable ring of truth!
Dave Fouts from Honokaa closed the evening of readings with a new piece called "What Mary Sees," in which he accomplished the very difficult task of depicting a woman's walk in the wilderness with her male partner through the sensibility of the woman. In this sophisticated rendering, Dave poked subtle fun at male entitlement as seen from a woman's point of view. It was a masterful piece of writing. I wish you had all been there to hear it.
--Joy Fisher, Director of Public Relations, Hawaii Writers Guild
--Joy Fisher, Director of Public Relations, Hawaii Writers Guild
Hawaii Writers Guild Book Table at the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival
Hawaii Writers Guild members, from left, Jada Rufo, Eliza Cahill, Bryan Furer and Dave Fouts staff the book table at the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival. Not pictured are Ray and Julia Pace, Duncan Dempster and Cece Johansen.
The table was well-stocked with books by Guild authors, candy and Dave Fouts' special brownies. The candy and brownies were free; the books were for sale, and sell they did, as hundreds (seemed like thousands!) of people milled about the exhibit space next to the Kahilu Theater during the 2018 Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival on February 3.
It was the second year the Hawaii Writers Guild had a booth at the festival, and the endeavor proved profitable, both in providing a venue for Guild authors to sell their books and also in affording the Guild an opportunity to get better known in the community.
The event ran from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., but Cece Johansen, events coordinator, arrived at the site before 6:30 a.m. to secure a space and begin set-up. Her conclusion after the long day? "It was very successful. We're starting to be recognized."
The Guild will no doubt take advantage of the opportunity this event provides again, so if you have a work-in-progress, give yourself a February 2019 deadline for publication and join us at the book table at the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival next year!
At right, Cece Johansen, events coordinator
It was the second year the Hawaii Writers Guild had a booth at the festival, and the endeavor proved profitable, both in providing a venue for Guild authors to sell their books and also in affording the Guild an opportunity to get better known in the community.
The event ran from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., but Cece Johansen, events coordinator, arrived at the site before 6:30 a.m. to secure a space and begin set-up. Her conclusion after the long day? "It was very successful. We're starting to be recognized."
The Guild will no doubt take advantage of the opportunity this event provides again, so if you have a work-in-progress, give yourself a February 2019 deadline for publication and join us at the book table at the Waimea Cherry Blossom Festival next year!
At right, Cece Johansen, events coordinator
There had never been so many members of the Hawaii Writers Guild in one room together! Our membership swelled to 45 in anticipation of our First Annual Dinner and Election of Officers, and fully two-thirds of that number told us they planned to come. Eleven of us also brought guests along to historic Anna Ranch in Waimea, which was our home for the night as we gathered our writing family together for the first time.
Some of us had never seen each other in person before (one couple who lives on the mainland was in attendance). But most of us recognized each other from our pictures on the authors page on our website, and name tags helped put names to faces. There was room for everyone at the long table in the dining room and place settings each contained gifts of newly-designed Hawaii Writers Guild business cards and our treasured Hawaii Writers Guild pens, as well as souvenir programs which outlined the order of service from first welcome by our president, Eliza Cahill, to the final toast of new officers and closing.
The beautiful antipasto food dishes were created by Eliza, and Eila Algood, emcee extraordinaire, shepherded us through the tightly-scheduled event. Between eating and voting, however, there was time to admire the collection of our members published books on display for the occasion and to compare writing notes with newfound friends.
Some of us had never seen each other in person before (one couple who lives on the mainland was in attendance). But most of us recognized each other from our pictures on the authors page on our website, and name tags helped put names to faces. There was room for everyone at the long table in the dining room and place settings each contained gifts of newly-designed Hawaii Writers Guild business cards and our treasured Hawaii Writers Guild pens, as well as souvenir programs which outlined the order of service from first welcome by our president, Eliza Cahill, to the final toast of new officers and closing.
The beautiful antipasto food dishes were created by Eliza, and Eila Algood, emcee extraordinaire, shepherded us through the tightly-scheduled event. Between eating and voting, however, there was time to admire the collection of our members published books on display for the occasion and to compare writing notes with newfound friends.
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(Photos at left and above by Jada Rufo.)
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When all the ballots were counted, the Hawaii Writers Guild had its new slate of officers for 2018: Eliza Cahill, president; Bruce Stern, vice president; Diane Revell, secretary; and Bob Lupo, treasurer. We were ready for another exciting year as our organization continues to grow and expand. Congratulations!
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From left to right: Eliza Cahill, president; Bruce Stern, vice president; Diane Revell, secretary; and Bob Lupo, treasurer.
Waimea Lit Nite Wraps 2017 HWG Authors Readings
Four Hawaii Writers Guild members opened their hearts and shared their stories with friends, family members and the public at the Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library on December 6. It was the final night of authors readings for this year, and the writers made it one to remember.
Genres varied from memoir to historical and contemporary fiction to fantasy, but, in keeping with the approaching end of the year, the tone of each piece sounded in loss -- personal, collective, physical and emotional.
Genres varied from memoir to historical and contemporary fiction to fantasy, but, in keeping with the approaching end of the year, the tone of each piece sounded in loss -- personal, collective, physical and emotional.
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Paul Bryant opened the evening with a moving personal account of his last visit with his first lover and life-long friend, who died at the age of 39 after an extended illness from a brain tumor. The piece reflected on what the dying can teach the living.
Paul reading "A Remembrance of Prakarn 'Jom' Kaeowichien, 1944-1982" |
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Jada Tan Rufo reading from her newly-published book, The Zone, a historical novel about the 1937 event known as "The Rape of Nanjing."
During this conflict, as many as 300,000 people were killed and women of the Chinese city were raped en masse by Japanese soldiers despite the existence of a so-called "safe zone." Drawing on historical accounts, Rufo's novel recreated the horror of the event in stark detail. |
In her first reading as a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild, Amara Cudney struck a contemporary theme with a tale about the grim realities of addiction, a subject that doesn't always come with a gift-wrapped happy ending.
Amara reading from her novel, Merili's Wine, a story that will strike a familiar note with anyone whose life has been touched by addiction.
Amara reading from her novel, Merili's Wine, a story that will strike a familiar note with anyone whose life has been touched by addiction.
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Greer Woodward's fantasy story, "Home SWT Home," ("SWT", short for "Sweet," is meant to evoke the craft of an embroidered sampler). The story invoked the nostalgia felt by anyone who has ever had to move away from a house they have grown to love -- only in Greer's story, the house also missed its former owner and followed her.
Greer closing the evening with a reading of her fantasy story, "Home SWT Home." |
Hawaii Writers Guild Authors Read to Full House in North Kohala
As a spectacular sunset punctuated a mild evening, overflow audience members sat in the open air outside a packed room at the North Kohala library on November 13 peering through open picture windows at the readers in the front of the room.
One-by-one, host Eila Algood called seven authors to the microphone to present original writings ranging from an excerpt from a historical novel about the 1937 rape of Nanjing to a memoir piece recounting the death of the author's first lover and lifelong friend. Poetry, travel writing, an excerpt from a mystery novel and a scene from a "stage memoir" varied the rhythms of the presentations delivered in a variety of genres. Algood also contributed two poems of her own, bringing the number of readers to the promised eight for the evening.
It was the third and final authors reading of the year presented by the Guild at the North Kohala Library. Plans for a similar series next year are still uncertain, but given the success of this year's presentations, an encore seems in order.
One-by-one, host Eila Algood called seven authors to the microphone to present original writings ranging from an excerpt from a historical novel about the 1937 rape of Nanjing to a memoir piece recounting the death of the author's first lover and lifelong friend. Poetry, travel writing, an excerpt from a mystery novel and a scene from a "stage memoir" varied the rhythms of the presentations delivered in a variety of genres. Algood also contributed two poems of her own, bringing the number of readers to the promised eight for the evening.
It was the third and final authors reading of the year presented by the Guild at the North Kohala Library. Plans for a similar series next year are still uncertain, but given the success of this year's presentations, an encore seems in order.
Eila Algood, above, host of the Hawaii Writers Guild authors nights in the North Kohala Library.
Michael Foley started the evening readings with an excerpt from his stage memoir, Tales from the Wings, with a stage hand's view of a scene from Richard the Second at Stratford-on-Avon.
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Virginia Fortner entertained with a tale of travel-companion-induced insomnia during a visit to the Greek Islands from her travel tale, Adjustment.
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Poet Helena Kim read poems of delicate lumin-escence from her work-in- progress, a collection entitled Exiled in Light.
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Jada Rufo described a stark scene of death and destruction in an excerpt from her newly-completed novel, The Zone, about the 1937 combat known as the rape of Nanjing.
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Amy Elizabeth Gordon read from her yet to be published memoir a piece called "A Natural State." She explored her own experiences of the internal landscape and the ceaseless inspiration from nature to live a life worth living.
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Laura Burkhart read a scene from her new mystery novel, Oahu Alibis, which is set in Hawaii.
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Paul Bryant ended the evening with a moving tribute to his first lover and life-long friend in a piece entitled "A Remembrance of Prakarn 'Jom' Kaeowichien, 1944-1982."
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Waimea Authors Reminisce about Mentors
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Hawaii Writers Guild President Eliza Cahill and Guild member Joy Fisher paid tribute to former mentors at the November 1 Lit Nite at the Thelma Parker Library in Waimea.
Cahill read a previously published piece about her mentor "Bob" who had taught her sculpting when she was still a teenager. Bob had a quirky personality and was sometimes snubbed by people. After he died by his own hand, Cahill learned he had been the inventor of the animation technique called "Claymation" and, together with his partner, had won an Academy Award. Fisher read a piece about a Canadian writer named Candis Graham. Although she never knew Graham personally, she had been the recipient of the Candis Graham Writing Scholarship while she attended the University of Victoria in British Columbia. "Before it was fashionable, Candis used to say that she wrote for lesbians. Her example reminds me every day to tell the stories of my own people." Fisher added a word of praise for the Waimea authors readings. "The thing I like most about them is how relaxed and informal they are. There's plenty of time for discussion, both about the pieces and about craft. It's a great place for authors to practice oral presentations in a safe environment." |
Joy Fisher remembers Candis Graham.
Audience member Erik Hill looks over Eliza Cahill's published story after the reading.
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Volcano Writers Group Scores Hit at Halloween-Themed Reading
An unidentified guest, above, enjoys the first-ever authors reading presented by the Volcano Writers Group at Ira Ono's Volcano Arts Center on October 28. Brian Furer, above left, and Janet Carpenter spin their spooky tales at the Volcano Writers Group authors reading.
September 6 at Thelma Parker Library in Waimea featured Hawaii Writers Guild Writers. We hope you enjoy the videos.
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Members of the Volcano Writers Group took turns capturing the attention of their audience with stories of vampires, ghosts and creatures from the depths at the group's first-ever authors reading on October 28th.
Fans meant for cooling heightened the eerie atmosphere by blowing the pages of the stories right off the podium and flapping the sides of the large tent at Ira Ono's Volcano Arts Center, where a near-capacity audience sat entranced by tales of the supernatural. Light pupus and ample wine ensured a cheery ambience despite the scary tales. Bryan Furer, coordinator of the group, encouraged by the success of this initial endeavor, is contemplating periodic seasonal performances in the future. "Vitus the Mad" and Lehua Wells of the Volcano Writers Group mesmermize their audience.
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Here are some video highlights from The Hawaii Writers Guild gathering at the North Kohala Library, August 14, 2017. An overflow crowd enjoyed the presentations.
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Below are video highlights from Lit Nite at Parker Memorial Library, Waimea, August 2, 2017.
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North Kohala Public Library
News Release
The Hawaii Writers Guild is proud to present eight talented writers reading their works and answering questions from the audience, August 14, 2017, at the North Kohala Library. The doors open at 6 pm. Attendees are urged to arrive early.
“There’s tremendous talent in our community, which I have experienced in the two North Kohala writer’s groups I facilitate; one at the library and one at my home," Says Eila Algood, Hawi-based poet and MC of the event. "With the recent creation of the Hawaii Writer’s Guild, I’m meeting many more skilled writers. We’ll hear poetry, short stories, and excerpts from novels from published and unpublished authors. It’ll be a fun and interesting evening.”
Helping to coordinate the event is poet/ essayist Amy Elizabeth Gordon who recently spoke at a writers' evening at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea. She and her husband Marc are soon to publish their book, He Says, She Says, a collection of witty responses and counter-responses to some of life's mysteries.
Program schedule is subject to change. Contact the library three weeks in advance if a sign language interpreter or other special accommodation is required.
The July 5, 2017 Writers' Evening at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea drew three Guild writers and two members of the audience who shared their stories. We hope you enjoy the videos.
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Amy Elizabeth Gordon, Joy Fisher, and Jim Gibbons were the featured Guild writers at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library's Writers' Evening, sponsored by the Hawaii Writers Guild. Two surprise members of the audience also participated.
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News From Hawaii Writers Guild Members:
Eila Algood shares her happy news as a recipient of Certification in Transformative Language Arts from the Transformative Language Arts Foundation.
“I learned a lot in the online program, “Eila said. “Keep writing, the world needs to hear your voice.”
Poet Helena Kim also has good news.
“I have received the Voice of Diversity scholarship which is a full scholarship to the Mendocino Writer's Conference this August in Mendocino, California,” Helena said. “I am grateful to be taking their poetry workshop.”
Jada Tan Rufo also has news:
“Yesterday I read a Hawaii News Now Facebook post about an elderly man who was robbed at an ATM in Honolulu,” Jada said. “I responded by posting my horror story about being attacked at an ATM in China. I got a reply from someone who said they have added Banana Girl to their book club list. Another person responded by posting my "dangerous woman" photo (one taken of me at my Words n Wine event). You just never know.”
Jada adds that she’s plugging along in her second book The Zone.
“I'm going to have to kill off some of my main characters soon,” she added. “So a heads-up to those with weak stomachs. It will be graphic.”
Eila Algood shares her happy news as a recipient of Certification in Transformative Language Arts from the Transformative Language Arts Foundation.
“I learned a lot in the online program, “Eila said. “Keep writing, the world needs to hear your voice.”
Poet Helena Kim also has good news.
“I have received the Voice of Diversity scholarship which is a full scholarship to the Mendocino Writer's Conference this August in Mendocino, California,” Helena said. “I am grateful to be taking their poetry workshop.”
Jada Tan Rufo also has news:
“Yesterday I read a Hawaii News Now Facebook post about an elderly man who was robbed at an ATM in Honolulu,” Jada said. “I responded by posting my horror story about being attacked at an ATM in China. I got a reply from someone who said they have added Banana Girl to their book club list. Another person responded by posting my "dangerous woman" photo (one taken of me at my Words n Wine event). You just never know.”
Jada adds that she’s plugging along in her second book The Zone.
“I'm going to have to kill off some of my main characters soon,” she added. “So a heads-up to those with weak stomachs. It will be graphic.”
Local Author Explores Hemingway’s Mysterious Visit to Hawai‘i
By Big Island Now Staff
Posted June 8, 2017, 12:01 PM HST
A new biographical book authored by Waikoloa author Ray Pace examines some of the mysteries behind legendary author Earnest Hemingway’s visit to Hawai‘i Island preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Hemingway in Hawai‘i: War Would Come, Death Would Follow,” examines the potential outcomes of his visit, and some mysterious questions that arise amid the turbulent pre-war era.
Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, an American novelist and famed war correspondent, visited Hawai‘i on their way to China in early 1941. Pace explores what Hemingway did during his visit on the Island, and whether his experiences–catching a prize marlin and hunting for Bighorn sheep–led to a literary classic and a Nobel Prize.
Pace also explores the complicated relationship between the Hemingway brothers, and the possibility of a letter written by Earnest to his brother Leicester that told of “creation and ultimate destruction.” The story also poses the question of whether Hemingway foresaw the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pace is a longtime print and broadcast writer. He is the President of the Hawai‘i Writers Guild, a member of the Waimea Writers Group and North Kohala Writers. Pace has authored several books including: Bearstone Blackie, Detective; Captain Mike’s Honolulu Fright Night Tour; and Hemingway, Memories of Les.
By Big Island Now Staff
Posted June 8, 2017, 12:01 PM HST
A new biographical book authored by Waikoloa author Ray Pace examines some of the mysteries behind legendary author Earnest Hemingway’s visit to Hawai‘i Island preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Hemingway in Hawai‘i: War Would Come, Death Would Follow,” examines the potential outcomes of his visit, and some mysterious questions that arise amid the turbulent pre-war era.
Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, an American novelist and famed war correspondent, visited Hawai‘i on their way to China in early 1941. Pace explores what Hemingway did during his visit on the Island, and whether his experiences–catching a prize marlin and hunting for Bighorn sheep–led to a literary classic and a Nobel Prize.
Pace also explores the complicated relationship between the Hemingway brothers, and the possibility of a letter written by Earnest to his brother Leicester that told of “creation and ultimate destruction.” The story also poses the question of whether Hemingway foresaw the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pace is a longtime print and broadcast writer. He is the President of the Hawai‘i Writers Guild, a member of the Waimea Writers Group and North Kohala Writers. Pace has authored several books including: Bearstone Blackie, Detective; Captain Mike’s Honolulu Fright Night Tour; and Hemingway, Memories of Les.
Video from last night's writer event at Waimea Library.
Bearstone Blackie Gets his Library Card
By Beartina Blackie, MMLIS
May 3rd saw Guild President Ray Pace entertaining people with Bearstone Blackie and Les Hemingway stories at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea. Among the crowd were librarian Susan Collins and HWG Treasurer/Website Director, Duncan Dempster.
By Beartina Blackie, MMLIS
May 3rd saw Guild President Ray Pace entertaining people with Bearstone Blackie and Les Hemingway stories at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea. Among the crowd were librarian Susan Collins and HWG Treasurer/Website Director, Duncan Dempster.
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A Bunch of Happy Writers
The scene was the barn at Eila and Holly Algood's place in Hawi, Sunday April 23. Eila had an idea to get writers together for a session in synthesis and sharing. The theme was "Amplify." This happy bunch looks like the meeting did its best to amplify everyone who attended.
The scene was the barn at Eila and Holly Algood's place in Hawi, Sunday April 23. Eila had an idea to get writers together for a session in synthesis and sharing. The theme was "Amplify." This happy bunch looks like the meeting did its best to amplify everyone who attended.
Hawaii Writers Guild Schedules Public Readings
By Eila Algood, North Hawaii Director
The Hawaii Writer’s Guild is happy to announce 3 public readings to take place at the North Kohala Public Library from 6pm – 7:30pm on Mondays: August 14, September 25 and November 13, 2017.
Eight Guild members will be featured at each event. One feature of the event is meeting one-on-one with audience members after the presentations. There will be a display of Guild member books for sale at each event. Amy Elizabeth Gordon is one of the coordinators of the readings.
By Eila Algood, North Hawaii Director
The Hawaii Writer’s Guild is happy to announce 3 public readings to take place at the North Kohala Public Library from 6pm – 7:30pm on Mondays: August 14, September 25 and November 13, 2017.
Eight Guild members will be featured at each event. One feature of the event is meeting one-on-one with audience members after the presentations. There will be a display of Guild member books for sale at each event. Amy Elizabeth Gordon is one of the coordinators of the readings.
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Hawaii Writers Guild Launches Website, Seeks New Members
By Ray Pace, President HWG
Hawaiiwritersguild.com is up and running thanks to the herculean efforts of Guild Treasurer/Webmaster Duncan Dempster and his wily band of volunteers. This move is a large step in the Guild's efforts to raise the literary awareness of communities across Hawaii by bringing professional writers under the Guild's umbrella. What can an organization like the Hawaii Writers Guild do for a professional member? Jim Gibbons has one answer. "Joining the HWG has rekindled my desire to finish the book I've been working on for years," Gibbons says. "As more local writers join our group for our weekly meetings, I'm continually impressed by the diversity and talent, the positive and helpful feedback offered to each other, and the ongoing effort to help our community realize the importance of the written word." North Hawaii Director Eila Algood agrees. Her books Rhapsody in Bohemia, and On the Road to Bliss are available on Amazon.com. "The act of writing is a solitary experience, but with the Hawaii Writers Guild, I can meet and share the triumphs and challenges with people who get me," Algood says. "The diversity of writing talent in Hawaii is astounding, and the Hawaii Writers Guild offers opportunities for the public to know more about those writers. There is something very valuable in having the Hawaii Writers Guild as a statewide visible support system." Frances Titosky, a founding member of the Guild, and author of the critically acclaimed memoir Hawaii Sip 'N' Swim Club is adamant about the importance of the Guild. "Hawaii Writers Guild was formed on the principle that words are important and must be shared," Titosky says. "Writers must be supported." South Hawaii Director Bryan Furer, author of Five Steps to Sheep, and Passenger says one of the best things to have happened to Hawaii’s writing community is the formation of The Hawaii Writers Guild. “Any local writer who is serious about their craft should join the Hawaii Writers Guild,” Furer says. “If you are a local writer who is serious about your work and want it published and sold, then joining the Hawaii Writers Guild is one of the best things you can do.” “I belong to a lot of groups, groups that encourage and support strengthening my body, mind, and spirit," says Guild member Amy Elizabeth Gordon. "Joining Hawaii Writers Guild helps me weave my resources together as a writer. As a Guild member, I am reinforcing my commitment to honing my craft and pursuing publication. And they are a bunch of colorful characters come to life that I enjoy sharing breath with on a regular basis." "Essential elements in my process of becoming an author started in a writers support group where sharing, inspiration, growth, and respect brought me to the cusp of my career," says Guild Vice President Cecilia Johansen, author of the popular book The Canoe Maker's Son. "Our Guild is created out of that same vein, serving new writers waiting to take that leap of faith," says Johansen. "It gives them and published authors information, resources, and motivations for marketing their works. I am excited for the birth of the Hawaii Writers Guild and seeing it become a source of pride that serves our community." |
Hawaii Writers Guild has Big Plans
By Ray Pace, President, HWG
When a dozen writers sat across the table at Cece Johansen’s home in February, they did it with the determination that writers would have a positive influence on Hawaii. The old way of writers scattered across the islands might instead become a Guild offering promise to both readers and writers in building our islands' cultural image. We tossed money across the table at Duncan Dempster, our go-to-guy, and said, “You’re our Treasurer. Build us a website. We need a banner. We need cards to hang on bulletin boards.” Duncan nodded and smiled. Julia Pace was busily writing it all down. “She can be Secretary,” someone yelled. Cece quickly grabbed VP. It was her house, her choice. Somewhere in the ensuing cacophony and good cheer, I became President. At the time, I told the gathered writers that I thought we could grow our membership. We had the talent to do it, and we had creative ideas, breaks from the old way of doing things. In less than two months, we have more than doubled our membership without having an active website. How is this done? The Guild has creative people who know how to promote and deliver. A few examples: North Hawaii Director Eila Algood is also an on-air personality at KNKR radio in Hawi. Her Women’s Voices show is one of the most listened to on that station. She knows her community, and she responds to it. “We’re working now on a series of readings to be held at the North Kohala Library,” she says. “We’re thinking along the lines of having eight of our Guild writers do each event, talking about their books or maybe just works in progress. It could be a few poems or a part of a larger work. At the next session, another eight writers would be featured. It might be a rotating series. The idea is to get the public involved in what we’re doing. We’ll be letting people know when we get solid dates. We tried this once before as an independent project, and everyone enjoyed it and writers sold some books.” There’s another project Eila is considering. “It’s a collection of stories and poems about the area around Hawi and Kapa’au,” she says. “It’s just in the formative stages, but I know that there’s more than enough talent to pull it off. Guild members have been inquiring about it and I understand that even off-island writers have expressed an interest in correspondence with our president.” Writers love readings where they can get an audience to sample their work, ask questions, and buy books. Duncan Dempster knows how to produce readings. Last year, his independently produced For the Love of Words, at Kahilu Theater drew writers and an audience from all over. “It’s preliminary, but I think quite do-able,” Dempster says. “With the Guild getting organized the way it has, I feel we could draw a sizeable crowd to enjoy what we have to offer. I’ll be in talks with the Kahilu folks and of course Guild people will be there to offer their expertise.” Another Guild development is a partnership with the Thelma Parker Memorial Library in Waimea. Librarian Susan Collins has offered and the Guild has accepted the following times and dates for the Guild to hold open readings and critiques at the Thelma Parker Memorial Library. Each session will start at 10 am. and run until 1pm. Tuesday, June 6 Wednesday, June 14 Tuesday, June 20 Tuesday, June 27 Wednesday, July 5 Wednesday, July 12 Wednesday, July 19 Brown bagging is encouraged. Our ongoing and developing relationships with area libraries are important to the development of the Guild. Getting us into the building where readers congregate and potential writers hang out is a great opportunity for us to have a positive effect on our community. |
