New President, New Member Infuse Spirit of Aloha into Guild’s New Year
Diane Revell, the Guild’s new president, had been in office for less than a month when a message arrived from a Canadian author seeking assistance from the Guild in setting up a reading on Maui during her planned trip in April.
Minelle Mahtani, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, wrote: “I am a mixed race writer who has written a memoir about how I was gaining a voice [in radio] as my mother was losing hers” [to cancer]. Mahtani said she’d like to offer a reading from her memoir, May It Have a Happy Ending, which explores questions of “grief and ancestor voices,” and wondered whether the Guild could help.
Revell began exploring Maui venues herself and then sent out a solicitation to the Guild’s Maui members asking whether any of them could assist. Enter Phillip Anderson, new Guild member [see the story about him in this issue’s New Member Spotlight profiles]. Although new to the Guild, he didn’t hesitate to offer his help. He quickly compiled a list of six possible venues suitable for a reading, together with their contact phone numbers, and shared them with Mahtani.
On April 2, Mahtani reported she had confirmed a venue for the reading – Maui Coffee Attic in Wailuku said they would be happy to host and would also advertise. “I’m really happy that this is coming together!” Mahtani said.
Mahtani’s reading was held on Friday April 21 at 2 pm. One of the persons attending, a writer from Maui, later filed an application to join Hawaii Writers Guild. Our Guild members’ good deeds resulted in good fortune for the Guild!
Diane Revell
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Phillip Anderson
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Minelle Mahtani
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