BR i d g e s

The Bamboo Ridge Press Member Newsletter Dec 2007 Vol. 10, Issue 3

The cover of the upcoming BR issue #91 hints that the anthology contains surf stories and awesome surf pictures. But with fierce titles like “Flintstones in Hell,” “Guilty in Yap Court,” “Angry Women,” and “Let Me Fight Chicken,” there are some turf issues also going on.

An added treat is work from local literary luminaries who were the featured readers at the Bamboo Ridge Writers Institute (BRWI) kick-off event, Writers Night Out: Chris McKinney, Kealoha, Brenda Kwon, and Lois Yamanaka. Also featured in the issue is work from the BRWI opening and closing session readers, Lee Cataluna & Lee Tonouchi.

Along with work from twenty other BRWI participants, the issue includes excerpts from the late Kayo Hatta’s journal notes

BR issue #91 has surf and turf stories

(Above) Local big wave surfer Gerry Lopez rides a monster wave on the cover of BR #91.

PHOTO: ERIK AEDER

Of talking story and defining identity and photos taken during the production of her movie, Fishbowl, which were presented by her sister Mari Hatta at the Institute.

“Connections” membership and corporate campaigns begin

Since 1978, Bamboo Ridge Press has served Hawai‘i writers, readers, and youth through publications, readings, workshops, conferences, and presentations. To mark the milestone of its 30th anniversary, BRP is planning a banner year of programs and activities that will increase community awareness and the importance of local writers and local literature. Help us celebrate 2008 in a big way by recognizing BRP for the gem that it is.

We have begun a corporate and donor campaign that will continue throughout the our 30th anniversary year. Please help make the member campaign a roaring success by publicizing the benefits of BR membership to your co-workers, friends and

neighbors. We would like to have at least 100 new members in 2008. Also, if you know someone in the world of corporate gift-giving (i.e. you have an acquaintance, friend, or relative whom we may contact with a request for corporate sponsorship) please let us know so we may connect with them through our corporate support drive.

To this end, we appreciate any ideas you have about increasing membership and contacting foundations and grant-making organizations to strengthen our community outreach, development, and publication projects. Contact Joy at (808) 626-1481 to help with forging new connections for a strong, financially successful future.

Many moons ago, 348 moons ago, to be exact, the first issue of Bamboo Ridge, The Hawaii Writers’ Quarterly was published. It was 1978, a banner year for local literature, as just six months prior to BR’s debut, another anthology highlighting the notion of Hawaii’s cultural pluralism was published. Edited by BRP founding co- editors Eric Chock and Darrell Lum, and others, Talk Story, An Anthology of Hawaii’s Local Writers, brought together the fiction, poetry, and drama of Hawaii’s local people.

The anthology raised many questions: “Is there a particular ‘Island Voice’? Do the writers

here see things differently than do writers on the Mainland? In what ways to do the Island cultures, beaches, oceans, and weather affect our lives?” To a great extent, BRP has thrived because it continues to respond to these initial questions about narrative, point of view, and voice.

Today Hawaii has a rich literature produced by those who write in their own language—be it in Pidgin or in clear concrete images borne

from a strong sense of place. We proudly claim writers who employ a narrative talk story style, perhaps due to hard won personal relationships, especially those of family and community ties. We write what we know and for many, that means an expansive notion of time and culture in faraway lands rather than from Mainland mainstream expectations. Local literature is like comfort food—familiar, non-threatening, credible. But that was not always the case.

This sense of ease with island rhythms and multi-cultural settings found in the Talk Story anthology and subsequent Bamboo Ridge issues was inspired by the groundbreaking Talk Story Conference, a week-long writer’s conference at the MidPacific Institute attended by several hundred writers from the Mainland and Hawaii. The conference, which was organized by Marie Hara, Arnold Hiura, and Stephen Sumida, explored literary craft, identity, minority voices, and the politics of literature. Hawaii attendees characterized the conference as an awakening of what it meant

(See Talking Story , p. 4)

Bamboo Ridge Press was founded in 1978 to foster the appreciation, understanding, and creation of literary, visual, or performing arts by, for, or about Hawai‘i’s people. Bamboo Ridge Press is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.

(L-R) Darrell Lum, Alexei Melnick, Mark Lutwak, and Bulldog at HPR.

Remember Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. on 89.3 Keep your ears tuned for

local stories and poems on Hawaii Public Radio’s Aloha Shorts, which now airs at a new day and time, Tuesdays

at 6:30 p.m. (KIPO 89.3 FM). The

works of Bamboo Ridge author Alexei Melnick (Editor’s Choice awardee for Best New Writer, issue #89) and poets Gary Tachiyama and Kathy Phillips were recently taped live for broadcast.

The quintessential actor known as BullDog dramatized Melnick’s short story “Tweakerville” with the intensity of the protagonist’s crystal meth substance abuse, bringing to life the story’s memorable characters.

Gary Tachiyama’s classic poems, including “How the Island Works” and “Reverse Drive Therapy” were read by

Aito Steele, whose expert Pidgin and demeanor captured Tachiyama’s humorous insights on the fish population and time travel, respectively.

Jaime Simpson Steele read several of Kathy Phillips’ graceful and pensive poems on goddess Kuan Yin.

Music was provided by Paul Hanna and Follow No Trends, whose stand up bass provided catchy beats to match their smart lyrics.

What they’re saying about Mavis’ book Mavis Hara’s An Offering

of Rice has been very well received and her readings at BRP’s Wine & Words event at Kapi‘olani Community College (KCC) and at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa book launch were well attended.

Having done book signings at the Hawai‘i Council of Teachers of English/Hawai‘i Association of State Librarians Fall Conference, the TEMARI Trash and Treasure fair, a KCC staff craft fair, the Daughters of Hawai‘i Book Sale, and University of Hawai‘i Bookstore, Hara will continue to be busy with more appearances through the holidays and well into 2008.

As a prelude to Hara’s presence at the New Year’s Ohana Festival at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i and a reading there on January 26th, the The Hawaii Herald will publish the short story, “An Offering of Rice,” in their special New Year’s issue.

Here’s what the media and other people are saying about Hara’s book.

Michiko, Mavis’ mother’s co-worker and friend: I remember Mavis as a little girl coming in the office where I worked with her mother. She was a quiet, smart girl. I can just imagine Mavis’ mother telling her that, about the orange. Saying, “you might as well eat it because I already peeled it.”

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: “An Offering of Rice” is a beautifully written collection of short stories and poetry ... H[ara’s] writing is elegant and spare, carrying a simple grace...

Eric Chock, BR Press co-editor Mavis would have you believe that she is a

realist, not a romantic; a Christian, not a Buddhist; a reading teacher, not a writer—but tonight she will read to you from her first book, An Offering of Rice, poems and stories, the true taste of which is not to be found in Hinode Calrose or Premium Japanese short grain, but which you will begin to taste now.

Poets C.K.Williams and Cathy Song part of The Writer’s Voice series at Punahou

Pulitzer-prize winning poet C.K. Williams (photo, left) will give a free public reading on December 6,

7:00 p.m. at Punahou School.

The Honolulu Advertiser: While “poignant” is the operative word in Hara’s work, humor also peeks through ... the stories also have a universal appeal, in addressing debilitating illness, funerals and wifely and daughterly duties.

Honolulu Weekly: Sometimes, the stories are almost too personal with their sense of pain being shared and observed with a certain detached neutrality, while still decorated with prose incorporating gracefully poetic yet striking imagery— especially during the section devoted to the character's bout with breast cancer.

December 1, 2007 Christmas Sale St. Andrews Priory

December 4, 2007 Xmas in Honolulu Craft Fair Japanese Cultural Ctr. of HI

January 13, 2008 New Year’s Ohana Festival Japanese Cultural Ctr. of HI

January 26, 2008 Reading and book signing Japanese Cultural Ctr. of HI 5th Floor Lounge 2:00 p.m.

April 18, 2008 Reading and panel with Cathy Song and Lee Cataluna Maui Arts & Cultural Center

More Mavis!

Who: C.K. Williams. Author of Flesh and Blood, National Book Critics Circle Award (1987); Repair, Pulitzer Prize (2000); The Singing, National Book Award (2003); and Collected Poems (2006).

What: Poetry reading

When: December 6, 2007 7:00 p.m.

Where: Luke Lecture Hall Wo International Center Punahou School

Free admission

Presented by Punahou School in cooperation with Bamboo Ridge Press.

The reading is part of The Writer’s Voice: Punahou Authors Series 2007-2008, presented by Punahou School in cooperation with Bamboo Ridge Press. The series began with a reading by Chang-rae Lee, author of three acclaimed novels, Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, and Aloft. Lee read on October 4 from his fourth novel in progress.

Cathy Song was featured on November 15, when she read from her fifth collection of poems, Cloud Moving Hands (cover, right). BRP first published Song in 1979. She has also edited two BRP anthologies, Sister Stew and YOBO.

Joe Tsujimoto will be featured in 2008 and will read from his new collection of short stories, Morningside Heights: New York Fictions, which is being published by BRP as issue #92.

stories by

Mavis Hara

An Offering of Rice

30 years, 30 dollars, 30% off, and more

Need FOOD? On the menu we got stew, rice, kimchi, banana heart, pinakbet, and vicious fishes. __ Sister Stew __ An Offering of Rice __ YOBO __ Bananaheart and Other Stories __ Filipino Centennial Issue #89 __ Vicious Fishes T-Shirt (L or XL)

Grab your shopping basket and use this checklist to help you find everything you need and want.

Find anykine stuff for THE FOLKS YOU MEET IN LONGS—orchids, dictionary, toothpaste, and four-footed creatures. __ The Seven Orchids __ Da Word __ Ho'olulu Park and the

Pepsodent Smile __ O Na Holoholona Wawae

Eha O Ka Lama O Hawaii

How about a CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT? Pick up some rain, sun, tsunami, inferno, and darkness. __ Hilo Rains __ Sun: Short Stories and Drama __ Tsunami Years __ Outcry from the Inferno: Atomic

Bomb Tanka Anthology __ The Speed of Darkness

Gotta GET AWAY for awhile? Go expound somewhere—to Kauai, Dawn’s Place, Waipuna, or go around in circles. __ Expounding the Doubtful Points __ Polihale, Pele Ma, Kauai Tales __ Dawn's Place, Issue #77 __ The Watcher of Waipuna __ Intersecting Circles

� Become a 30th anniversary member with a donation of $30 or more. � Order books by phone, online, or snail mail (we’ll figure out the

30% discount if you’re not good at math). � Get free shipping on your order, to one address. � You and your non-member friends can also get free shipping

for all books ordered online until December 31, 2007.

Because we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of Bamboo Ridge, we’ll give you a one-time discount of 30% off your book orders with a membership donation of $30 or more. We’ll also waive the shipping fees for any order placed from now until the end of the year. Here’s how it works:

Our 30th anniversary offer: a minimum $30 membership donation will get you our member newsletter, free admission to special events, and a one-time 30% off your order of books, with free shipping to one address. (We will also waive the shipping on all orders placed by members or non-members through December 31, 2007.)

Name__________________ City ________________ Address _______________ State ____ Zip _______ ________________

Please check one: ___ $30-49 Moi ___ $50-99 Omilu ___ $100-499 Kaku ___ $500-999 Kahala ___ $1000+ Ulua

Fill in the information below, enclose payment, clip and mail this form to:

Bamboo Ridge Press P.O. Box 61781 Honolulu, HI 96839-1781.

You can also become a member by going online at www.bambooridge.com or by calling (808) 626-1481.

Join us this 30th anniversary year in recognizing the importance of local writers & local literature.

Bamboo shoots and other good things Ken Tokuno, whose poetry has appeared in BR issues

#73, 81, 84, and 89, has had his first collection of poems, Orchard, published by Bellowing Ark Press of

Seattle. Tokuno is an administrator at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.

Ann Inoshita, whose poetry has been featured in issues #84, 87, and 89, has published her first book of poetry, Manoa Stream (Kahuamanoa Press, April 2007). Inoshita will be graduating from UHM in December with a Master of Arts in English with a concentration in Creative Writing.

Carol Peters, whose short story, “The Throwaway Girl,” was included in BR issue #84

has had a chapbook of poems, Muddy Prints, Water Shine, published by Finishing Line Press of Kentucky, as part of their New Women’s Voices Series. In sending us the good news, Carol wrote: “All of you have played a big part in building my confidence over the past five years. Please extend my thanks to everyone.”

Thank you to Susan Schultz who donated her 1995 Dodge Neon to help Bamboo Ridge. She read about how Kealoha had earlier donated a vehice through Kokua in Kind in the August BRidges newsletter. Schultz, a UHM English professor and editor of Tinfish, has “always wanted to follow in Kealoha’s tire tracks.”

A big mahalo also to the 15 customers who donated to BRP through Foodland’s Give Aloha campaign. Customer donations totaled $1,104 and we received nearly $300 in matching grants from Foodland &Western Union.

to be an ethnic writer, as well as to have a more local point of view.

However, it was 1978 and tradition had made it difficult for local writers and poets to find a venue for their creative work, particularly if they were writing about the immigrant or plantation experience, Native Hawaiian or ethnic conflict, or Hawaii’s socioeconomic class struggles. The time seemed ripe for a publication like Bamboo Ridge.

The 70s had seen the flowering of Native Hawaiian cultural renaissance and self- determination; protests against development that threatened evictions of Kalama Valley, Chinatown, Waihole-Waikane, and Ota Camp residents; opposition to military activity; and a movement by UHM students and faculty to establish Ethnic Studies as a legitimate and permanent discipline.

Bamboo Ridge was born and raised amidst these political, economic, and educational struggles, There were 17 writers published in

BR issue #1. The upcoming issue #91 has 40 writers; other issues have had up to 66 contributors. To date, BRP has published over 850 writers and artists since 1978.

Surely, this milestone calls for a big celebration.

Talking story (from p. 1)

BRidges, the official member newsletter of Bamboo Ridge Press, is published three times per year. Newsletter Editor: Amalia B. Bueno. Contributing Writer: Joy Kobayashi-Cintron.Photos by Darrell Lum & Eric Chock.

Mark your calendars!

March 11, 2008 For The Love of BR Toast to the Founding Editors Manoa Valley Theatre 7:30 pm

May 17-18, 2008 BR Writers & Readers Reunion HI Book & Music Festival Honolulu Hale Grounds

July 11-13, 18-19 (tentative) Special run of Lee Cataluna’s Folks You Meet in Longs Tenney Theatre St. Andrew's Priory

December 6, 2008 Celebrating 30 Years of the BR Community Hale Koa Hotel 11:00 am

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