Beyond Fight Club: Featured Author, Chuck Palahniuk (Previously published on June 15, 2018) "The first rule of Fight Club is: you don't talk about Fight Club." Made popular by the movie of the same name, Chuck Palahniuk made his debut with Fight Club in 1996. Written as a response to his first manuscript an older version of what would become Invisible Monsters being rejected by his publisher, Fight Club is a story about the lost connection between men and society. And although Fight Club is Chuck Palahniuk's most famous work to date, he also has a personal connection to the Pacific Northwest and has a strong connection to the Oregon literary scene. Chuck Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington in 1962. He was raised near Burbank, Washington, but went to live with his siblings on his grandparents' cattle ranch in 1976 after his parents' divorce. Palahniuk graduated from the University of Oregon, where he studied journalism. While his career in journalism might not have taken off, it was there that he learned to listen to others and to convey their stories. In a 2017 interview for MEL magazine, Palahniuk describes the correlation between his education and his eventual career. "My job is to listen to people at parties and to identify their stories and to find a commonality in the pattern between them. Because when someone tells an anecdote that goes over well, it evokes other people to tell almost identical anecdotes from their own life. Then you choose the very best of these to demonstrate a very human dynamic. In a way, what I do isn't so much invent things as it is identifying them. Later, I just put them together in a report that looks like a novel." Palahniuks writing style has been described as "dark," "satirical," and "transgressional." His works focus on characters feeling confined by society and societal norms. In addition to Fight Club, Palahniuk has published twenty fiction titles, including Damned, a story described as "The Breakfast Club in Hell" about a group of teenagers literally walking through hell. Invisible Monsters was published in 1999, and a remixed version was re-released in 2012. Palahniuk describes Invisible Monsters in the same MEL interview, explaining that "its all about that panicky feeling that this beautiful thing isn't going to be beautiful forever and that you've got to transition that beauty into a different, more lasting form of power." Most recently, Palahniuk has been transitioning to graphic novels. Fight Club 2 was published as a graphic novel by local Portland powerhouse Dark Horse Comics (and according to his Twitter, another installment may be on the way). Palahniuk's newest book, Adjustment Day, was released by W.W. Norton. As a native of the Pacific Northwest, Palahniuk has cemented himself into the local literary scene. He received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award and the Oregon Book Award for Fight Club, and six years later, his horror satire Lullaby was also a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award winner, as well as a nominee for the Bram Stoker Award. Besides working closely with the comics scene in the Portland area, he's also an active member of a local writing group and has given numerous interviews about Portland culture and area hotspots. (He was on Anthony Bourdain's television show, No Reservations, where he led the chef through some popular Portland locations.) His love for Oregon has also influenced his writing, most noticeably in his nonfiction title Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon. [To date, Palahniuk has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, several short stories, and has had five of his novels adapted into movies.] Palahniuk, a former resident of Portland, now lives in the Columbia River Gorge. Palahniuk is very active on Twitter (@ChuckPalahniuk) and Facebook, interacting with both his fans and other writers. Connect with him there, and look for his books in your local libraries and bookstores! An Interview with Elissa Minor Rust (Previously published on March 23, 2018) Elissa Minor Rust, author of The Prisoner Pear: Stories from the Lake, a collection of twelve short stories set in Lake Oswego, is a well-loved, quirky English professor here in Oregon. Proud to be a Northwest author inspired by Oregon's natural beauty, she also works to inspire young writers every year. I had the privilege of catching up with her and asking a few questions. Q: What set you on the path toward becoming a writer? A: I knew for a long time that I wanted to be an English professor. I took creative writing courses during my first term of college and knew I had found my calling. I started out as a poet, but soon learned I enjoyed poetic prose in fiction more than poetry. I had some amazing mentors that got me where I am today. Q: How has the Oregon literary community helped shape you and your work? A: When I first moved back to Oregon after graduate school, I received a generous Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship that helped me finish my first book. I think Oregon is great about supporting its writers, and the community is lovely. I've met so many wonderful friends through the Portland writing community. Q: What about Oregon inspires you to write? A: I love everything about Oregon. My first book was set in a Portland suburb, and I had such a great time writing it. I also find when I need to escape to get inspiration to write, I can easily be in the mountains or at the coast. There is no greater inspiration than the natural world, and here in Oregon we have that in abundance. Q: What do you like most about teaching and encouraging others to write? A: I absolutely adore teaching. I knew I wanted to be a professor before I knew I wanted to be a writer. There is an energy in a writing classroom that's palpable, which makes me want to be a better writer and teacher. The most satisfying thing about being a professor is continuing to get notes from past students with news about their successes in the world of writing and literature. Q: What has teaching helped you learn about your own writing? A: Every time I teach a class, I am reminded anew about how one should approach the craft of writing. I talk about process a lot with my students, and how each person has to figure that out for themself. As I explained my own process to my students over the years, it struck me how my process has changed and evolved over time as I had children, taken on more responsibility at work, etc. Q: Is there anything you wish you had known when you started out? A: Honestly? No. I am tempted to tell my students these days how few jobs there are in creative writing and in the world of higher-ed, but then I think: what if someone had told me the realities of the job market I was going into? It might have scared me off. I'm lucky that it worked out for me--a full time tenured professor, chair of the English department, etc. If anything, I would have liked to have known how many different ways there are of working in this profession, and to not get discouraged if there are periods of time when your own writing ebbs and flows. Q: What piece of writing are you proudest of? A: There is a story in my short story collection (The Prisoner Pear: Stories From the Lake) called "Moon Over Water." Its my favorite of all my stories. People either love it or hate it" there's no in-between. Its magical realism and inspired by my interest in science and how people respond to the unknown. Q: What are some your creative goals now? I read on your website that you're working on a YA novel. How is that going? A: I am working on a YA novel and a memoir, sort of simultaneously. It is going slow but steady! We'd like to thank Elissa for joining us and sharing her experiences with our readers! An Interview with Zoey Abbott Interviewed by John Repplinger July 19, 2023 Zoey Abbott is a children’s book author and illustrator who lives in Portland, OR. She loves her dog, Carrots, and her family too. She also loves writing books for kids and for herself. For Zoey, making stories is an indulgence, a spiritual practice, and a way to sort out things that make no sense. Zoey is the author of four books, one of which (Pig and Horse and the Something Scary) was recently named a finalist for an Oregon Book Award and is also a Powell's Books Bestseller. Zoey's work is consistently described as "weird" which she takes as a compliment. Icebreaker: If you could choose to be any fruit or vegetable, what would it be and why? I like the vegetable, okra, because it is green, soft yet crispy, and also slimy - if you blanch it just right. It’s surprising and fresh and the seeds pop when your teeth crunch down. I love my dad’s mulberry tree. The berries taste the best when they look the worst. Many authors have people or events in their lives that inspire them to write a book. What inspired you to start writing and illustrating children’s books? As a default, I’ve always liked playing with bits of stories in my head, noticing things that come together in interesting ways but I never knew what to do with it. And I’ve always loved making little cards and books for family and friends. When I moved to Japan in my 20’s, I couldn't speak the language very well so I would make drawings for the people who welcomed me into their homes, taught me their language, culture and how to eat a whole fish with chopsticks, for example. A friend liked my cards and introduced me to an amazing Sumi-e painting teacher. She became a dear friend and mentor. Shortly after I moved back to the States I made a hand-bound book with little stories and episodes for my mom’s birthday. She opened the gift when she was getting her haircut and the stylist later contacted me and asked me to make a book for her sister. It was the first time I saw there was a way to make this kind of art into a “job”. I spent a number of years making simple illustrated books on commission for clients based on interviews and reference material they provided. I got to help propose to two women this way - a ring hidden in a cut out in the back of a book once. How fun is that? Years later I took a children’s book illustration night class with Victoria Jameison at PNCA. I loved her class so much I think I ended up taking it 3 times. She is the one who demystified the publishing industry and shared her own path for making work. There are a lot of us illustrators in Portland who owe our careers in some way to Victoria. Can you explain what the writing process is like for you? Do your illustrations influence your storylines? I think we all collect things from daily life, what we read, see, who we meet, landscapes, interactions, dreams, memories etc. If we are lucky, some of these things combine in interesting ways and we are inspired to make something new from it. Some of my book ideas start with words and others with pictures. When I’m working on an idea. I like to toggle back and forth between the two. Switching can help me get unstuck. Working on multiple stories at a time is also good for keeping things fluid and flowing. My first two publishing jobs were for illustration. When you receive a manuscript you can’t just illustrate what is said in the text. This would be redundant and boring - nobody would read that book. You’ve got to find the spaces between the text and find a secondary visual narrative. With a good manuscript there will be all this airyness - all kinds of space for you to do your work. Things won’t be said explicitly or fully resolved in the text. The illustrator has to solve these puzzles in a fun and unexpected way. I think the same thing goes when you are illustrating your own book. The illustrator-self gets to take the story and make it her own. Hopefully the writer-self is amused and surprised. What is most challenging for writing and illustrating children’s books? At the beginning, I would say learning the craft was the most challenging. I had to put in the time and teach myself how to draw better - to be able to make my ideas make sense visually and be consistent. Then I had to study the format, rules and particular qualities of a picture book, learn about pacing, page turns and stakes. You have to read a lot. A picture book is an object in space, held in a person’s hands with pages that turn. Learning how to exploit and not squander all these amazing physical qualities of a book in a story is challenging and exciting. Also, making picture books is collaborative. Finding trusted people to share your work with (at the right time) and learning how to critique well with others is very important. It requires time, energy, mutual trust and vulnerability to seek and find critique partners - to learn how to give good feedback and how to receive it as part of one’s process. When you find your people, the work is so much better - more fun and done with more ease. For a long time I would feel too shy or embarrassed to share my work and would often ‘pass’ when it was my time to share work in our group. Learning how to share has been key for me. The moment you send a draft into the world you see it differently even if someone else doesn’t open the email. Other eyes and ears on the work keeps it moving and flowing and growing. The same goes for finding an agent and editors who resonate with your stories. When I’m at an impasse, my agent somehow gives me just exactly the notes I need. And the editors are the same. One person’s name might end up on the spine of the book - but really there could be a dozen, at least. Finding the right collaborators is the thing. What art mediums do you use? For Pig and Horse and the Something Scary I used pencil, colored pencil, gouache and then some sumi-e ink for the manifestation of Pig’s fears. I have tended to use some combination of these materials in most of my books. My most recent book, Banana, however, is a combination of pencil line art and color printing. I made textures and patterns in various mediums, scanned them in and risograph printed them at OUTLET PDX. I combined these with the line drawings using photoshop. You mention having children and a dog (Carrots) on your website bio. How do you balance writing and illustrating with other aspects of your life? When my kids were young it was harder to make time to work, but they were also infinitely inspiring which was a real gift. Now my kids are teenagers so parenting is a little less intensely hands-on. I think being a parent of humans and dogs (or any kind of pets) can be great inspiration for books. Location is an important element of a story, and you have a variety of scenes throughout your books such as where the wolves live in Over the Moon, Clementine’s house, and the banana store. How do you select your locations and scenes? For I Do Not Like Yolanda, I heavily relied on memories of my neighborhood growing up (and also some reference photos provided by my dad) of our local post office and businesses like Happy Donut, Shufat’s Market and neighborhoods. I tend to use real places in memory as a starting point for locations - not for any reason except that they are readily available. Do you base any of your characters on people you know? I might not set out to do this intentionally but I definitely end up seeing friends and family in my characters. In retrospect, Horse is definitely my best friend, Veneta, who has a big, beautiful mane of hair, a huge smile and is full of insight and loving support. I am Pig, nervous and worried and pink. It seems like my dad ends up in a lot of my books– if you see a bearded man—that might be him. Prickly Aunt Mildred was inspired directly by my Grandmother, Joan, who wore a black pant-suit with palm trees almost every day. Mildred’s one line in the book is something my grandmother actually said to me over dinner. She was never boring, that’s for sure. Your stories touch on certain themes. Pig and Horse and the Something Scary, for example, touches on facing fears and anxiety. Why did you choose to write a children’s book on these topics? How do you select themes for your books? Honestly, I don’t really think about themes while I’m writing and I might not even know what the book is ‘about’ until the book is done and someone(s) tells me. To me a story is a conversation and exploration and a discovery. The reader gives a book its meaning, if it has any. What do you hope readers will take away from your books? If you could talk directly to your readers, what would you say? Reading a children’s picture book is often a shared experience between an adult/reader and a child/pre-reader. I hope kids enjoy reading the book (on their own or with someone), laugh a little, and find some part of it that maybe resonates. Maybe they use the story as a jumping off point for their own stories. I’ve seen that before. A kid will say as an example, “Well, I think you should have made the banana do this!” Then they go off and draw their idea and make it their own. I like to go to school visits and see what kids are writing and drawing. I think kids are better at this job than we are—they are the ones who are swimming in the subconscious. They have unfettered fun and delight and don’t hold back. That’s where the good stuff lives. Do you have any new books or projects that you’re working on that you’d like to mention? I am currently working on the final art for A Kite Story to publish with Kids Can Press in 2025. This Year a Witch! will also publish in 2025 with Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/ Atheneum, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. If you are attending the Oregon Library Association (OLA) annual conference in Bend (OR) this year, make sure to swing by our booth to say hi or come talk to us at our poster presentation on Thursday morning (11am).
We would love to tell you about the relaunch of this project, and how you might use this resource for collection development. Hear about how you can get involved or let us know of any new author publications we should add! The conference will be held in beautiful Bend, Oregon at the Deschutes Hotel & Conference Center April 19-22, 2023. We hope to see you there!!! Graham Salisbury is an American children's writer. His best-known work is Under the Blood Red Sun, a historical novel that features a Japanese-American boy and his family during World War II. He was a pop musician in the late 1960s under the name of Sandy Salisbury. His first novel, Blue Skin of the Sea: a Novel in Stories (1992) received many awards, including Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal, Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association, Parent's Choice Book Award, Bank Street Child Study Book Award, Oregon Book Award, the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature (Women's National Book Association), NCTE Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts (National Council of Teachers of English), and the Pen/Norma Klein Award for emerging voice of literary merit among American writers of children's fiction. Two years later, he published Under the Blood Red Sun (1994) which received eighteen award nominations across the nation. It is now a movie made available on Amazon. He wrote three additional titles in that series. He authored seven middle-grade books and nine books in the Calvin Coconut children's series, all of which were similarly well-received and nationally praised. Salisbury became a well-known songwriter and musician from the late 1960s. Under the performing name of Sandy Salisbury, he is best known for being a member of Curt Boettcher's groups The Millennium and The Ballroom, whose 1966 album remained unreleased until 2001, before attempting a solo career of his own. He performed on many hit recordings from bands such as The Association, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Tommy Roe, and many others. Salisbury was born in Philadelphia. He grew up in Hawaii and lived in Kailua, Oahu. Later he attended Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Kamuela, Hawaii. He lives with his family in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Content and image source from: Graham Salisbury's website and Wikipedia Rosanne Parry grew up in Oregon loving its rainy days, wild places, and many libraries. She is the author of seven novels for young readers, including the NY Times best sellers A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale of the Wild which have been translated into more than 14 languages. Her first picture book is Big Truck Day! Her next novel will be A Horse Called Sky. Look for it in the fall of 2023. Rosanne is a bookseller at legendary bookstore, Annie Blooms. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in Portland and writes in a treehouse in her backyard. Ten things to know about Rosanne Parry: 1. I was born in Oak Park, IL and lived just a mile or so from the childhood home of the author Ernest Hemingway. His house is more than twice and big as the one I lived in when I was little but mine is closer to Longfellow Park which was my favorite place to play. I moved away from Oak Park when I was five. 2. I grew up in Portland, Oregon where I live now with my family in a farm house that is more than 100 years old. Sometimes I have chickens and sometimes I have rabbits and always I have a very weedy garden. My summer office is in a fir tree. I have many cherry, plum, and pear trees, a walnut tree, an apple tree and a very peculiar-looking peach tree. 3. I have also lived in Spokane, WA, Taholah, WA, Ft Huachuca, AZ, Aschaffenburg, Germany, and Ft Hood, TX. I have visited all but 8 of the states in America so I’m definitely looking for an excuse to visit North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maine. 4. My favorite job, besides writing, was being a summer camp counselor. I worked at Camp Howard which is on the slope of Mt. Hood. I still go camping there every year if I can. Here is a view of Mt Hood from Trillium Lake. 5. I can play the violin, and I can juggle, and I am learning to play the harp, but I cannot throw a frisbee to save my life. 6. My grandfather lived with my family when I was growing up. He was born in Berlin. He immigrated to this country when he was a teenager in 1905, and he lived to be 96 years old. 7. I have a brother and a sister who are twins, four children who are not twins and more than thirty nieces and nephews. Mark Twain said, “A man with a big family stands a broader mark for sorrow, but he stands a broader mark for joy as well.” I have found that to be true. 8. Research is one of my favorite things about writing. Sometimes I research in the library but sometimes I research while camping in the mountains or canoeing on rivers and lakes. I go to museums. I go looking for whales in a kayak. I take pictures of plants and animals and listen to birds and the sound of the wind. I swim in the ocean and listen to people sing and learn how to dance. And best of all, I talk to interesting people from all over the world. 9. When I am not writing, I like to ride my bike, hike, make music, climb trees, dance, go to the beach or the mountains, and read books. 10. Lots of really great children’s authors and illustrators live in Portland. My favorite thing about being a children’s writer is the friends I have made. These are some writers I know from Portland: Susan Blackaby, Carmen Bernier-Grand, Carolyn Digby Conahan, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Trudy Ludwig, Susan Hill Long, Fonda Lee, Heidi Schultz, Barry Deutsch, Emily Whitman, Susan Fletcher, Emily Winfield Martin, Graham Salisbury, Laini Taylor, Dylan Meconis, Kim Johnson, and Heather Vogel-Frederick. I hope you read and enjoy their books too. Content and image source from: Goodreads and Rosanne Parry's website. |
AboutThe Oregon Library Association is proud to highlight authors who call Oregon their home. The mission of the Oregon Authors Project is to connect local authors to readers by providing information and resources about Oregon authors in one central location. More...
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