SRB2008 » Seattle Rainbow Bookfest 2008

SEATTLE RAINBOW BOOKFEST 2008
Authors Quintard Taylor, Shawn Wong, Ken Mochizuki, Lensey Namioka, Bharti Kirchner, Flor Fernandez Barrios, Nisi Shawl, Antonio Hopson, Fred Su, Carletta Carrington Wilson, Maria de Lourdes Victoria Muguira, Juan Carlos Reyes, Chikodi Anunobi, Stephen Ling, Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Paula Casla Taylor, Linda Beed, Janine Vance, Jourdan Keith, Eugenia Toledo-Keyser, Javier Amaya, Donna Miscolta, Kunle Oguneye
	Dr. Quintard Taylor Quintard Taylor, originally from Brownsville, Tennessee, received his B.A. from St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Taylor has more than thirty years of teaching experience in African American history and specifically African Americans in the American West. His previous positions have included Washington State University, California Polytechnic State University, the University of Oregon (where he was chair of the Department of History from 1997 to 1999) and the University of Lagos (Fulbright-Hays Fellowship). He has also authored two books, edited two anthologies and written over fifty articles on western African American history, 20th Century African American history, African and Afro-Brazilian history. His current projects include a 20th Century history of the African American West for the University of Arizona Press. Currently serving of the Council of the American Historical Association, Taylor is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Washington State Historical Society, the Washington Territorial Commission and History Link Interactive History Project. Taylor was a founding board member of the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas.
	Shawn Wong Shawn Wong’s novel, Homebase (1979), won both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the 15th Annual Governor’s Writers Day Award of Washington. He is also the co-editor and editor of six Asian American and American multicultural literary anthologies including the pioneering anthology Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian American Writers (1974) and, The Big Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Chinese America and Japanese America in Literature (1991), Literary Mosaic: Asian American Literature (1995), and Asian Diasporas: Cultures, Identities, Representations (2004). He is co-editor of Before Columbus Foundation Fiction/Poetry Anthology: Selections from the American Book Awards, 1980-1990, two volumes of contemporary American multicultural poetry and fiction (1992). His second novel, American Knees (1995), was made into a movie titled “Americanese” and will be distributed by IFC Films in theaters in 2008. The film won several film festival awards and Wong served as associate producer. Wong was featured in the 1997 PBS documentary, “Shattering the Silences” and in the Bill Moyers’ PBS documentary, “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience,” in 2003. He is currently Professor of English at the University of Washington and teaches regularly at the UW Rome Center in Italy.
	Ken Mochizuki www.leeandlowbooks.com Ken Mochizuki is the author of the young adult novel Beacon Hill Boys and the picture books Baseball Saved Us, Heroes, Passage to Freedom: the Sugihara Story, and Be Water, My Friend: the Early Years of Bruce Lee. He contributed to the anthologies On the Wings of Peace and A Different Battle: Stories of Asian Pacific American Veterans. Mochizuki also wrote Within the Silence, a performance piece about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, for the Seattle-based Living Voices ; and a stage musical version of Baseball Saved Us for the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Mochizuki received a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Washington and served as staff writer/editor for the Seattle newspapers International Examiner and Northwest Nikkei, with a special interest in the history and current issues of Americans of Asian/Pacific descent. In 1999, he was hired by the U.S. Army to give presentations on the history of Asian/Pacific Americans in the U.S. military. As an author and free-lance writer, he travels extensively to speak to students, teachers and librarians about his work.
	Lensey Namioka www.lensey.com Lensey Namioka is the author of Mismatch, a romance story about a 15-year-old Chinese-American girl who is attracted to a Japanese-American boy and the conflicts that arise due to the cultural history and differences. Namioka is also the author of numerous children's books, including The Laziest Boy in the World, The Samurai and the Long Nose Devils, Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear. Her works have earned the Washington State Governor's Writers Award and the American Library Associations Top Ten Books List for Young Readers three times, as well as Parents Choice Award, Parents Choice Gold Medal, and California Young Reader Medal. Namioka attended Radcliffe College and the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in mathematics. She later moved to New York and taught at Wells College. Namioka moved to Seattle, where she currently resides, when her husband accepted a position at the University of Washington.
	Bharti Kirchner www.bhartikirchner.com Bharti Kirchner is the author of novels, cookbooks and hundreds of short pieces. Her most recent work is Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries, which is a fictional story about a Seattle baker trying to maintain her bakery in the midst of drama and competition while attempting to rediscover her touch for baking. Kirchner is also an award-winning cook and has written four cookbooks, including The Healthy Cuisine of India and Indian Inspired, which was selected among top ten cookbooks of 1993 by USA Today and one of the best cookbooks of 1993 by Chicago Tribune. Kirchner is a freelance book reviewer for The Seattle Times and is a frequent speaker at writer's conferences, book festivals, and universities throughout the nation. Prior to becoming a writer, Bharti worked as a systems engineer for IBM and as a systems manager for Bank of America, San Francisco. She has also worked in Europe and other continents as a computer systems consultant.
	Flor Fernandez Barrios Flor Fernandez Barrios is the author of The Mask of Oya, a story that takes readers on a spiritual and physical journey, from modern Los Angeles to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, following the gentle teachings of her grandmother, a powerful curandera. She is also the author of Blessed by Thunder. The author's work has been anthologized in several collections, including Storming Heaven's Gate: An Anthology of Spiritual Writing by Women, Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals, The Fabric of the Future: Women Visionaries Illuminate the Path to Tomorrow, Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening,I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers On Parenting teenagers. Her writing has also appeared in Raven Chronicles, and she was one of the featured writers in Seattle Arts magazine celebrating women of color. Born in Cuba, Flor Fernandez Barrios emigrated to the United States in 1970 when she was fourteen years old. She graduated in 1985 from International College with a Doctorate degree in Transpersonal Psychology. She is currently in private practice as psychotherapist in Seattle.
	Nisi Shawl www.sfwa.org/members/shawl Nisi Shawl is the co-author, with Cynthia Ward, of "Writing the Other: A Practical Approach," (Aqueduct Press, 2005). Her short stories have been widely published, including in Asimov's SF, Strange Horizons, and the award-winning Dark Matter anthologies, and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror. Her reviews and essays appear regularly in the Seattle Times. Ursula K. Le Guin has praised Shawl's forthcoming story collection "Filter House" as "superbly written." The book is to be released in late May by Aqueduct Press. Raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Shawl attended the University of Michigan's Residential College. She attended Seattle's Clarion West Writer's Workshop in 1992, and was a resident of Whidbey Island's Cottages at Hedgebrook writers retreat in 1993. Soon afterwards, she moved to the Seattle area. Shawl is currently a board member for Clarion West, as well as a founding member of the Carl Brandon Society, an organization dedicated to improving the representation of people of color within the fantastic genres. She has been a guest speaker at Stanford University and Smith College.
	Antonio Hopson www.antoniohopson.com Antonio Hopson has honed his skills writing speculative fiction, flash fiction and essays. His stories have been widely published: The Harrow Magazine, Lost Magazine, and also NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse, to name a few. He has received Farmhouse Magazine's Reader's Choice award and was invited to perform at Seattle's Richard Hugo House as a featured writer. He regularly appears at Rainbow Bookfest. His second edition anthology of short stories, The Vernal Equinox of Death and Kisses has recently been published by Synergy Books and will be available in bookstores and online this spring. In 2008 he was selected to participate in Evergreen College's Literary Conference on "Activism and the Avant-Garde". Please visit AntonioHopson.com to see what he is up to these days.
	Frederick Su www.bytewrite.com Frederick Su is the author of several published short stories and many articles, including most recently, "If you become stranded like James Kim," published in the NW Asian Weekly. He graduated from Utah State University with a B.S. in physics and went into the U.S. Marine Corps in November 1969. A back injury prevented him from going to Vietnam, possibly sparing his life, and giving him impetus to write his award-winning novel, An American Sin. The gist of the novel came about when a fellow Marine confessed his killing of a Mama-san and baby while on patrol in Vietnam. "How does one live with that?" Su asked himself. Examining that question fueled his passion for writing the novel. Su earned a Master's and then Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Connecticut. After graduation, he and his future wife bicycled across the U.S. to get the cobwebs out of his brain. When he turned 40, he exchanged his equations for words. He worked as a freelance writer/consultant for SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering, for 13 years. He honed his writing/editing skills there, writing technology articles. Meanwhile, he joined a writing class at Bellingham Vocational Technical Institute (now Bellingham Technical College) where he wrote the rough draft of An American Sin.
	Maria de Lourdes Victoria Muguira www.maria-victoria.org Maria de Lourdes Victoria Muguira is the author of Les Dejo el Mar, which is based on the author's family history. The novel tells the story of a Mexican family's odyssey, patched together from the author's memories of those who were there as she was growing up and the stories they passed down to the next generation. Les Dejo el Mar was a finalist of the 2006 Mariposa Book Award and received third place as the 2006 Best Historical Novel written in Spanish by a Latino woman. The author's collections of short stories, as well as her illustrated children's books, have been the recipients of the James W. Hall for Fiction award from the University of Washington and the Jimmy Knudsen Memorial award from Pacific Lutheran University. A native from Veracruz, Mexico, Maria de Lourdes Victoria Muguira received her bachelor's degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Washington. She later earned her Juris Doctorate degree from that same institution. She has been a writer in residence of the prestigious institution, Hedgebrook, a non-profit foundation in Langley, Washington dedicated to further the writings of woman throughout the world. Maria de Lourdes Victoria Muguira is currently writing her second novel and a handful of short stories.
	Chikodi Añunobi www.chikodianunobi.com Chikodi Añunobi is the author of Nri Warriors of Peace, which is about the Nri Kingdom of Southeastern Nigeria. The story follows several generations of Nri in the eleventh century and focuses on the time of two Eze Nri (Kings) -- Igwe Nwadike, the beloved elder statesman, and his reluctant successor, Okoye, a successful trader. In this book, Anunobi presents a dazzling and unforgettable vision of a people and a culture, whose interactions with each other and with the natural and spiritual world, can open startling new perspectives into our own lives. (Info from publisher) Añunobi, who is a descendant of Nri from Enugwu-Ukwu Nri in Anambra State, Southeastern Nigeria, began learning more about Nri culture during his studies at the University of Washington. Due to his tremendous interest in the culture, he decided to write a historical novel about Nri civilization that would be both educational and inspirational. The book has earned praise in both the general population and the African American communities. A graduate of the University of Washington at Bothell, Washington, Añunobi currently works as a software QA engineer. He is working on his second novel -another historical novel. Nri Warriors of Peace is a vivid historical story about the 11th century Nri Kingdom in West Africa, present-day Nigeria. The book is the winner of the Best Books 2006 Book Awards in the Fiction & Literature: Multicultural and African American Fiction categories.
	Stephen Ling Stephen E. Ling. was born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. He was adopted and moved to live on a farm, working under the harsh sun to help his family eke out a subsistence living. His mother became the family breadwinner. Realizing that education was the key to a better life, Ling applied for and won scholarships to study in the United States , where became a teacher of English and economics. His first book, which recounts his early childhood hardships growing up in Malsia, was published in 2006.
	Sasha Su-Ling Welland www.sashawelland.com Sasha Su-Ling Welland is the author of A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters , a dual biography of her grandmother and great-aunt, a doctor and writer took very different paths in their quest to be independent women. Welland received a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California Santa Cruz and is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Women Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Artist Trust, Blue Mountain Center, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers, and Millay Colony for the Arts have supported her writing.
	Paula Casla Taylor Paula Casla Taylor is a freelance translator and interpreter. She is a graduate of the Monterey Institute of International Studies and of Heriot - Watt University, institutions where she obtained Master degrees in her field of work. She is the Bilingual/Bicultural Spanish Language Representative in the U.S. for Bilingual/Bicultural Family Networks. Since the birth of her daughter, Sophia, she has devoted part of her time to developing her knowledge on bilingual matters and to furthering the presence of the Spanish language in her area, through contributions on magazines such as Multilingual Living as well as in Voces en español with a podcast. She is a member of Mujeres of the Northwest, a professional latina group devoted to the Latina community in the Seattle area, as well as a member of several literary organizations such as Almas Líricas and Los Norteños. She has participated in readings, has written several poems for children, and is working on her first novel. MA in Translation and Interpretation, 2005 Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Monterey, California. MSc in Translation and Conference Interpretation, 2000 Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland.
	Dr. Linda Beed http://www.lindabeed.com/ Dr. Linda Beed is an author, educator, speaker and Children’s minister. Her debut novel, Business Unusual has been described as “Christian fiction in its purest form,” and is causing quite a stir on the literary scene. Told in the contemporary form Business Unusual speaks to the heart of matters in a very candid way. It is the hope of the author that through the scenarios and choices made by the characters, readers will consider a walk with/closer walk with Christ. Since its June, 2007 release Business Unusual has received outstanding reviews, been featured in African American Literature Book Club’s home page and national newsletter and has been the Good Girls Online Book Club Pick of the Month (August 2007). The novel has been endorsed by literary notables Jacquelin Thomas and Stacy Hawkins Adams as well as Dr. Myles Munroe, President/Founder and Senior Pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International. Dr. Beed earned her Master of Theology (Magna Cum Laude) and Doctorate of Religious Education from A. L. Hardy Academy of Theology. Following six years of teaching (Black Church History, Thesis and Dissertation Preparation) she retired from the Academy. The student writing handbook she developed is a valuable tool that continues to be used by the Academy students. It is her passion for teaching and writing the Word that led to the development of On Assignment Publishing. Dr. Beed has served as Co-Chair of the Faith Based Arts Conference and Co-Coordinator for the African American panels and workshops for the Daytona Beach, FL (2006) and Houston, TX (2007) Romantic Times Convention. She will be a featured workshop presenter for the 2008 Romance Slam Jam in Chicago, in April 2008.
	Carletta Carrington Wilson Carletta Carrington Wilson's poems have been published in Obsidian III; Seattle Poets and Photographers: A Millennium Reflection; Raven Chronicles and Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century, among others. She has recently completed her first poetry manuscript.
	Juan Carlos Reyes Juan Carlos Reyes is a recent graduate of the PEN USA Emerging Voices Rosenthal Fellowship in Los Angeles, CA. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, he grew up in New York, where he attended New York University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering. He currently lives in Seattle with his beautiful family, at work on his first novel. He has published three short stories since 2005, including "The Writing on the Walls" and "It Smells Like Syrup", and he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2006 for "The Burning of Father Amelio's Church". He sits on the board of contributing writers for Tertulia Magazine, where he was featured in their January issue along with a preview of his upcoming book, the Landing five (www.tertuliamagazine.com): "In this issue we feature [...] Juan Carlos Reyes, a writer whose bold experimentation (while still respecting literary traditions) I believe will make him a star." (Rosa Martha Villareal, Publisher).
	Janine Vance Janine Vance is the author of two forthcoming books, Babies Found in a Box and The Search for Mother Missing: A Peek Inside International Adoption. Janine is a Metaphysical Minister and Reiki Practictioner. She is passionate about spirituality, world religions, philosophy, psychology, complementary healing techniques, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her hobbies include reading, writing, movies, and researching international adoption.

SEATTLE RAINBOW BOOKFEST 2008

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