OF BOOKS AND WRITERS
'Fox Girl' in running for Orange Prize

By Wanda Adams
Advertiser Books Editor

Author Nora Okja Keller's new book, "Fox Girl," has been long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her first book, "Comfort Woman," also was considered for the award. Advertiser library photo • April 2, 2002

The long list includes 20 novels, among them the red-hot bestsellers "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. Also of local interest, Julie Otsuka's novel about a Japanese-American family interred during World War II, "When the Emperor Was Divine." The short list of six, from which the winner is chosen, will be announced April 28, and the award ceremony is on June 3. Inaugurated in 1995 in response to the lack of women writers nominated for the Booker Prize, the anonymously endowed award gained prominence rapidly.

Shaffer, Tonouchi feted

Eric Paul Shaffer and Lee Tonouchi received the 2003 Eliot Cades Literary Awards at a reception March 20 at the Doris Duke at the Academy. Tonouchi, "Da Pidgin Guerrilla," known for his fierce championing of pidgin and his book, "Da Word" as well as publishing the magazine "Hybolics," is this year's "emerging writer." Shaffer, a poet and teacher who moved to Maui some years ago, is the established writer awardee. His most recent work focuses on Zen Buddhist themes: "Living at the Monastery, Working in the Kitchen," (Leaping Dog, 2001). Both read from their works at the reception in their honor, sponsored by the Hawai'i Literary Arts Council and Henry K. Iwasa.

Shaffer will be reading his work alongside writer Sara Backer, whose book, "American Fuji," was the first selection of The Honolulu Advertiser Book Club, at 7 p.m. on April 4 at Borders Books & Music in Kahului, Maui.

Conference discount

It's close to the time to decide if you're going to the Maui Writers Conference this year: A discounted early registration fee of $495 is available until May 1. Speakers this year include John Saul, Ben Bova, Dorothy Allison and Tami Hoag, and there are two Manuscript Marketplaces planned where you can make contact with agents and editors. The pre-conference retreat tracks, to be offered Aug. 22-27 by John Saul, Dorothy Allison, Terry Brooks, Bryce Courtenay, Susan Wiggs and Deborah Iida, have been updated; deadline to submit a manuscript is July 1. Complete info: www.mauiwriters.com or write P.O. Box 1118, Kihei, Maui, HI 96753 for the conference brochure. (808) 879-0061.

'Dragon' gets new cover

Pam Chun's "The Money Dragon," a novel loosely based on the life of her great-grandfather, merchant L. Ah Leong, believed to have been the wealthiest Chinese in Hawai'i in his time, is out in paperback with a new cover. Chun, who lives in California, has been in and out of Hawai'i since the book's publication early last year, giving talks, signing books and meeting long-lost cousins. The book has consistently appeared on local bestseller lists.

'White Women' explored

Although it is a scholarly book primarily aimed at an academic audience, you might be interested in Mari Yoshihara's "Embracing the East: White Women and American Orientalism" (Oxford University Press, hardback, $19.95). Yoshihara, a professor in the University of Hawai'i Department of American Studies, describes it as being "about a wide range of women who became attracted to Japan and China during the late 19th century, finding new forms of expression, power and freedom that were often denied them in ... America."

Writer publishes memoir

Dawn Fraser Kawahara, a writer and poet and advocate for fine and cultural arts who lives in the Wailua District of Kapa'a, Kaua'i, has just published "Jackals' Wedding: A Memoir of a Childhood in British India" (1stBooks Library, a print-on-demand publisher; check www.1stbooks.com).

Kawahara was born on a tea plantation in Assam, India, and lived out World War II in India and Burma before moving to the United States, becoming a citizen and raising a family.

She and her husband returned to India to research this book, visiting her childhood home of Dehra Dun.

Her press release says that, at the end of the book, one mystery still remains, and she hopes readers will help her solve it.