We really liked this Oregon Art Beat program featuring Hawthorne Books author Monica Drake when it came out a few years ago. It’s such a good slice of Monica, her Hawthorne title Clown Girl, and the rich and wacky literary world of Portland that we decided to put it on the blog this week. We also love that one of our favorite local media folks — Kelly Clarke, arts and culture editor at Willamette Week — was interviewed for the show.

If you haven’t read Clown Girl yet you can buy a copy directly from us for $10 including shipping and handling. And although I don’t think we really have to sell you on it at this point you should know what Chuck Palahniuk said about the book: “Clown Girl is more than a great book. Clown Girl is its own reality.”

Go clown around!

Loretta Stinson's friend Anja Spence of Miss Zumstein's Cakes and Desserts made a beautiful Ganesh ganache cake for the celebration. Tasted as good as it looks!

So many great people showed up last night for Loretta Stinson’s Little Green book launch party. Even though it was a Sunday night and on the later side with a 9pm start — it was a packed house. Some people in attendance include Debra Gwartney, Eduardo Fernandez, Tony Wolk, Hawthorne Books authors Kassten Alonso and soon to be Hawthorne authors Lidia Yuknavitch and David Rocklin. Here are a few snapshots from the night…

Some songs were sung by Loretta Stinson...

Rhonda Hughes introduced Loretta...

Loretta chatting it up with the lovely Debra Gwartney.

Hawthorne Books author Kassten Alonso with senior editor Adam O'Connor Rodriguez and his wife Sarah Flynn.

Books, books and more books.

Thanks to everyone for coming out!

Time to shake a leg and celebrate Little Green!

We’re all getting pretty excited over here counting down the days until the book launch party for Loretta Stinson’s Little Green. It’s fantastic to have a book launch party precede all sorts of great coverage from the likes of Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, The Rumpus, ForeWord Reviews and then some. When it comes down to it though we don’t need these publications to tell us what we already know. Little Green’s got it going on. Come celebrate with Loretta Stinson and the entire Hawthorne Books crew this Sunday night at Mississippi Pizza Pub!

Little Green Book Launch Party
No cover. All ages. Live music. Pizza and beer on us!
Sunday, July 18th 9:15-11:30pm
Mississippi Pizza Pub
3552 North Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR
503.288.3231
www.mississippipizza.com

Live music from The Barkers
www.thebandthebarkers.com

Little Green in good company at Powell's City of Books.

Even though it’s summer and summer is the sleepy season for many industries including publishing Little Green has been raking in great reviews just in time to launch Loretta Stinson’s book tour. Here’s the book event scoop as of now but please check Loretta’s website regularly for up to the minute events.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 :: 7.30 – 9.00 pm
Powell’s Books | 3747 Hawthorne, Portland, OR 97214. (503) 235-3802 :: Reading.

Sunday, 18 July 2010 :: 9.00 – 11.30 pm
Mississippi Pizza Pub | 3552 North Mississippi Ave · Portland, Oregon T: (503) 288-3231. :: Please join us for the book launch party of Loretta Stinson’s debut novel, Little Green! Free pizza and beer and music.

Thursday, 29 July 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Eliott Bay Book Company | 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. (206) 624-6600. :: Reading.

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Green Apple Books | 506 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. (T) 415 387-2272. :: Reading.

Thursday, 26 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Book Passage Cafe | 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera, CA 94925-1145. T: (415) 927-0960 :: Reading.

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 :: 6.30 – 7.30 pm
Multnomah County Library | Belmont Branch #1038, SE 39th Ave, Portland, OR 97214, T: (503) 988-5382 :: Reading.

Recent coverage:

“Stinson, thankfully doesn’t allow the narrative to wallow or glorify, and the hope found is hard-won and genuine.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Stinson’s first novel is a brutal but ultimately empowering story about the long road one girl has to travel, literally and figuratively, before she can find out who she is.” —BOOKLIST

The Rumpus review
Brain Candy Book Reviews
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
ForeWord Reviews debut author feature
Biblioklept
Reading Local

Tools of the intern trade...

Over the years Hawthorne has had some fantastic interns and we thought it was about time we featured them here. A lot of our interns have gone on to do great work and below you’ll find just out what just a few of them are up to. (If we’ve left you out please accept our apology. Drop us a line and let us know what you’re up to and we’ll include you in the next roundup of amazing interns.)

Hawthorne Books has had its 10 week unpaid seasonal internships for several years and a lot of our interns come to us directly from Portland State University’s Book Publishing Program — although not all. If you’re interested in applying for our internship please read more about it here.

Kyle Cassidy, editorial director of Wend Magazine
Shannon Carson, adjunct professor of writing at Portland State University
Kyla Buckingham, project editor Help Worldwide, Inc.
Scott F. Parker, editorial assistant at Rain Taxi Review of Books
Liz Crain, (yep, me) editor at Hawthorne Books, author of Sasquatch Books title Food Lover’s Guide to Portland
Spencer Newlin-Cushing, executive assistant Dark Horse Comics
Haili Jones Graff, copy editor and proofreader at Bitch Magazine
Robert Wicks, publicity assistant of Oxford University Press
Katie Shaw, proofreader and assistant to the content coordinator at Formations Inc.

Hawthorne Books’ author and 2005 Oregon Book Award finalist Kassten Alonso reads from, and talks about, his book Core and in these two videos. Here’s a synopsis of the book from our catalogue:

This intense and compact novel crackles with obsession, betrayal, and madness, and was an Oregon Book Award Finalist for fiction 2005. As the narrator becomes fixated on his best friend’s girlfriend, his precarious hold on sanity rapidly deteriorates into delusion and violence. This story can be read as the classic myth of Hades and Persephone (Core) rewritten for a twenty-first century audience as well as a dark, foreboding tale of unrequited love and loneliness. Alonso skillfully uses language to imitate memory and psychosis, putting the reader squarely inside the narrator’s head. In addition, deliberate misuse of standard punctuation blurs the distinction between the narrator’s internal and external worlds. A sense of alienation and Faulknerian grotesquerie permeate this landscape where desire is borne in the bloom of a daffodil and sanity lies toppled like an applecart in the mud.

Every once in awhile it’s good to do a roundup of Hawthorne goings-on. The past few weeks we’ve had a lot of great events and press for Hawthorne titles and authors that we’d like to share with you here. Loretta Stinson will be reading at Annie Bloom’s Books in Multnomah Village tonight at 7:30pm and she has a lot of upcoming events. Check out her beautiful revamped website for an up-to-the-minute Loretta schedule. Little Green has also been getting a lot of great reviews and coverage. Here are a few of the latest:

The Rumpus review of Little Green

Biblioklept’s review of Little Green

For all things Loretta Stinson head here...

PETER H. FOGTDAL & THE TSAR’S DWARF

Peter H. Fogtdal’s novel The Tsar’s Dwarf got a great review in the Spring 2010 issue of The Los Angeles Review. If you haven’t checked out this Red Hen Press publication you’re missing out. Included in the issue are stories by Barry Lopez, Tess Gallagher, Rick Bass and Mark Acito.

So happy to get this in the mail...

The Los Angeles Review's review of The Tsar's Dwarf.

MONICA DRAKE & CLOWN GIRL

Monica Drake’s novel Clown Girl continues to get a lot of great press and attention, not to mention the optioning of the novel by SNL’s Kristen Wiig. Here’s the latest Clown Girl review from Rose City Reader.

Still garnering great reviews...

FRANK MEEINK, JODY M. ROY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A RECOVERING SKINHEAD

Frank Meeink of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead is winding down his 20-plus city tour and the media hits keep coming. Tune into The Leonard Lopate Show today or visit the online archives and listen to Frank talk about his past and the book. He will also be on CBS’ The Unfiltered Show.

Check out Frank Meeink on today's The Leonard Lopate Show.

SCOTT NADELSON & PLOUGHSHARES BLOG

Hawthorne Books author Scott Nadelson has been writing regularly over at the Ploughshares Blog. We’ve really been enjoying his posts and think you will too.

A lot of good writing from Scott Nadelson on the Ploughshares blog.

For more information about all of these titles and more please visit the Hawthorne Books website:
www.hawthornebooks.com

Visit this blog for all things Loretta and Little Green...

Little Green is out and about and along with its pub. date on the first of June comes a lot of book events. The latest and greatest is below but please check back here for continual updates. You can also bookmark Loretta’s blog for all sorts of good info. and thoughts.

Loretta Stinson Book Tour
Saturday, 22 May 2010 :: 11.45 – 1.15 pm
Portland State University Ooligan Press | Neuberger Hall, 724 SW Harrison Street, Portland, Oregon 97201. 503.725.9748 :: Loretta Stinson to participate on a panel at the Write to Publish, a conference organized by Ooligan Press.

Thursday, 03 June 2010 :: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Portland State University | Smith Hall, Room 333, Portland, OR :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 17 June 2010 :: 7:30pm
Annie Bloom’s Books | 7834 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR :: Loretta reads from Little Green.

Thursday, 24 June 2010 :: 7.00 – 9.00 pm
Blackbird Wine Shop | 3519 NE 44th Avenue, Portland, OR 97213. T: (503) 282-1887 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Broadway Books | 1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232. 503-284-1726 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 :: 7.30 – 9.00 pm
Powell’s Books | 3747 Hawthorne, Portland, OR 97214. (503) 235-3802 :: Loretta reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 29 July 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Elliott Bay Book Company | 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. (206) 624-6600. :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Green Apple Books | 506 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. (T) 415 387-2272. :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 26 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Book Passage Cafe | 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera, CA 94925-1145. T: (415) 927-0960 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Frank Meeink's talk last night at Powell's Books downtown PDX...

Frank Meeink of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead has been in Portland for the past several days doing all sorts of great book events including a book launch party at Mississippi Pizza Pub and a reading last night at Powell’s Books downtown. If you haven’t seen him this time around tonight is his last Portland event — a reading/talk at the Clackamas Town Center Barnes & Noble at 7pm.

Tuesday, June 8 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Barnes & Noble | Clackamas Town Center, 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97086. T: (503) 786-3464 :: Frank Meeink, Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead.

On bookshelves nationwide!

Although publication dates are sometimes a bit slippery with books (you’ll often find titles on shelves a week to three weeks before pub. date) it’s still a momentous occasion for the writer and the publisher. Today Loretta Stinson’s Little Green is officially out in the world. We are very happy and so are a lot of you. We know because you’ve told us and so have the reviewers. Here are a few of the reviews rolling in…

Reading Local: Portland
Valet Reader
Brain Candy Book Reviews

A clip from the ForeWord Reviews piece:

Loretta Stinson successfully mixes drama with gritty reality in her first novel, in which she navigates the fraught waters of domestic violence and drug culture with a careful hand and compassionate heart…Her characters are dynamic and utterly real and while we may want to seal our eyes from the images she hands us it’s impossible not to watch, not to hurt for Janie…while her dreams slip further and further from her grasp.–Andie Diehn, ForeWord Reviews

This fine looking fellow, Frank Meeink, will be in PDX June 3-8 for readings and events.

A little more good news…

Since March 30th, Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead’s Frank Meeink has been on his 20-plus city book tour and this week he lands in Portland. From Ames, Iowa, to Chicago, Phoenix, New York City, Boston, LA, Las Vegas, and more Frank has been zigzagging across the country for book readings and events.

We’re looking forward to spending the better part of a week with him here and since we’re good at sharing we hope you’ll join us. Come one, come all!

Portland calendar:

June 5th, 9pm — Book launch party @ Mississippi Pizza Pub, live music by Nicole Berke, no cover and pizza and beer on us, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., Portland OR.
June 7th, 7:30pm — Reading @ Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland OR.
June 8th, 7pm — Reading @ Barnes & Noble Clackamas Town Center Mall, 12000 SE 82nd Ave., Portland OR.

Recent coverage:

Huffington Post
Ring of Fire Radio
Utne Reader
Coast to Coast
Fresh Air
Chicago Tribune

Always reading...

Kate:
A lot of articles in Harper’s Magazine and The New Yorker
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Nomad: From Islam to America, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Red Familes v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture, Naomi Cahn and June Carbone

Rhonda:
The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Pamuk
Love Junkie: A Memoir, Rachel Resnick
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance, Wilbert Rideau

Adam:
Kamby Bolongo Mean River, Robert Lopez
Forty Stories, Donald Barthelme
Zeroville, Steve Erickson
Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch (proofing for Hawthorne)
Elegy, Larry Levis

Liz:
Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook, Chris Hastings, Idie Hastings, and Katherine Cobbs
Temperance, Cathy Malkasian
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, Judith Jones
Past issues of The New Yorker