On March 19, Linfield hosted an Oregon Book Award Author Talk with 2023s winner Sindya Bhanoo and 2024 nominee Marcelle Heath.
Previously working as a journalist, Bhanoo has found a new passion for writing fiction, and won the Oregon Book Award for her short story collection, “Seeking Fortune Elsewhere.” Bhanoo’s book is filled with stories about people from India, filled with beautiful language. Her stories tell intimate stories, some of which are inspired by people Bhanoo met while working as a journalist. She strives to let readers into the lives and experiences of the people she met. During the book talk she read her story “Malliga Homes,” the first piece in her collection. This story was about an elderly Indian woman, who has been placed in an elderly community in India by her children who have moved to America. It is a lonely tale, about aging and being left behind by your children, and cultural changes in India. In discussing the piece, Bhanoo talked about how this cultural phenomenon is something new in India. Elderly communities are relatively new in India since previously most children would house their aging parents within their home.
Marcelle Heath’s collection, “Is That All There Is?” has been selected as a finalist for this year’s Oregon Book Awards which will be announced on April 8th. Her book is described as genre-bending and has a collection of short stories that have intertwining characters. Heath discussed her enjoyment in taking a character that had previously been the main protagonist in one story and making them into a background character in another. For her reading, Heath read her short story “The Apologist,” a piece about a woman who is housing an apologist in her home. The apologist functions as a top-secret conflict mediator, they are hired to help solve issues without taking one side or another. The story unfolds through a series of interactions with a variety of characters, each with their own quirks, as she slowly reveals the secrets of the apologist and the role his job plays in society.
Be sure to check out who wins the Oregon Book Awards on April 8th, and if you are interested in either of these books, local bookstore Third Street Books often stocks books from local authors.
If you are interested in similar events, on Wednesday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. the Nicholson Library will be hosting memoirist and poet Jane Wong.
