Press Release  

Contact: Office of the College President,
Coni Chavez, (209) 588-5115
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2013

Columbia College Invites the Public to
Presentations and a Workshop Conducted by Celebrated Author

Columbia College invites the public to an evening with celebrated author Pam Houston.  Ms. Houston will be a guest at Columbia College’s Library, for the first in this year’s “Meet The Author” series, on Thursday, April 11 from 2:30-3:30 p.m., and later that same day, at Columbia College’s Dogwood forum, from 6:00-9:00 p.m.  Pam Houston, celebrated author and director of UC Davis’ creative writing program, is one of the most compelling voices in contemporary literature, blending the raw facts of life with fiction in elegantly rendered prose that resonates deeply with readers who have also dared to live life on their own terms, or who might wish they had.  Her most recent novel, Contents May Have Shifted, has been released in paperback,along with a re-release of two of her previous novels, A Little More About Me, and Waltzing the Cat. She is also the author of Cowboys Are My Weakness. Her stories have been chosen for The Best American Short Stories, The O’ Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories of the Century, and the Pushcart Prize.

In addition to her appearances at Columbia College, she will conduct a writer’s workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Central Sierra Arts KASA building (Kids Art Studies Academy), 251 Barretta Street, at the Historic Dome campus in Sonora. The workshop focus will be, Turning the Stuff of Your Life into Story; how to choose the most powerful raw materials, get them onto the page without their losing power, and combine them to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. These events are sponsored by the Columbia College Foundation, and are free to the public. For more information or to pre-register for the workshop, please email sotom@yosemite.edu or call Meryl Soto at 209-588-5225.

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Coni M. Chavez
Executive Assistant to the President
Columbia College
11600 Columbia College Drive
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 588-5115 • (209) 588-5161 fax
chavezc@yosemite.edu