Aloha!

Books & Spirits is delighted to get back in action! In partnership with the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, we’re delighted to host Marcus Eriksen, author of Junk Raft, in a very special event at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on August 29th. You can register here: https://marcuseriksenseries.eventbrite.com.

Marcus Eriksen is an environmental scientist, educator and author committed to building stronger communities through art, science, adventure and activism.  His books chronicle rafting adventures down rivers and across oceans, and highlight his experience as a veteran of war and as a scientist for conservation.

In 2008, he and his co-navigator, Joel Paschal, constructed a “junk raft” made of plastic trash and set themselves adrift from Los Angeles to Hawaii, with no motor or support vessel, confronting perilous cyclones, food shortages, and a fast decaying raft. Floating on 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna airplane fuselage as a cabin, they journeyed 2,600 miles in 88 days, bringing attention to challenges of plastics pollution and the work of the 5 Gyres Institute, the organization he co-founded with his wife Anna Cummins.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his journey, there will be a special screening of the new film Junk Raft, followed by a Q&A with Dr. Eriksen. The event is FREE! There will be a cash bar and light pupus. Copies of Junk Raft will be available for purchase at the event. As the event is free and space is limited, we encourage you to reserve your spot on Eventbrite as soon as possible!

https://marcuseriksenseries.eventbrite.com

This awesome event wouldn’t be possible with our sponsors: The Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, the Surfrider Foundation, GEICO, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the UHM Alumni Foundation, the Public Policy Center, Conservation International, 5 Gyres, Hawaii Conservation Alliance, Leap Lap, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Marcus Eriksen, Junk Raft

Aloha!

Sorry for our long absence! Stuart and Mark have both had crazy travel schedules….But fear not! Books & Spirits will return, we are plotting an event in August! Details below….

Meanwhile, we had a great time at The Hawaii Books & Music Festival!  It has been wonderful collaborating with Roger Jellinek and the HBMF, and we were stoked to see Books & Spirits authors Adam Johnson and Bill Finnegan at the Festival! Stuart introduced Adam, who gave a riveting talk about his novel The Orphan Master’s Son, life in North Korea and the thin line between reality and fiction there.  Bill talked about his memoir Barbarian Days and the fickle nature of memory. Both authors enthralled their audience.

Mark’s social reading app Bookship had a booth at the festival. Bookship lets you share your reading experiences with your friends and family – it’s like a virtual book club on your phone. We demonstrated the app for folks and the inimitable Justine Espiritu set up a pop-up reading library in the booth.

And…we’re delighted to host Dr. Marcus Eriksen, author of Junk Raft, on August 28th, at our next Books & Spirits!

Marcus is an environmental scientist, educator and author committed to building stronger communities through art, science, adventure and activism. In 2008 Marcus and Joel Paschal sailed from Los Angeles to Hawaii on the Junk, “a raft made from plastic bottles, with thirty old sailboat masts for a deck and a Cessna 310 airplane as a cabin.” Junk Raft tells the story.

We’re excited for the event and will provide more details as we get closer!

The 2018 Ko’olau Writer’s Workshop is on! Organized by author and “friend of Books & Spirits” Tyler McMahon, it’s a great opportunity to study the craft of writing in an awesome setting and with great authors.

KWW 2018 will feature Shawna Yang Ryan!

Shawna Yang Ryan is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of Water Ghosts (2009) and Green Island (2016). She is the Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika Review, and The Berkeley Fiction Review. She is a 2017 recipient of the American Book Awards and the 2015 recipient of the Elliot Cades Emerging Writer award, Hawai`i’s highest literary honor. Originally from California, she now lives in Honolulu.

The Ko`olau Writers Workshop offers instruction and advice to writers of all levels. Held each spring, KWW features intensive workshop sessions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and scriptwriting. A distinguished guest writer will give a keynote address and Q&A on the craft and practice of writing. Registration fee includes your choice of two workshop sessions (one in the morning and the other in the afternoon), as well as coffee and light breakfast, lunch, and the keynote address.

Please note: The new location is easily accessible by public transportation. We will have on-site parking available for a small fee.

Register here.