Me n' Mas in Merced

The UC Merced Reading Series has invite meself and my central valley ja senpai, David Mas Masumoto, to conduct a literary conversation of sorts in late October. Here are the deets:

Thursday, October 25, 2007
Merced Multicultural Arts Center
645 West Main Street,
Downtown Merced, CA
7:00-9:00 p.m.

Utilizing the format of a "literary interview" David Mas Masumoto (sansei) and I (yonsei) will talk about growing Japanese American in the Central Valley, our literary beginnings and inspiration, and stuff about books. Books! Mas has a new book out by Heyday's Great Valley Books imprint (of course) entitled "Heirlooms" which he will be signing; I'll talk briefly about my Shig project.

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David Mas Masumoto is an organic peach and grape farmer and the author of Letters to the Valley, A Harvest of Memories, published by Heyday Books, 2004. His previous books include Four Seasons in Five Senses, Things Worth Savoring (2003, W.W. Norton), Harvest Son, Planting Roots in American Soil (1998, W.W. Norton) and Epitaph For A Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm (1995, HarperCollins).

A third generation farmer, Masumoto grows certified organic peaches, nectarines, grapes and raisins. He works with his family on their organic 80 acre farm south of Fresno, California and also helps care for his parents who still live on the family farm.

Masumoto is currently a columnist for The Fresno Bee and has written for USA Today and The Los Angeles Times. His other books include Silent Strength (1984), Home Bound (1989) and Country Voices, The Oral History of a Japanese American Family Farm Community (1987). He received the James Clavell Japanese American National Literacy Award in 1986.