Contributor Gina Ochsner chats with LAR
LAR Author Gina Ochsner Nominated for Oregon Book Award–Again. On Monday night, October 26, 2009, LAR author Gina Ochsner will find out whether she’s a two-time recipient of the Oregon Book Award. Ochsner, an Oregon native, is no stranger to literary accolades. Her first collection of short stories, The Necessary Grace to Fall, received the Flannery O’Connor Award from the University of Georgia Press and was re-released this month. Her second book, People I Wanted to Be, earned her the first OBA.
So far, so good. But a novel is a different animal and Ochsner saw hers orphaned, at least once. Although the book hasn’t hit the shelves in the US yet, its UK debut made it eligible for this year’s award. Its lack of availability is a literary tease on this side of the Atlantic, especially with a review in The Observer book section on the other side of that begins, “This is one hell of a strange read – but in a good way. One part post-Soviet insanity to three parts magical realism, it demands that the reader be extraordinarily trusting and believe that this fantastical tall tale of airborne corpses, a murderous boy called Bad Boris and borscht sweetened with boot blacking will eventually come good. Which it does.”
Ochsner’s hometown review from Powell’s City of Books ends, ”And so in Ochsner’s fable-like, magical debut, we see the transcendence of imagination. As Colum McCann has said: ‘Ochsner manages… to capture our sundry human moments and make raw and unforgettable music of them.”
In ”Have a Little Heart,” her short story in LAR issue #6, Ochsner also hits raw musical notes as she tells the tale of a little boy born with a heart too big, a heart that leads him to love too much. How, you might ask, did a little girl from a state known for hazel nuts, wood products, and pinot noir develop such a quirky world view? Read about her journey, here in Oshsner own words, and you decide.
“I was born and raised in Salem, Oregon. After graduating from high school, I attended George Fox University, a small Quaker college located in Western Oregon. After all attempts to start an all-female football team (The Fighting Quakers) failed, I left George Fox and attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where I was thrilled to discover that the population of pigs outnumbered that of humans three to one.
“I worked in a deli called ‘Cheese and Puppets’ where the population of plush animals outnumbered the cheese products three to one. Not long after I was hired, the deli underwent radical management downsizing, but I’m not sure this is something I should talk about, though I have many fond memories of this place. I enrolled in the writing program at Iowa State and also Russian language courses. Owing to the fact that I flunked Russian three times–an unheard of achievement that launched me to near super-star status in the Slavic Language department– I turned my attention to martial arts, where I had the privilege of getting beat up three times a week (four, if I paid extra).
“Eventually, I decided that enough was enough. I moved back to Oregon where I married my husband, Brian, who happens to be a fabulous carpenter and can build just about anything. Between the two of us, we have four children who constantly amaze and astound us. For starters, they keep growing. And then there are the things they say. Which I cannot repeat. Most of my time is spent these days wearing earplugs and making sure the kids do not terrorize any of the neighborhood cats or dogs.
With my remaining spare time, I try to write as much as I can and as much as the family can tolerate. Recently a book of stories People I Wanted to Be was collected and published by Houghton Mifflin. Another collection, The Necessary Grace To Fall (University of Georgia Press) will be re-released in October 2009. A novel, Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight, is forthcoming from Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt in January 2010.”
You can order Gina’s new book from Amazon by following the link below.
