Reading and Signing by 3 Pacific Writers Press Contributors to Be at UCI

A reading and book-signing by Pacific Writers Press authors David Nava Monreal, George Coleman and Jo-Ann Mapson will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the UC Irvine Bookstore in the Marketplace Shopping Center on Campus Drive across from UCI.

Pacific Writers Press, a small, UCI-based independent press “concerned with publishing quality manuscripts,” was co-founded in 1987 by novelist Alejandro Morales, a UCI professor of Spanish, and Robert Boies, assistant principal at Tustin High School.

The press’ first book, published in 1988, was Monreal’s “The New Neighbor and Other Stories,” ($7.95) a collection of short stories that examine the California life style from the Latino point of view. In his work, the El Toro writer explores issues ranging from street gangs and AIDS to the struggle for acceptance and the desire to preserve Latino culture.

The latest book is Coleman’s “Into the Storm: A Vietnam Odyssey” ($9.95), a collection of poems that chronicle the Princeton, N.J., writer’s life after high school graduation, through the Vietnam War, and home again where he must make the difficult transition from soldier to civilian. John Carlos Rowe, a UCI professor of comparative literature, wrote the preface.

This fall, Pacific Writers Press will publish “Fault Line,” a collection of short stories by Mapson, a Costa Mesa resident who has been praised by one reviewer for extracting “the living moment from ordinary scenes, writing about love, family, death and sex with a frank and refreshing empathy.”

Monreal said the purpose of Pacific Writers Press is “to publish quality writers who are not published in the major houses.”

“We’re another outlet for good literature,” said Morales, who has had four novels published, including “The Brick People,” which was published in 1988 by Arte Publico Press of the University of Houston.

“It’s been a dream of mine to help writers and I think Bob (Boies) is the same. He is an avid reader and lover of literature,” said Morales. “I think there are so many writers out there who are very good writers but don’t have access to the big presses. Getting published nowadays is very, very difficult.”

Currently, Pacific Writers Press prints 1,000 paperback copies of each book. “The New Neighbor and Other Stories” and “Into the Storm” are available at the UCI bookstore, at independent bookstores throughout Orange County and by mail from Pacific Writers Press. For information, call the department of Spanish and Portuguese at (714) 856-6901.

Morales said UCI provides some funding to help pay for Pacific Writers Press’ administrative and printing costs but the majority comes from him and Boies.

“I’m satisfied with the way we’re going, but we want to get bigger,” Morales said. “It’s always a problem of finances. I’d like to be able to hire someone who could come in with us as a partner and do a lot of the administrative work with the press. I myself like to read the manuscripts and identify the writers.”

Morales said he and Boies would like to publish three to four books a year--novels, short story collections and collections of essays on current issues. Depending on how well the first three books do, he said, they also plan to print 500 hardback and 1,500 paperback copies of each future title and now are looking into distributing the books nationally through a small press distributor.

Writers interested in submitting their work are asked to send an inquiry letter describing their manuscripts to Pacific Writers Press, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, UC Irvine, Irvine, Calif. 92717.

Book Signings: Douglas Muir of Newport Beach will sign his latest thriller, “The Midnight Admirals,” from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Brentano’s in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa. . . . Janice Lovoos and Gordon McClelland will sign “Phil Dike,” their book about the renowned Southern California artist, from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Upchurch-Brown Booksellers, 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. . . . A.E. Maxwell (“The Art of Survival”) and E.C. Ward (“A Nice Little Beach Town”) will sign their books from 7 to 9 p.m. June 14, at Rizzoli International Bookstore in South Coast Plaza.

Chicano Contest: The winning entries in UCI’s 15th annual Chicano Literary Contest were saluted during a recent awards ceremony in the Santa Ana City Hall Annex. Tom Lugo, a UCI student, won an honorable mention in the poetry category for “Mexican Ascent of the Academic Shreckhorn.”

The contest, which is sponsored by the university’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, receives hundreds of prose, poetry and play-writing submissions from around the country. First-place winners in the three categories receive cash prizes of $400, second-place winners receive $250 and third-place winners receive $150.

Independent Writers: Orange County writers Eileen McDargh and Pete Maddox will discuss “Presenting a Professional Image to the Business World” at the monthly meeting of the Orange County chapter of Independent Writers of Southern California at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the community room of Pomona First Federal Savings, 17851 17th St., Tustin. Admission is free to members and $10 for non-members. For reservations, call Gisela Meier at (714) 748-0530.

Black Humor: Costa Mesa screenwriter Terry Black (“Dead Heat”), who is known for his humorous approach to both writing and speaking, will be the featured speaker at the Newport Beach Public Library’s annual luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Balboa Bay Yacht Club, 1801 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar. Cost: $15. For information, call (714) 644-0409.

Black wrote a segment for HBO’s “Tales from the Crypt,” a three-part anthology film that airs June 10. Black’s segment, which was directed by Richard Donner (“The Omen”), is titled “Dig That Cat.” According to Black, “it’s about a man who inherits nine lives from a cat and joins a carnival to make money from it.”

Survivor Speaks: Alicia Appleman-Jurman, author of “Alicia: My Story,” a moving account of her teen-age years fleeing the Nazis in Poland and helping rescue other Jews from the Gestapo, will discuss her book at 2 p.m. June 11 at the Jewish Community Center of Central Orange County, 12181 Buaro St., Garden Grove. For information, call (714) 534-9011.

Readers Theater: Summer reading is the theme for a readers theater presentation at 8 p.m. June 15 at Upchurch-Brown Booksellers, 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. (714) 497-8373. Co-owner Robert Brown said the readings will be done by eight people from the community and while final selections have not been made, he promises “nothing heavy and scholarly,” with an emphasis on new books and “books people never got around to reading.”

Anti-Growth: Saddened and frustrated by the burgeoning growth in the hills behind his San Clemente home, Bob Scott, a retired Los Angeles County probation officer, has written and published “The Backcountry,” an illustrated anti-growth fantasy. In Scott’s 24-page “story poem” the animals win.

“The Backcountry” was produced while Scott was a student in graphic communications at Saddleback College. Scott has written numerous poems and stories for magazines such as “Leatherneck,” “War Cry,” “The Fundamentalist Journal” and “Purpose Magazine.” Greg Arcade of San Clemente, a student in graphic arts at Cal State Long Beach, did the color cover of a rabbit in a hard hat and the black-and-white illustrations inside. The book ($5) is available at The Book Site in San Clemente and by mail order: Bob Scott Books, P.O. Box 3462, San Clemente, Calif. 92672.

Korean Culture: twenty volumes covering a wide spectrum of Korean culture have been donated to the library of Cornelia Connelly School in Anaheim, a private Catholic high school for girls. The English-translated books, which were published in Korea, include plays, poetry, history, language, art and a general tour guide to the country. The public is welcome to view the collection during school hours.