Past Annual Authors'
Nights Guests
2009
Ursula K. Le Guin
Lee Montgomery
2008
Molly Gloss
Robert Hill
2007
Jess Walter
Brian Doyle
2006
Carole Radziwill
Maura Conlon-McIvor
2005
Ivan Doig
John Irving
Norman Mailer
Meg Wolitzer
2004
Clemens Starck
Whitney Otto
2003
Ann Rule
Karen Karbo
2002
Phillip Margolin
Larry Colton
2001
Craig Lesley
Marjorie Sandor
2000
Peg Bracken
Ehud Havazalet
1999
Peter Ho Davies
Lars Nördstrom
1998
Terrence O’Donnell
1997
Robin Cody
Jean Auel
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About the Authors:
Judith Barrington: (From her website)
Judith Barrington is a poet and memoirist who has published three collections of poetry, a prize-winning memoir, and a text on writing literary memoir which is used all across the United States and in Australia and Europe. Her most recent poetry is collected in two new chapbooks, Postcard From the Bottom of the Sea and Lost Lands. Her most recent full length book is Horses and the Human Soul about which reviewer Barbara Drake, writing in Calyx, said: "These stunning poems find moral high ground in the world of nature and animals without falsifying that world."
Her memoir, Lifesaving, won the Lambda Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. She is well known as a writer and much sought-after as a teacher. She is a faculty member of the low-residency program at the University of Alaska at Anchorage and a web mentor for the University of Minnesota. She offers workshops at many conferences and writing events in the U.S. as well as in England and Spain.
In 2009, the Oregon State Library selected Horses and the Human Soul for "150 Books for the Sesquicentennial" (from among books by Oregon writers, 1836 – 2009)
Judith grew up in England and moved to the United States in 1976. She has lived in Portland, Oregon since then, returning to Europe to give readings and workshops every year.
Read more about Judith Barrington on her bio page of her website.
John Kroger:
(from Oregon Department of Justice website)
John Kroger is the Attorney General of Oregon. John has devoted his entire life to public service as a United States Marine, federal prosecutor, public policy expert, and teacher. John was elected in November 2008 after winning the nominations of both the Democratic and Republican parties. He won every county in the state, accruing more Oregon votes than any other candidate on the ballot, including President Barack Obama.
As a federal criminal prosecutor, John won major cases against mafia killers, drug kingpins and corrupt government officials. He helped prosecute crooked Enron executives and served on the emergency response team to the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. In recognition of his work, John won awards and commendations from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the State Department. In 1999, John received the Director's Award for Outstanding Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney from Attorney General Janet Reno for convicting two mafia captains for committing multiple murders. John wrote about his experiences as a prosecutor in his book Convictions, which won the Oregon Book Award in 2009.
Convictions is a spellbinding story from the front lines of the fight against crime. Most Americans know little about the work of assistant United States attorneys, the federal prosecutors who possess sweeping authority to investigate and prosecute the nation's most dangerous criminals. John Kroger pursued high-profile cases against Mafia killers, drug kingpins, and Enron executives. Starting from his time as a green recruit and ending at the peak of his career, he steers us through the complexities of life as a prosecutor, where the battle in the courtroom is only the culmination of long and intricate investigative work. He reveals how to flip a perp, how to conduct a cross, how to work an informant, how to placate a hostile judge. Kroger relates it all with a novelist's eye for detail and a powerful sense of the ethical conflicts he faces. Often dissatisfied with the system, he explains why our law enforcement policies frequently fail in critical areas like drug enforcement and white-collar crime. He proposes new ways in which we can fight crime more effectively, empowering citizens to pressure their lawmakers to adopt more productive policies. This is an unflinching portrait of a crucial but little-understood part of our justice system, and Kroger is an eloquent guide.
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