Blog
Donia Bijan is a San Francisco Bay Area chef who left Iran in 1978 when her parents’ lives were threatened by the Islamic Revolution. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1984, Donia went to Paris to attend the Cordon Bleu before returning to San Francisco and eventually opening her own restaurant. Since closing her restaurant in 2004, Ms. Bijan has divided her days between raising her son, catering, and writing MAMAN'S HOMESICK PIE, a memoir where she reimagines her passion for cooking as a vessel to travel back and forth between the kitchens of her childhood and the formal kitchens of her training. Here, she talks about a time in her childhood when her mother had to work every day, but took the time each morning to write her long, detailed letters. Her parents are pictured in the photos below.
World Book Night was a huge success! Our readers from across the country told us about their experiences throughout the week on our Facebook page and in emails to Carol. We are happy to share comments from 17 of them, along with photos from some. Reading these stories made us realize how many in this country are without a book to read. For a look at just how farflung the book givers were, see this map: http://www.facebook.com/worldbooknightusa
A Missouri native, Jane Myers Perrine earned her B.A. from Kansas State University and her M.Ed. in Spanish from the University of Louisville. She was a finalist in the Regency category of the Golden Heart Awards, and her short pieces have appeared in the Houston Chronicle and Woman's World magazine. A high-school Spanish teacher as well as an ordained minister, she currently lives in Texas with her husband, who is the minister of a local Christian church.
This year Carol's schedule did not permit her to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, but we are lucky to have a report from Kathy Jund, a reader from Rancho Cucamonga, CA, who Carol has enjoyed spending time with at the Festival the past two years. She interviewed Kathy (in photo, second from the left) earlier this week while she was still on a high from the weekend.
Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of PICTURES OF YOU and eight other novels. Her new novel, IS IT TOMOROW, will be published by Algonquin Books, Spring 2013. She can be reached at www.carolineleavitt.com. She will also be participating in a live webcast with Anne Lamott on April 26th, which you can find out more about here.
Amanda Hodgkinson is a British writer and journalist who grew up in a small Essex fishing village before moving to Suffolk, and attending the University of East Anglia. She now lives and works in south west France with her husband Guy and their two daughters. 22 BRITANNIA ROAD is Amanda Hodgkinson’s first novel. Here, she talks about being inspired by her mother and her bustling childhood home.
Seventeen year old Darcy Deane and her mother, amputee Olympian and former White House official, Bonnie St. John, co-authored the new book, HOW GREAT WOMEN LEAD, from Hachette Publishing.
New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Here, she talks about her new memoir, PARIS IN LOVE, and what it meant to her as a mother to her two children (she is pictured here with her daughter, Anna).
The author of three previous novels, Jeanne Ray works as a registered nurse at the Frist Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee. She is married and has two daughters. Together, she and her husband have ten grandchildren. In this piece, she talks about how her daughter encouraged her to become a writer.
In addition to publishing eight poetry anthologies, Daisy Goodwin has presented award-winning television series on poetry and on the enduring appeal of romantic fiction, and is a commentator and columnist for the London Sunday Times. Daisy lives in London with two daughters, three dogs, and a husband who is an executive for ABC News. THE AMERICAN HEIRESS is her first novel. Here, she talks about how she got her start with fiction --- by inventing her own mother.
