Literature and Writing   

September 20 – Catharine Bramkamp – Mystery – Deep Trouble: Sensible Adults - More Bad Choices

Catharine Bramkamp, one of our very own OLLI instructors, is a writing coach, workshop facilitator and author of 22 fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books! She holds a BA in English from UCSB and a MA in English from Sonoma State University. Born and raised in Nevada City, she serves on the board for the Nevada County Arts Council, and is on the organizing committee for the Sierra Poetry Festival and the Sierra Writers Conference. She hosts writing groups and writing workshops. Her favorite activity is travel. She lives with her husband in Nevada City. 

We will chat with Catharine about many things, but a big focus will be on her cozy mystery novel series whose main characters are all members of the “over sixty” crowd—people just like us OLLI members!

December 6 – Gary Noy – Narrative Nonfiction Short Story Collections about local history – Hellacious California!

A Sierra Nevada native, Gary Noy has been a renowned history instructor at Sierra College for decades. The son and grandson of Cornish hardrock gold miners, Gary was born and raised in Grass Valley. He is a graduate of both UC Berkeley and CSU Sacramento. Gary is the founder and former director of the Sierra College Center for Sierra Nevada Studies and Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the Sierra College Press. His love of California history comes through in all his writing.

Above all else, Gary is a gifted storyteller, with many books of California stories to his name. We’ll chat with him about his book Hellacious California!: Tales of Rascality! Revelry! Dissipation! Depravity! and the Birth of the Golden State.

October 18 – Mary Helen Fein – Fictionalized Family History – Stitching a Life

Mary Helen Fein was born in Riverdale, New York, to a large New York family. She has a BA in English Literature from Temple University, an MS in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and for two years, she studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, America’s oldest art school. Today, she lives in Northern California where she writes, paints, and draws.

Mary Helen’s book, Stitching a Life, An Immigration Story, is a historical novel based on the amazing story of her grandmother, Helen, who came to New York City from Lithuania all by herself at the age of 16, in 1900. Not just the story of her grandmother, it is the story of each one of the millions of immigrants who crossed the ocean and entered through Ellis Island to find a better life in the New World.

November 15 – Pat Miller – Memoir – Bamboo Secrets: One Woman’s Quest Through the Shadows of Japan

Patricia Dove Miller is a third-generation Californian, born and raised in the Berkeley hills. She has lived in the mountains outside of Cali, Colombia, in a tiny rice-farming village in North Thailand, and also at the edge of the northeastern hills in Kyoto, Japan. She attended Stanford University, and much later, at the age of sixty-six, completed her MFA in creative writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Pat lives in Grass Valley, where she is writing her second book and teaching creative writing.

Her memoir, Bamboo Secrets, focuses on the beauty and the difficulties she encountered while living in the cultural center of Kyoto, Japan.

Develop stories around a central theme in writing, memory books or other art projects. Practice mind mapping to identify and frame your stories. Share meaningful objects to reflect on meaningful people, places, events, traditions, treasures, life lessons and quotations. Multiple handouts provided. 

Monthly gathering to discuss books ranging from historical fiction to non-fiction and classics. Short presentation by a member of the group focusing on facts about the author, historical setting or other interesting aspects of the book sets tone for discussion. Discussion is informal and participation is encouraged. Members will need to obtain their own books. Opening selection is "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus. Full reading list will be provided at first meeting. Membership Required.

Kristin Hannah's newest novel, The Women, is a story about heroes, the women nurses who served in the Vietnam War. This brilliant and moving account shines a light on the amazing women whose stories of courage and dedication have barely been told.

*Please Note: These course dates differ from the printed brochure. 
The dates listed here (Online) are correct.

Kristin Hannah's newest novel, The Women, is a story about heroes, the women nurses who served in the Vietnam War. This brilliant and moving account shines a light on the amazing women whose stories of courage and dedication have barely been told.

*Please Note: These course dates differ from the printed brochure. 
The dates listed here (Online) are correct.