Author Jamie Ford to Appear at Ordway Hall Tuesday, Oct. 11th

And you don’t even have to wait as long as originally anticipated.

Ford, author of AC’s Common Reader, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, was originally scheduled to speak at the College on Oct. 13, but a conflict arose and now the bestselling novelist will make his AC appearance at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11.

“An Evening with Jamie Ford” takes place in the historic Ordway Hall Auditorium on the Washington Street Campus. The event is free, and the public is invited to attend.

Auditorium doors open at 6:30 p.m., and seating will be available on a first-come basis. The event will conclude with a book-signing.

AC’s Common Reader Program is designed to utilize one book to help ease the transition of new students to the College environment; however the entire College community is encouraged to read the book, and several themed events are planned throughout the year to complement the selection. That, of course, includes an appearance by the author.

Ford’s debut novel flashes back and forth between two periods of time experienced by the same individual — Henry Lee — a Chinese-American boy of 12 at the time of the war, who as a widower in adulthood begins to investigate his past. He hopes to find clues to the whereabouts of his first girlfriend, Keiko, a Japanese-American whose cultural origin Henry’s father had been emphatically unwilling to condone.

“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet received several accolades upon its release in 2009, including the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Kirkus Review hailed the novel as “A timely debut that not only reminds readers of a shameful episode in American history, but cautions us to examine the present and take heed we don’t repeat those injustices.”

The Seattle Times praised the book as “A wartime-era Chinese-Japanese variation on Romeo and Juliet.”