Coming Home speaker series:

From Fact to Fiction: Rare Accounts of the Japanese American WWII Experience
Lecture by Kristina McMorris, followed by a question and answer session and book signing

Saturday, March 9, 2013, 2:00 p.m.
Free, open to the public

Join New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris for a unique presentation on various aspects of the Nisei WWII experience. Her discussion will feature revelations made from her in-depth research and shocking historical accounts that inspired her critically acclaimed novel Bridge of Scarlet Leaves. Other topics will include cultural and historical education through storytelling, weaving true and personal accounts into fiction, and the wartime courtship letters that first inspired her literary career. A book signing will follow the presentation. Named one of Portland's "40 under 40" by The Business Journal, McMorris is a recipient of more than twenty national literary awards. This program will be held at Beaverton City Library, Meeting Room A.

Coming Home: Voices of Return and Resettlement, 1945-1965 is an exhibit that traces the reestablishment of the Japanese American community in Oregon after World War II and examines the injustices of war-time relocation. The Coming Home exhibition has been woven from personal stories of return and resettlement by Nikkei — men, women, and children of Japanese descent — forced from their Oregon farms and homes and incarcerated as "enemies" during World War II. Most were American citizens. Many had lost everything. Determination and memories of place, family and community guided them home. Visit www.oregonnikkei.org to learn more about Coming Home.

This exhibition and programming are made possible in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department; Oregon Humanities (OH), a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH's grant program; Portland State University, Center for Japanese Studies; University of Oregon; Samuel Naito; and Friends of Oregon Nikkei Endowment.

Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
121 NW 2nd Avenue
Portland, OR  97209
503-224-1458
www.oregonnikkei.org