Sundays with author Alden Hayashi – Two Nails, One Love

Two Nails, One Love is a semi autobiographical novel about an estranged mother-son relationship that evolves and eventually heals as the son realizes just how much his life has been affected by his mother’s traumatic past. The novel covers broad themes of discrimination (both racial and LGBTQ), ethnic identity, and immigration.  Join us for one or both conversations.

Sun, Oct 17, 4 pm – JA history talk hosted by Brian Niiya, Densho – RSVP for Oct 17 here.

Sun, Oct 24, 4 pm – LGBTQ talk hosted by Stan Yogi,  Okaeri-LA – RSVP for Oct 24 here.

Alden Hayashi has worked for more than 30 years in the publishing industry. He has been a staff writer/editor at the Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, Scientific American, and several other magazines. He has now turned his focus to writing fiction. A short story —”Finding the Right Keiko“—was published in The Baltimore Review (Winter 2021), and his first novel—Two Nails, One Love—has recently been published by Black Rose Writing (Sept 2021).

The program is co-sponsored by You Know You Are Japanese American When (Facebook Group), J-Sei, Densho, and Okaeri-LA.

To purchase the book, please visit Eastwind Books.  

Introducing Clark and Division, a new mystery by Naomi Hirahara 

Saturday, Aug 21 , 2 pm

Help us provide a warm welcome for the Bay Area book launch of the new historical mystery, Clark and Division. We will host a hybrid book reading for a small in-person audience with priority given to those who sign up early.  Others can log on and join the conversation. The program will be followed by an informal time to meet the author. Buy your book in advance or at the event from Eastwind Books and have it personalized and signed by the author.

Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s eye-opening and poignant new mystery, Clark and Division is the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister’s death. Set in 1944 Chicago, the book brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II.

“Clark and Division does what crime novels do best: It uses a wonderfully wrought, ticking time-bomb of a story to illuminate a larger social issue, in this case the incarceration and resettlement of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. A jewel of a novel. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.” —Michael Harvey, author of The Chicago Way

“An engrossing mystery filled with unexpected twists. Whether you are already a fan or are about to become one, this is not to be missed!” —Brian Niiya, editor of the Encyclopedia of Japanese American History

Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award–winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and one of Chicago Tribune’s Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers; Gasa Gasa Girl; Snakeskin Shamisen; and Hiroshima Boy. She is also the author of the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, she has co-written non-fiction books like Life after Manzanar and the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor. 

RSVP on Eventbrite.