Gator versus Gator on Oscar night, book readings you won’t want to miss…

For the past nine years SF State alumni have made the annual list of Academy Award nominees. This year two alumni are vying for an award in the same category. 

Congratulations to Ethan Van Der Ryn, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Achievement in Sound Editing on the film “Transformers.” It’s his third Oscar nomination. (Van Der Ryn won an Academy Award for sound work in 2005 for “King Kong” and another in 2003 for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”) His fellow alumnus Chris Scarabosio was also nominated for an Oscar in Sound Editing, his for work on the film “There Will Be Blood”–his first Academy Award nomination.  

Meanwhile, other alumni can be found behind the scenes of movies that received Oscar nods: “Madame Tulti-Pulti,” produced by alumna Marcy Page, earned a nomination for Best Animated Short.   

And speaking/typing about creative SF State people, check out some of our literary stars in the Bay Area this week: 

Professor Michael Krasny will discuss his memoir “Off Mike” at San Francisco’s Mechanics Institute on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.  (For more info.: 415/393-0100). 

On Thursday, alumna Gail Tsukiyama will be reading from her latest novel, “The Street of a Thousand Blossoms,” at Redwood City Public Library. (For more info.: 650/780-7040). 

Creative outpourings from our talented alumni…more to come

Congratulations to alumnus Arthur Dong. His latest film, “Hollywood Chinese,” an exploration of the Chinese in American feature films, captured the Best Documentary Award at the Golden Horse Awards in December. Often referred to as Asia’s “Chinese Oscars®,” the Awards, I’m told, are the most prestigious honors in the region for Chinese-language cinema, covering categories modeled after those for the Academy Awards®. Dong says, “My experience at the Golden Horse events was extraordinary. To begin with, to be the first documentary ever selected to open the festival was a strong message to Asia and Chinese-speaking audiences that documentaries are a genre that’s not only important but also entertaining. And then, for jurors to recognize a Chinese American production with an award for films traditionally from Asia was an honor that I’m personally proud of — I’ve known about the Golden Horse since I was a kid growing up in San Francisco Chinatown and never thought I’d actually receive one myself!” For more information: www.hollywoodchinese.com

Alumna Annie Dawid’s “Paradise Undone” is among the top 1,000 entrants in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award entrant. As Dawid explains, “Paradise Undone” “tells the stories of four individuals involved in the Jonestown massacre — one is Marceline Jones, wife of Jim, and another is based on the Guyanese ambassador to the United States. The other two are fictions, though composites of actual survivors. My novel follows these four people from long before Jonestown became a horrifying household name for us all — the meeting of Jim and Marceline in 1949 — to the present moment, when Watts Freeman, who escaped through the jungle, is being interviewed for a 30-year anniversary radio program.” For more information on the novel/contest (including some interesting incentives for reviewers), visit this Amazon link: www.amazon.com/dp/B00121WDOM

On  Saturday, Jan. 19, from 2 p.m. to noon, alumnus Fred Setterberg, a coauthor of “Under the Dragon: California’s New Culture,” will speak at the Oakland Museum of California, a kickoff for the “Trading Traditions” exhibit, which is based on his book. For more information, visit: www.museumca.org