Four faculty-written books released
February 19, 2010
Corban’s faculty members have been prolific, as evidenced by the release of four books in February. The books were authored by Gina Ochsner; Marty Trammell, Ph. D.; Colette Tennant, Ph.D.; and K. Ellen Jacobs.
Gina Ochsner, an English adjunct at Corban, teaches creative writing and leads by example. Her first novel was released this month in the U.S., although it first came out in the U.K.: The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Ochsner is not new, however, to authoring outstanding fiction. She has won two prior Oregon Book Awards for her collections of short stories: The Necessary Grace to Fall, which also won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and People I Wanted to Be. Her most recent tale — with its cast of neighbors from a haunted, Siberian apartment block; whom Tanya has co-opted into wooing potential benefactors for their city museum — is a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel.
Professor of English & Communications Marty Trammell has paired up again with Rich Rollins, D.Min. They’ve authored Spiritual Fitness: A Guide to Biblical Maturity. Their first publication, Redeeming Relationships, has gone into a second printing because of demand.
Spiritual Fitness provides practical insights and activities to help Christians join the Holy Spirit’s work in promoting spiritual growth. Trammell said what inspired the book was conversations he and Rollins had had with personal mentors and what, they decided, they would tell those whom they mentor. Trammell communicated, “I want people to know there is help available.”
Trammell is a pastor of youth, family, and worship at a small congregation in Perrydale, Ore., and Rollins is an administrative pastor at a large church in the San Francisco Bay Area. “So you get the perspectives of both country and urban pastoral shepherds,” said Trammell.
Tennant’s book, Commotion of Wings, is a collection of 55 poems, divided into sections by a threefold theme: birth, death, and resurrection. The poems were created by the English professor over the last 10 years. Many of them were written during monthly sessions with Pen & Chalice, the college’s poetry club. Some are humorous, while others are gothic. One of her favorites is “October 2004 — New Owner Unearths Human Remains in Front Yard.”
“Mostly these are poems are about our shared humanity,” said Tennant. “I hope the reader will recognize truths they always knew — but didn’t know they knew until they read my poem.”
Read more about Tennant and an author reception in her honor.
Ellen Jacobs, adjunct instructor in the psychology department, wrote Designed by the Master: Women of Permeating Influence. This self-published Xulon Press book is a compilation of ten stories that relay how a woman can profoundly influence a life for God’s glory and honor. The impetus for writing, said Jacobs, was her observations that women tend to undervalue themselves because they base their worth on external issues and people’s opinions rather than Scripture.
Jacobs has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Chapman University. She serves women through Bible studies and seminars, counseling, and teaching and advising college students. She is a widow, single mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and she is on staff as a counselor at Salem Heights Church.
The four publications are available online, either through the publisher or Amazon.com.
By Jenny Hirschfelder, Staff Writer, Office of Marketing & Communications
503-375-7005 | jhirschfelder@corban.edu
