All Bluffton Icon News

An author event celebrating the release of Tobias S. Buckell’s novel, “A Stranger in the Citadel,” will be held at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30 in the reading room of Bluffton University’s Musselman Library.

Buckell’s thirteen novels and numerous short stories have been translated into 20 different languages. He is a New York Times bestselling writer and World Fantasy Award winner who has also been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. During the event, Buckell will read from, “A Stranger in the Citadel.”

In addition to teaching, Buckell serves as the faculty advisor for “Bridge: The Bluffton University Literary Journal.” He is a 2000 Bluffton graduate.

This event is free and open to the public.

By Paula Scott

On November 15, the Bluffton Public Library hosted an onigiri workshop with Satoyo Tachio, Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) coordinator at the Mazza Museum in Findlay. What are onigiri? They are filled or plain rice balls that are easy to pack for lunches or picnics. 

Satoyo provided background on this Japanese food, including the short grain rice that is traditional in Japan, how it is grown and how it is cooked. While an electric rice cooker has become very popular, Satoyo showed photos of the clay pot that is used to make the most delicious rice.

Participants also had the opportunity to make their own onigiri. Satoyo talked about some popular versions including tuna mayo, then provided a table full of ingredients to add to the onigiri. The group began by shaping their rice into a triangular shape, then adding items such as krab, nori (seaweed sheets) and umeboshi (pickled plums).

CONTINUES