Diana Abu-Jaber's first novel, Arabian Jazz, won the Oregon Book Award. Currently the Writer-in-Residence at Portland State University, she has taught at the Univeristy of Oregon and UCLA. She grew up between Upstate New York and Amman Jordan, and has published several short stories in literary magazines, including Ploughshares, The North American Review, and Story. She's won an NEA and Fulbright fellowship to work on her forthcoming novel, "Memories of Birth".

We recently asked Diana 15 questions. Her answers follow.

What was the last book you read?
Does that mean Completed? In which case, it would not be A SUITABLE BOY which has over 1,400 pages in my edition (I DID make it past 900) but THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, which is considerably shorter. I did not count the number of pages.

Name a book you keep meaning to read but never get around to:
I keep meaning to start THE SATANIC VERSES. I keep meaning to finish A SUITABLE BOY.

How many umbrellas do you own?
The umbrella issue is a charged one for me, as I am A Leaver And Forgettor Of Umbrellas. Like amoebas their numbers swell and contract. I am presently down to an all-time low of two.

What do you like most about the Pacific Northwest?
That cartoony, funky, playful sense of whimsy that pervades everything.

What do you like least about the Pacific Northwest?
That cartoony, funky, playful sense of whimsy that pervades everything.

What is your favorite movie?
No, no, please dont ask me that. That's The Impossible Question that always mutates into 38 Most Favorite Movie(s). And then, of course, you know how it is, you say PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK which you saw probably 25 times between ages 18 and 23, and now that you are ahem, no longer between those ages, you would probably cringe upon a recent re-viewing. Instead I'll say LA DOLCE VITA which I only saw half of about 12 years ago and barely remember, but it seems like a good choice. No wait, THE PILLOW BOOK.

Who's a famous person you'd most like to date?
Date? Is this the same thing as Have Lunch With? Is it Dinner & Movie, or Dancing or does he want to come up to my apartment? Can he be dead? Can I say Gregory Peck? OK, Gregory Peck. Although Armand Assante has also kinda got it goin' on--for an alive one, that is. And the Maori lead in BROKEN ENGLISH.

What's the last article of clothing you purchased?
This super-excellent Nike gortex snowboarding sample jacket that has the pockets in backwards and chalk marks all over & 'sample' written in pen across the back, that I got for $38 at Valu Village.

How much coffee do you consume each day?
This is seasonal. In the summer, I make my friend Renate's German Coffee Bizarre out of instant decaf (oh, does it have to be caf?), ice cream, milk, club soda, ice, and cinnamon, & swig it all day long. In the winter I drink cocoa.

What's the first legislation you'd initiate if you were elected president?
Arts funding. Arts are the soul of a country. A country that does not support its artists is a country that is dying inside.

Where do you do most of your writing?
Do you mean Writing, like: mulling, chewing-over, cogitating, dreaming, doodling, dozing, reflecting? In that case, I do it on the streets, in fields, in shopping malls, on the bus, during committee meetings, on balconies, in bed, on bridges, in cars, and generally everywhere. If, however, it means putting pen to paper, I do that at my desk.

Do you write on the computer or longhand?
I write everything long hand in big blue notebooks, then transcribe to computer.

What artist do you most admire?
Admire in the sense of I love their artwork? Or their sterling personalities? Or their profile? In general, I admire gnarly old ladies like Georgia O'Keefe or Emily Dickinson or Greta Garbo, who pretty much did as they pleased. Gnarly old men are a different story.

How would you express yourself creatively if you were no longer able to write?
Oh, my writing advisor in graduate school asked me this at my dissertation defence. Well, actually, he asked me: if you had to choose between your family and your writing, which would it be? Which is a little different from yours. But anyway, I said, it sounds like you're asking if I'm a man or a woman. So back to yours, can I answer with something that I have no obvious talent for? OK, then I'd be a movie director. Cuz they get to travel. And they're the only ones whose art really gets looked at anymore.

How do you feel about the rain?
Rain as an object entity in & of itself is fine & dandy. Rain at the end of May when all of Oregon has been like a black and white photograph, like a little room with a low ceiling, for what feels like a hundred years--that's bad. I don't feel too good about that rain, no.