In 1959, Poland didn't seem to be a very promising place to live or rear a family. So Eva Hoffman's parents moved her to Vancouver, British Columbia.

The emigration to a new land and language altered her life immensely.

If she had remained in Poland she probably would have become a concert pianist instead of a critically acclaimed writer, said the quiet author from Cracow.

At 8 last night in 101 Kern Graduate Center, the author of "Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language" gave a reading from her book with comments about her experiences. Hoffman's appearance came as part of Emigre Voices, a series of lectures and readings which brings emigre writers from Eastern Europe to campus.

Before series organizer Jeff Lipkis read her book, a memoir of her transition from childhood in Poland to life in Vancouver, he said Hoffman had been strongly recommended for the program by several of his associates. Now that he is familiar with her novel, he said he is very glad she was suggested because the novel is shrewd, funny and very entertaining.

Pushing back graying dark hair and speaking softly to an audience of about 60 people, Hoffman recalled her happy early years in communist Poland. As the audience laughed at her humorous insights into American culture and language, she became more animated, sometimes punctuating her readings with nervous laughs. She also spoke on her "internal journey into America."

The change to a new culture has taught her many lessons about humanity, Hoffman said.

"One thing I've learned is that human nature is not an absolute thing. It forms itself differently in different cultures," she said. "Also, our really deep values are relative. Understanding is needed."

Hoffman studied literature and English at Rice University in Houston and earned a doctorate at Harvard. She taught for a year at both the University of New Hampshire and Tufts University.

Since she "wanted to be engaged in the world" and because of a "temperamental predisposition," Hoffman said she decided to go to New York to write, where she became a journalist and served as editor for the New York Times Book Review for the last few years. She said she recently left journalism temporarily to work on a new book about Eastern Europe.

Hoffman has spoken at several colleges and said she relates well with students.

"I like being around people with fresh perception and young curiosity," she said.

Audience members complimented Hoffman and recognized the importance of her words.

John O'Connor, lecturer in the English, said he came because his parents are Irish immigrants and he wants to better understand their experience.

He added that it is important for people to be exposed to emigres.

"Penn State is not as diverse a community as it could be . . . There seems to be misunderstanding and apprehension toward the foreign."

James Hennelly (graduate-English) said of Hoffman, "she gave a sense of the humanity of those countries, she was wonderful, I admired her inquisitiveness into language."