WordFest salutes Longview library director Chris Skaugset
WordFest resumes in-person events on Tuesday, March 8, with a farewell and appreciation for Chris Skaugset, outgoing director of the Longview Public Library. An informal meet-and-greet event will be held from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at the Broadway Barrel Room, 1333 Broadway Ave in Longview, with a formal presentation at 6:00 pm.
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Chris worked at Longview Public Library for the past 19 years. As director, he has been a strong advocate for the important functions public libraries continue to perform in communities across the nation, and he has been an active collaborator with other community organizations, such as Project Read, and the Northwest Voices series.
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Jan Bono will read from her recently concluded Sylvia Avery mystery series, set on the Long Beach peninsula, and will share her post-Sylvia writing plans. Copies of her six books in the series will be available for autographing. Jan has also written five collections of humorous short stories, two poetry chapbooks, and nine one-act plays. She has been published in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Woman’s World.
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Retired judge and storyteller Ed Putka will be reading a short story in the second hour. A WordFest favorite, Ed has been compared to Garrison Keillor for his humorous Cleveland stories set in the Polish neighborhood of his youth. His new story, “Turtle Soup,” is an account of his uncle’s adventures trying to find a recipe for turtle soup. Ed currently serves on the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Legal Aid Board.
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There will be an open mic period following the presentations.
Just a reminder: WordFest is an informal gathering of writers and readers who meet the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Broadway Barrel Room. The events are free and open to the public.
>>Sign up now to read at WordFest by emailing alan@alan-rose.com.
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"The Harder Courage"
A Stageworks Northwest
Play by Leslie Slape
The culmination of ten years' research and development, Leslie Slape's play based on Cowlitz County history, The Harder Courage, opens March 11 and runs weekends through March 27. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.
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The Harder Courage tells the tragic story of Sheriff Ben Holmes of Kalama and his prisoner, Robert Day, accused of killing a man in 1891 on the north fork of the Lewis River. In June 1892, Ben hanged Robert, which was the first hanging in Cowlitz County. Through the lens of history, the play explores themes of friendship, family, vigilante justice, capital punishment, war, and the healing power of story.
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Tickets are available at www.stageworksnorthwest.com or at the theatre box office, open from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays and one hour before curtain on show nights. The theatre requires masks and proof of vaccination. For more information, call 360-636-4488.
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The Vancouver Chapter of Willamette Writers online presentation on what writers need to know about getting their characters into, or out of legal trouble
Monday, March 21
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
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Winner of the 2021 BookLife Prize for Fiction, Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of over sixty novels and novellas spanning genres including science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, romance, and horror. Kim is a professor of criminal justice, and in this presentation she will offer a crash course on the U.S. criminal justice system for writers, with special emphasis on what authors often get wrong. Leave with a better idea of how to get your characters into and out of legal trouble. Click here to register and learn more.
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Willamette Writers meetings are open to all writers, 18 and up. Younger writers are encouraged to join Young Willamette Writers meetings. Guests are welcome to make a donation to help support the cost of the meeting (we believe in paying our speakers for their time and skills). This meeting is run by volunteers.
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Rick E. George's thriller on human trafficking, Sinister Refuge.
Skamania County writer Rick E. George has produced a very different book from his previous Pacific Northwest-based thrillers, exploring the dark underside of human trafficking.
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A teenage girl has fallen to her death from an elegant Seattle condominium, leaving behind nothing except a pair of earrings. After the FBI traces the jewelry to a large Syrian refugee camp, rookie agent Russell Boyd and Arabic interpreter Nawar Abboud travel there to search for clues.
In another part of the camp, fourteen-year-old Lely Khayat receives a visitor who promises a better life in America. Unaware of what will actually be expected of her, she decides to go. The chase is on. Across oceans and continents, Boyd and Abboud struggle to rescue Lely before it’s too late.
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Poetry Corner --
"Be Content"
by Dayle Olson
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Cathlamet poet Dayle Olson sent me this poem on just the day I needed it.
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Be Content
We struck a bargain, the river and I,
on a ledge slick with mist,
all wooly gray and shifting about.
Be content, said the water, let it go.
The word no
wedged tight in my throat.
Muscle braced against the weight of it,
pushed rock and roots
into the craggy place.
Silky cold, the air thickened and hid
the sky’s compass, pressing my face
hard against the immovable.
Be content, said the water, let it go.
The word maybe
idled on my tongue.
Crushed beneath effort and plans, a lifetime of
lessons littered the sand, broken.
Arguments sifted through my hands
and mixed with shells, yellow as an old man’s toenails,
splintered rails, the wing of a gull.
All mocked the folly of will.
Be content, said the water, let it go.
The word yes
mixed with snowmelt,
cut the basalt, formed canyons out of walls.
Yes shed the shackles of captivity,
scoured away loose earth, dead wood,
rolled home.
We struck a bargain, the river and I.
It carried everything.
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Send a favorite poem to share--your own or that of another--which has touched you deeply to: alan@alan-rose.com.
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Book Review
The Writer’s Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives
Nancy Pearl & Jeff Schwager
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Writers on Books and Reading
Imagine being able to sit down with a favorite author and chatting with her about her favorite authors, about the books she loves, and those that inspired her to write. That’s what Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager did. The result is a collection of interviews with 22 contemporary writers including Louise Erdrich (Love Medicine), Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay), T.C. Boyle (Drop City,) Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow), Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer), and Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch).
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You can read my full review here.
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Books People Are Excited About...
Rick E. George writes: "I’m a big fan of everything that Australian author Liane Moriarty writes. Most recently, I found myself thoroughly immersed in the characters of Truly Madly Guilty. Set in Sydney, the novel centers on an ordinary neighborhood barbeque that takes an unexpected, terrible turn, upending the lives of the three families who are present..."
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Read Rick's full recommendation in the February 2022 issue of The Columbia River Reader.
Rick E. George is the author of three novels, Vengeance Burns Hot and Cooper’s Loot, both published in 2019, and Sinister Refuge, published in 2021.
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Excited about a book?
Email me at alan@alan-rose.com with the title and why you liked it, and we'll share it in What Are You Reading? in The Columbia River Reader.
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A Punster's Paradise (is a lonely place.)
Local writer Ned Piper loves to share puns with whomever he meets.
Remarkably, in spite of this, Ned has many, many friends.
Here are a few he recently found and shared.
1) Dad, are we pyromaniacs?
Yes, we arson.
2) She was only a moonshiner's daughter,
but I miss her still.
3) What do you call a pig with laryngitis?
Disgruntled.
4) Why do bees stay in their hives during winter?
Swarm.
5) Just so everyone is clear,
I’m going to put my glasses on.
6) Never buy flowers from a monk.
Only you can prevent florist friars.
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Photo-reflection
Window Stones
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This time of year in the late afternoon,
the stones on my study window begin to glow,
suddenly infused with a supernal light,
stopping my work, drawing my attention,
and reminding me there is magic in the world,
and epiphanies, and miracles amid the mundane,
if only I take time to look.
(They also remind me it's time to wash the outside windows.)
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Note cards from photo reflections available for purchase.
Note cards created from the photo reflections are available on my website. You can view them here.
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Find more news, reviews, interviews, and photo-reflections at www.alan-rose.com. and feel welcome to contact me at alan@alan-rose.com.
Previous newsletters available here: February 2022, (No January,) December 2021, (No November,) October 2021, September 2021, (No August) July 2021, June 2021, May 2021, April 2021, March 2021, February 2021, January 2021, December 2020, November 2020, October 2020, September 2020, August 2020, July 2020, June 2020, May 2020, April 2020, March 2020.
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