At the next WordFest on Tuesday, November 1, local poet Carolyn Caines will be launching her book of poetry, titled “In the Noiseless Night,”  a collection of poems evoking what it was like to grow up in the 1950s. 

Carolyn, active in the WordFest poetry group, was a teacher (K-12) for thirty years and is now retired. She has published short stories in the past and has written for the Cowlitz Historical Quarterly. She recently completed a novel based on the lives of  her Finnish grandparents coming to America that began as an article in the CHQ. 

Carolyn has been writing poetry for the last fifteen years, and has published more than 125 poems in devozine, Evangel, The Salal Review, and various other magazines and journals. Since 1998, she continues to write Poems For You, a weekly e-mailing.

Copies of her book will be available for $10 each.

 Also that evening, WordFest regular Mary Louise Lyons will read from a collection of Memoir and Poetry that she has been working on this past year. Mary has conducted Memoir workshops at the annual Kalama Word Catcher events.

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the readings starting at 6:00 pm. There will be an open mic time following the presenters.

At WordFest on Tuesday, October 4, two former newspaper editors will provide advice on how writers can improve their fiction or nonfiction, by using skills and techniques from journalism.

Jack Hart, former managing editor and writing coach at The Oregonian will be discussing the application of fiction techniques to nonfiction writing.

Jack is the author of A Writer’s Coach and Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction, just published this year. During his time with The Oregonian, the paper won a number of Pulitzer Prizes for stories that he helped craft and shape, using these principles. Jack has been a popular workshop presenter at the Kalama Word Catcher events. Copies of both of his books will be available for purchase.

David Rorden, Longview attorney and former reporter and editor for The Daily News, will offer tips for developing and honing reporting skills to sharpen one’s fiction or nonfiction writing. David was city editor of The Daily News and part of the news staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. He was also one of four writers of the 1980 best-seller, Volcano! The Eruption of Mount St. Helens, and is currently working on a novel. 

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the presentations starting at 6:00 pm. There will be an open mic time following the presenters.