WordFest will next meet on Tuesday, May 6, 6:00-8:00 pm, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Robert Michael Pyle will be reading from his first first full-length book of poems,  Evolution of the Genus Iris. The poems are based on or drawn from his personal experiences and perceptions, mostly out-of-doors, and will appeal to the intelligent general reader, lovers of land and literature, fans of a good poem and a good story, and naturalists—which means anyone interested in the world and its occupants.

Bob writes essays, poetry, and fiction from an old Swedish farmstead in Grays River. His eighteen books include Wintergreen and The Tangled Bank. A Guggenheim Fellow, he has received the John Burroughs Medal and several other writing awards. Bob’s poems have appeared in magazines including the North American Review, and in a chapbook, Letting the Flies Out.

 

Patrick Kubin will read an excerpt from his novel-in-progress, Foolish Fire. A coming of age tale, it tells the story of a girl as she deals with the loss of her mother and the imprisonment of her father. Alone on the family farm with her elderly grandmother and the Mexican hired hand, she learns about life and shapes her future amid turmoil and challenge.

Patrick is a local author and attorney, mediator and Court Commissioner. He has been published in The Salal Review, Portland Magazine, The Daily News, and The Columbia River Reader.

 

David Rorden will be reading from his novel-in-progress, drawing on his experiences as a public defender in involuntary mental commitment hearings. When a long-haired, bearded young man in a white robe sits down in the lotus position in the freeway, a rifle propped against his shoulder, he is taken to the hospital for mental evaluation. His lawyer will discover that there is more to the “gun-toting guru of Interstate 5,” as the media have dubbed him, than meets the eye.

Dave has practiced law for 14 years. Before that, he worked at The Daily News for 24 years, including a 6-1/2 year stint as city editor.