In recent years Forest Avenue Press, a small, independent publisher in Portland has brought out a number of noteworthy books by talented authors, like Dan Berne’s Gods of Second Chances, and Ellen Urbani’s Landfall. In October, it published an anthology of thirty “otherworldly tales” based in Portland.

On Tuesday, December 13, the editor of City of Weird anthology and several of the writers who contributed stories will read at WordFest.

 

 

Gigi Little, marketing coordinator for Powell’s Books and graphic designer for Forest Avenue Press, edited the anthology and will introduce the stories and readers. Her own essays and short stories have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines, including Portland Noir, Spent, and Nailed Magazine.

 

 

 

Brian Reid  was weaned on the acerbic dry humor and innate story-telling of the Scottish highlands. His childhood in Australia colors his writing with a love of the ridiculous and a dedication to irreverence. Brian worked with the Federal Reserve Bank for almost twenty years before moving to Oregon to pursue his dream of writing fiction.

 

 

 

Kirsten Larson is a contributing editor at Nailed Magazine and an instructor at Portland State University. Her essays and stories appear in The Huffington Post, Nailed Magazine, Manifest-Station, and several literary journals.

 

 

 

 

B. Frayn Masters is the author of a short story collection, Pants All Night.  Her work has appeared in Airplane Reading, Hobart, MonkeyBicycle 6, and other publications. She is also Executive Producer and Host of the Back Fence PDX storytelling series.

 

 

 

Jason Squamata is a Portland-based writer of dream diaries, graphic novels, and confessional essays. His work has appeared in Stealing Time magazine, Propeller, and Hypno Komix.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview. The events are free and open to the public.

 

Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.

 

 

 

 

 

Read my review of the book that appeared in the November-December issue The Columbia River Reader here.

 

 

On Tuesday, November 8, WordFest will offer plays and poetry at Cassava Coffee shop, 1333 Broadway Avenue in Longview.

In 1891, Washington state was two years old. That year homesteaders were staking claims and loggers were cutting trees along the north fork of the Lewis River, and four people were lynched, including two in nearby Pacific County.

This is the background for “The Harder Courage,” a historical drama written by Leslie Slape, that tells the true story of Sheriff Ben Holmes of Kalama and his prisoner, Robert Day, a homesteader on the Lewis River accused of the first-degree murder of a logger. Holmes protected Day from three lynch mobs, but ultimately was responsible for his execution by hanging following eight months’ imprisonment.

Two local actors, Scott Clark as Ben Holmes and Michael Cheney as Robert Day, will read a scene from the play at WordFest. A former crime reporter with The Daily News, Leslie has been researching, writing, revising and workshopping the play since 2012.

Leslie left The Daily News in 2013 to study playwriting at Portland State University. With Don Correll, she co-wrote the play “This Island Earth,” which was produced in 2009 at Lower Columbia College Center Stage.

 

 

Patrick Kubin is joined by the members of his writing group to perform a one act play he wrote, titled “A Short Story.” In the play, a writer’s group convenes at a member’s home for their monthly meeting to critique each other’s work. Each writer is convinced his or her suggestions and feedback are correct. Conflict mounts as the feedback is not graciously received.

Members of the writing group are pictured (left to right): Mary Ellen Stone, Pat Kubin, Charolette Conklin, Dan Roberts, and (seated) Peg Miller.

 

 

 

Karen Bonaudi will be reading a selection from her poetry. Karen has led poetry workshops in schools, taught adult creative writing classes, conducted workshops and critique panels, and has been a member of a performance troupe.  A long-time board member and former president of the Washington Poets Association, her poetry has appeared in The Bellingham Review, South Dakota Review, Pontoon 2, The Far Field, Snow Monkey, and WPA’s Cascade Journal. Her chapbook Editing a Vapor Trail was published by Pudding House Press.  She lives and works as a private contractor in Renton.

 

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview. The events are free and open to the public.

Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, October 11, Portland author Margaret Malone will be reading at WordFest, 6:00-8:00 pm, at Cassava Coffee shop, 1333 Broadway Avenue in Longview.

Margaret’s first collection of short stories, People Like You, was a finalist for the 2016 PEN Hemingway award and winner of the Balcones Fiction Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The Missouri Review,  Oregon Humanities, Swink,  and Propeller Quarterly.

Cheryl Strayed, author of the national bestselling Wild, called People Like You “a powerful debut by a writer of immense talent. In stories that shimmer and burn with beauty and sorrow, generosity and wit, Margaret Malone reveals the deepest, darkest, and most illuminating truths about what it means to be human.”

Margaret was recently interviewed on KLTV’s Book Chat. You can watch that interview at http://alan-rose.com/bookchat/september-2016-a-chat-with-margaret-malone/

 

 

 

 

 

Musicians Mark Dykstra and Dave Nelmark will discuss their recent collaboration on the song, “I Love You More.”

Dave, a school psychologist with the Longview School District, originally wrote the lyrics and asked Mark to put them to music. They will talk about the process they used in working together and how the piece took its final form through their back-and-forth collaboration, and then will perform the song, which was premiered at this past Summerfest at the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

Rita Bowles will be reading excerpts from her novel, The Gods of Clover, a family saga set in an English village called Clover-on-the-Wold in the 1960s. The story is told through the voices of the women in the family made up of Arthur Davenport, an alcoholic, his depressed yet feisty Irish wife Fiona, and their daughter, Eileen.

Rita grew up in a small Cheshire village, similar to Clover-on-the-Wold. A graduate of the University of Utah in Creative Writing, she’s written two books of poetry, one of which won the Pearle M Olsen Poetry Prize and was published by the Utah Arts Council.  She lived in Washougal for ten years before moving to Longview two and a half years ago.

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview. The events are free and open to the public.

Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WordFest’s fall season begins with a strong line-up of authors on Tuesday, September 13, 6:00-8:00 pm, at Cassava Coffee shop.

Kate Ristau is a Portland folklorist and author of young adult and middle grade fiction. She taught at the University of Oregon and Western Oregon University, and with colleague Maren Bradley Anderson edited an anthology of poems, essays, and short stories called Coarse Grounds: A Coffee Anthology. 

Her first novel, Shadowgirl, was released by Lycaon Press in May of 2015, then republished by Indigo Sea Press in August of 2016. Shadowgirl tells the story of fairy teen Aine, who is haunted by a fiery dream where her mother loses her mind and her father makes a devastating choice. Áine escapes into the Shadowlands to discover the secrets of her family and her past. But the moment her foot crosses the threshold, Áine is thrust into a war that has been raging for centuries. Guardians, fire fey, and a rising darkness threaten the light, and Áine must learn to fight in the shadows — or die in the flames. The sequel, Clockbreakers, is being released next month.

Kate will discuss her background in folklore and mythology, and how they continually influence her creative work and her storytelling. She will also discuss young adult literature, and the ways it differs (in stories, characters, plots) from the adult market. Currently, Kate is the Portland Chapter Chair of Willamette Writers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poet Joe Green will be reading a personal essay on quitting drinking, titled, “A Man Walks Out of a Bar,” which appeared in Crosscurrents magazine in 2009. A popular English instructor at Lower Columbia College, Joe retired after 25 years of teaching to concentrate on writing, playing music, and producing letterpress-printed poetry broadsides through his Peasandcues Press.

Joe is the author of several books of poetry, including What Water Does at a Time Like This (MoonPath Press, 2015,) That Thread Still Connecting Us (MoonPath, 2012), The End of Forgiveness (Floating Bridge, 2001), Greatest Hits: 1975—2000, (Pudding House, 2001),Deluxe Motel (The Signpost Press, 1991), and His Inadequate Vocabulary (Signpost, 1986).

 

 

 

Suzanne Martinson is an award winning food writer and author of The Fallingwater Cookbook. A WordFest regular, Suzanne writes humorous personal essays about growing up in the Midwest.

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

 

 

 

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview. The events are free and open to the public.

 

Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday, July 12, award winning playwright Charlotte Samples will read from her first novel, a work-in-progress titled Peaceable.  Set in a small town located in the boot heel of Missouri, the story spans a period from 1888 to 1988, featuring two sisters at odds with each other over practically everything including the upcoming funeral of their father, the Little Commodore.

Charlotte’s play Darlin’ received the Sprenger-Lang Foundation New Play Competition award, and the William P. and Arlene R. Lewis Playwriting Competition award, and was a finalist in the prestigious O’Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights Conference New Play Competition.  Her play The Signature (Still Life With Lilacs) was the recipient of the League of American Pen Women Award for playwriting.

 

Douglas  Maynard will read from his novel, Three Summers, a story of two friends recounted in their experiences over three summers from as many decades. Dennis’ life is chaotic: he doesn’t graduate from high school, is drafted into the Vietnam War, and starts using drugs and alcohol heavily. Yet Nathan idolizes him. Their friendship grows through their camping trips, hitchhiking together to San Francisco, and through their discussions on history, politics and life.

Doug is an assistant principal in the Kalama School District. This is his first novel.

 

Alkaid Tsuki will read from her work-in-progress, Freedom’s New Moon, the first book in her projected Liberation Trilogy, a fantasy series about friendship and brotherhood in dark times. In the first book a ghostly apparition guides fourteen year-old Scavenger Lyron to the only survivors from the destruction of Eraside, which marks the beginning of his adventures and discoveries.

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview. The events are free and open to the public.

 

Cassava offers a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal with the readings, as well as local wines and brews.

 

 

 

Note: WordFest takes a summer break in August and will resume in September.