** Cancelled Due to Extreme Heat **
Three Northwest writers will read from their works at WordFest on Tuesday, July 9, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.
Last year at WordFest, Kelso native Brianna Craft read from Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir. A researcher for the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, Brianna works to further equity in the United Nations’ climate negotiations for the worldʼs poorest countries, which have done the least to cause the climate crisis but are the most vulnerable to its impacts. At the July WordFest, Brianna will read from her first novel, We Don’t Have Time For This, where Lemonade Mouth meets climate change activism in an enemies-to-lovers young adult (YA) romance.
A tied election throws two rival teen activists together to lead their school’s environmental justice club, and they are taken by surprise when their clashes reveal deeper feelings hidden beneath their antagonism. Isa Brown wishes her life would slow down, but with wildfires ravaging her community and a new natural gas pipeline threatening her dad’s job, the last thing she can do is relax. The school’s environmental justice club seems like a promising way to make real change. If only her annoying co-president would stop being such a control freak. Darius Freeman can’t stop hustling. If he does, how will he beat the other honors kids to be valedictorian? How will he get into the top schools in the country? How will he launch his political career?
No. Darius can’t stop, and the next step in his plan is leading the environmental justice club. But then Isa joins the club and becomes co-president. As Isa and Darius clash over the best way to lead the environmental justice club, deeper feelings emerge. What’s more romantic than saving the earth?
Brianna holds a masterʼs degree in environmental studies from Brown University and is an alumna of the University of Washington. You can find more information at https://briannacraft.com
Shamus Award Finalist Tom Larsen will be reading an excerpt from Getting Legal, part of his Wilson Salinas Mystery of Ecuador series. Having had some success as a private investigator, Wilson decides it’s time to “get legal”—get his P.I. license—even though, as his attorney tells him “in Ecuador, there is really no such thing as an Investigador Privado. The concept doesn’t exist.” Still, the attorney hires Wilson to investigate the disappearance of his spoiled grandson, heir apparent to his lucrative legal practice, which throws Wilson into an unfamiliar world of wealth, lies, adultery, extortion and murder. His newly-won sobriety is in danger, and ultimately, so is his life.
Tom is the author of four novels in the crime genre. His short fiction has been published in “Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,” “Mystery Tribune,” “Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine,” and “Black Cat Mystery Magazine.” His non-fiction work has appeared in four volumes of the anthology series, “Best New True Crime Stories.” You can find more information at http://www.amazon.com/TOM-LARSEN/e/B00N00JLZM
Marc Imlay will be reading from Reflections on Heron’s Haven Pond, his forthcoming second book of poetry and sequel to Pilgrimages to a Bullfrog Buddha (2020.) In both books, the saviors, saints, and sages of all religions, times, and places reside in an unspoiled natural park as various indigenous creatures interact with the narrator and one another. Marc is a retired chiropractor and acupuncturist. Meditation has been a major interest which he has practiced daily for 52 years and taught for 50 years. Marc and his wife moved to Longview 10 years ago and are avid dancers and musicians.
An open mic will follow the presentations.
The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.