Portland author Jeff Stookey reads from his novel about the Ku Klux Klan’s activities in Oregon at the next WordFest on Tuesday, March 13, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Acquaintance, the first book in his Medicine for the Blues trilogy, tells the story of Carl Holman, a surgeon who experienced the horrors of World War I, including the loss of his fellow officer and lover. Returning to Portland after the war, Carl develops a friendship with a young jazz musician named Jimmy Harper. The two men tentatively begin to explore sharing a life together. But this is Oregon in the 1920s, where the Ku Klux Klan is gaining political influence and homosexual relationships are illegal. The novel is “a deep dive into Portland’s history,” based on archival research about the lesser known story of the Klan in the
Pacific Northwest, riding the wave of anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic prejudice, and promoting the eugenics movement with its agenda to sterilize segments of the population thought to threaten Anglo-Saxon stock.

Jeff  was writing stories even as he was growing up in a small town in rural Washington State. He studied literature, history, and cinema at Occidental College, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from Fort Wright College. Trained in the medical field, he worked for many years with pathologists and trauma surgeons. Jeff lives in Portland with his longtime partner.

Watch the Book Chat interview with Jeff here:

 

 

Jan Bono will be reading selections from Bottom Feeders and Starfish, the first two books in her Sylvia Avery Mystery series, set on the southwest Washington coast.

Jan has lived in Long Beach, Washington, since 1977. She began writing a humorous, personal experience newspaper column that continued for 10 years, garnering 11 state awards from the WNPA. Her column’s popularity led her to become one of the top five contributing authors to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, publishing 36 stories during the past 8 years.

In 2012, Jan became the Grand Prize winner of the Coast Weekend serial mystery chapter contest. This inspired her to begin writing her lighthearted and fun cozy mystery series, which she describes as “like Murder She Wrote, but with a lot more humor.”

Jan has also written five collections of humorous, personal experience short stories, two poetry chapbooks, one collection of short romances, a book about her 252-pound weight-loss journey, and nine one-act plays. She has been published in numerous magazines, including Guidepost, Star, and Woman’s World.

Jan was recently featured in a front page article in The Daily News. You can read it here.

 

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. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Three poets celebrate friendship, memories, truth and history at the next WordFest on Tuesday, February 13, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Fellow poets, former colleagues and close friends Carolyn Norred and Deborah Brink Woehrmann will present different approaches to the idea of history.

Carolyn will read excerpts from an exchange of letters between herself and her adolescent grandson, Oliver. This epistolary conversation developed in response to his telling her that he enjoyed school but didn’t like history. Through their correspondence, they have been exploring his question, “What can I do with history?”

Carolyn is retired from Lower Columbia College’s Language and Literature Department.

Through her poetry, Deborah will be exploring the question of truth and the stories we tell ourselves in the making of “history”.

Deborah was also an instructor at LCC in the Department of Language and Literature for ten years while co-hosting the Northwest Voices Series. She now lives in Portland, where she writes, works as a massage therapist, and leads the occasional writing workshop. You can read her musings and articles (along with guest-writers) at Live(s) Inspiring Today! at www.l-i-t.org

 

Joining Carolyn and Deborah will be Longview poet and memoirist Mary Lyons. She will read from her developing anthology entitled Body Parts. Her Valentine’s Day selection, “An Affair of The Heart,” sheds light on the funny and bizarre experiences of modern technology intersecting with our hearts. Her second selection, “Clowning around,” takes on new meaning as a Halloween adventure unfolds.

 

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. 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 kicks off its 2018 series on Tuesday, January 9, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Fred Hudgins will read from his first young adult (YA) novel, Green Grass. He says, “I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché about the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence. It’s usually a little more complicated than that.”

Susannah and her friends open a portal to a magical Paradise. But Paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The young people drop into the middle of a civil war, with good people and bad people on both sides. Deciding who is who becomes a pretty important question to figure out. Once the Earthlings get cloned, things really become complicated. Imagine saying “Hi!” to yourself!

Fred has been writing poetry and short stories since he took a Creative Writing class at Purdue University in 1967. “Unfortunately, that was the only class I passed.” He spent the next three years in the army, including a tour in Vietnam, then earned a BS in Computer Science from Rutgers, with a career as a computer programmer.

His short stories and poems have been published in Biker Magazine, The Salal Review, The Scribbler, in the anthologies, That Holiday Feeling and Not Your Mother’s Book on Working for a Living, and on Poetry.Com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan O’Keefe will be reading an excerpt from his novel Shallow World: A Sunny-Thorned Seed for the Untold Stories, which he describes as “a New Adult romantic dramedy.” Set in the fictional city of Merson Valley, California, it follows the wonderful, messy, sometimes heartbreaking lives of best friends Jynnete and Katy, both 20, as they face the challenges and adventures of college, romance, new adulthood, and a school shooting.

Ryan is currently seeking ways to get his novel published.  Born in Washington, he has also lived in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, and moved to Longview in September. He previously worked as a copywriter for a financial institution.

 

 

 

Joan Enders will read from Evidence is Lacking. Yet I Still Hope. Joshua Henry Bates was a young teacher in a country school when he signed up for service in the American Expeditionary Forces going to Europe in the “war to end all wars.” The book contains primary sources about Joshua and his life–about the young woman with whom he fell in love, about leaving his farm to  attend the University of Utah, and his self-doubts reflected in his journal. Joan will lead the audience in an “interactive reading” of these sources, including documents and photographs from his youth,  his journal and Camp Lewis diary, and a variety of other materials to learn about who he was and what happened to him. Joan promises it will be “very different from other readings, to be sure!”

 

Joan taught literature and research skills in middle and high school libraries for 28 years. She was a recipient of the American Library Association’s Frances Henne Award for library leadership. She now conducts training webinars for librarians and administers the local Family History Center for Family Search International. She enjoys “peeling the research onion” for students and adults. Joan speaks to professional organizations and at genealogy conferences.

 

 

 

 

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. 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 will feature accounts and stories about Bigfoot on Tuesday, November 14, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Popular naturalist and writer Robert Michael Pyle will read from his book, Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide. First published in 1995, the book has been recently re-issued with a new chapter examining evidence that suggests such a creature may exist. Awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to investigate the legends of Sasquatch, Bob trekked into the unprotected wilderness of the Dark Divide near Mount St. Helens where he discovered a giant fossil footprint and more recent tracks. He interviewed Indians who told him of an outcast tribe, the Seeahtiks, who had not fully evolved into humans, and met scientists, hunters, and others who have devoted their lives to the search. The result is a moving and witty narrative investigation of not only the phenomenon of Bigfoot, but also of the human need to believe that something is out there beyond the campfire.

Bob​ is the author of eighteen books, including Wintergreen, Rambles in a Ravaged Land, Chasing Monarchs, Sky Time in Grays River: Living for Keeps in a Forgotten Place, and a poetry collection Evolution of the Genus Iris. A Yale-trained ecologist and Guggenheim fellow, he is a full-time writer living in Wahkiakum County.

You can watch an interview with Robert Michael Pyle about Bigfoot on BookChat.

 

 

 

Captain H.J. “Pete” Pettersen will read from his novel, Port Orford’s Youngest Fisherman, the story of a young boy who goes to live with his grandfather following the death of his parents and learns the art of fishing. Living in a fisherman’s shack in the little coastal village of Port Orford, Oregon, the boy works through his grief, finding a new home and a new life.

 

 

Pete has spent most of his life at sea. Raised in the San Juan Islands, he was commercially fishing with his dad and brothers on the Pacific coast and in Alaskan waters by the time he was eight, and was captaining a fishing boat in Alaska at the age of thirteen. After obtaining his Captain Oceans license, he worked and traveled the world. Recently retired, he and his wife Kat live in Longview.

 

 

 

 

 

William Alton will be reading from a novel he is co-writing with John Saxon, titled A Change in the Wind. Set in Central Europe at the beginning of the 19^th Century as Napoleon is building his empire, it chronicles a spiritual battle spreading across the quiet villages and bustling cities of the Germanies. Räder Wunderwahn, a young man with a past he cannot remember, is searching for his identity, which is tied to the darkness rising where the old gods are intent on conquering the world and establishing a new Reich.

Bill was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2010. He has written a collection of flash fiction, Girls, two collections of poetry, Heroes of Silence and Heat Washes Through, a memoir titled My Name is Bill and a novel, Flesh and Bone. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.

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. 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 will feature stories about love between concert pianists, World War II from a German soldier’s perspective, and murder with questions of  justice, next Tuesday, October 10, 6:00 pm, at the Cassava Coffeehouse, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

 

Laura Baird will be reading from her debut romance novel, Keyed Up:

As pianist with the Seattle Symphony, Penelope Dixon is unexpectedly reunited with Sebastian Mauer, her first love from ten years earlier. Sebastian, once a famed performer, had foolishly pushed aside his love for Penelope, thinking it for the best at the time. Now a reclusive composer, he’s wants to prove they deserve a second chance together, and Penelope is forced to face her buried desires and the impact of those desires on her career.

 

 

A dental hygienist for more than seventeen years, Laura has been writing steadily during that time, resulting in three of her stories recently being accepted by three different publishers.  Copies of Keyed Up will be available for purchase at WordFest. Second Time Love (Evernight Publishing) and Resort Virgins (Wild Rose Press) will be appearing in six to nine months.

 

 

 

 

 

Philip Brock will be reading from his novel, Silk Cocoon, set during World War II:  With a beautiful wife and child and a successful business, Hans Schultz is living an almost idyllic life in pre-war Germany. He believes the future is bright and promising under the new Nazi government with its vision of Germany becoming a world leader once again. But with the onset of war, his world spins out of his control. He’s called to military service in the infantry and, as the war progresses, begins to question the actions of his government. When he witnesses the slaughter of men, women and children at the Plunda Work Camp, Hans realizes the country is run by monsters. Eventually, he will have to answer for the part he was forced to play in these atrocities.

Philip, a 1972 graduate of Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington, worked for more than 30 years as a Certified Public Accountant. Now retired, he lives in Cathlamet, Washington, on the shores of the Columbia River. His interest in Nazi Germany began as a child living in Wurtzburg, Germany. He remembers lying in bed, watching the morning sunlight streaming through a bullet hole in the window shutter, playing in a back yard still pock-marked from exploding shells, and finding his landlord’s garden shed filled with Nazi uniforms, flags and other memorabilia.

 

 

Kevin Hunter is president of the Longview Downtowner’s business group and an international video broadcaster and podcaster. As host of The Business Forum Show, he produces content seen and heard in 220 countries and territories around the world. He will be reading from a book he wrote with his wife, Stephanie, titled Justice was Served.

Though fiction, the story is based on a true event about a young nurse who disappeared from a hospital parking ramp after finishing her shift. The investigation into her disappearance bogs down in the dead of winter, but in the following spring, her body is discovered with the melting snow. As the perpetrator is awaiting his trial, some people think that three meals a day, cable TV, and a warm jail cell isn’t really justice for snuffing out the life of young vibrant woman. The FBI say the case may be compromised. What if he is set free? How will they know that justice was served?

 

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. 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.