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.

 

 

Last September, Portland writer Steve Anderson, read at WordFest from his thriller, The Other Oregon, what he called “Cascadia noir.” Steve is also the author of the novels, Liberated: A Novel of Germany, 1945, and Under False Flags, as well as narrative nonfiction, short stories and screenplays.

On Tuesday, June 14, he will be reading from his newest novel, Lost Kin, the third in a trilogy about two German-born brothers, Harry and Max Kaspar, who were raised in the United States. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Max returns to Germany. In this volume it is 1946, and the brothers are reunited, Harry as part of the American occupation forces, and Max who bears a questionable past and seeks Harry’s help in saving Cossack refugees from being deported and killed in the Soviet Union.

A Fulbright Fellow who studied in Munich, Steve is also a literary translator of crime and mystery fiction by German novelists Alexander Hartung, Marcus Huennebeck, and others.

He was recently interviewed on KLTV’s “Book Chat” program, which can be viewed at www.alan-rose.com.

 

 

 

Susan Rose will be reading from her Young Adult fantasy, Shattered Crust, published in January, which she describes as “a love story, mystery, fantasy and suspense,” set in Yellowstone National Park. She is currently working on a sequel, Beneath the Crust: Yellowstone’s Secret Jewel.

Susan lives in the Pacific Northwest and has had her short stories published in the Not Your Mother’s Book anthology series.

 

WordFest regular Ed Putka will be reading another of his popular Cleveland stories, set in the Polish neighborhood of his youth. This story involves a picnic at Munroe Falls with the extended family. What could go wrong?

 

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, May 10, Liz Prato will be speaking at WordFest in her different roles as short story writer, essayist and editor whose work has been published in numerous literary journals, and as an influential figure in the Portland literary community. She will be reading from her short story collection, Baby’s on Fire, and talk about her interest in short form fiction.

Liz also reviews manuscript submissions for Forest Avenue Press in Portland. She will discuss what she looks for in submissions and take questions from the audience about submitting one’s work for publication. Liz was featured in a recent Book Chat interview, currently airing on KLTV. You can also see the interview here: http://alan-rose.com/bookchat/april-2016-a-chat-with-short-story-writer-and-editor-liz-prato/

 

Retired Lower Columbia College instructor Yvette O’Neill Raynham will read from Forty Years on the Road: My Life as a Safari Driver in Kenya, by Peter Mbulo. Yvette and her husband Michael Raynham met Mbulo in Nairobi in 2012, visiting cultural sites and going on safari with him, and then again in 2014.

 

“Peter has been a safari driver for forty years and is a great story teller,” says Yvette.  “We encouraged him to write his memoirs which, in addition to accounts of adventures in the bush, reflect the history of Kenya from the last days of British rule and the struggle for Independence up to the present.” Mbulo also writes of the effects of climate change and development on Kenya’s animal populations, the problems and benefits of globalization, and the efforts to maintain the cultural heritage of the country.

 

 

 

Susan Taylor will read from a novel she is writing entitled Heads Do Roll, a “light-hearted murder mystery” based on her experience as a federal whistle-blower. Susan worked with Erin Brockovich when organizing protests in six southern California cities where Susan exposed “flood control” projects as payback for congressional donations and related contamination of local wells.

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.