Dan Berne will be the featured writer at the next WordFest gathering on Tuesday, May 5.

A marketing consultant, Dan’s debut novel, The Gods of Second Chances, was published last year by Forest Avenue Press—who also published the works of earlier WordFest readers, Stevan Allred (A Simplified Map of the Real World) and Kate Gray (Carry the Sky.)

 

Dan’s novel was one of the top Staff Picks at Powell’s City of Books in 2014. It concerns a widowed Alaskan fisherman, Ray Bancroft, who is raising his granddaughter with the help from a multitude of gods and goddesses, along with native rituals offered by his half-Tlingit friend. Ray’s quiet life is threatened when his estranged daughter returns from prison, bringing with her painful memories of their unhappy past, and threatening everything Ray holds dear.

 

 

 

 

Kelley Jacquez will read excerpts from an “autobiography in progress” she is writing with Mark Reynolds, who spent 30 years in state and federal prisons, as well as juvenile facilities since the age of 15. Currently titled A Guide to Surviving Prison 101, it depicts what prisons are really like.

 

Kelley is the author of Holding Woman and Other Stories of Acceptable Madness, a collection of interwoven short stories that was chosen as a Southwest Book of the Year for 2014.

 

Rozanna Landavazo will be reading her poetry, written in different poetic forms including Haiku and Shadorma. Living in Longview for the past 21 years, Rozanna worked 12 years as a hospice social worker, which she has also written about.
She worked on a college newspaper, wrote feature newspaper articles, and received the Emily Dickinson poetry award from a Minnesota college.

 

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

 

This monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the first 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Carolyn Caines will host the next WordFest gathering on Tuesday, April 7, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Carolyn has written several books of poetry, including My Substitute Life, drawn from her five years as a substitute teacher in the Kelso School District, In the Noiseless Night, A String of Perils, and Sunshine in My Suitcase, as well as a Young Adult novel, Passage To Love, An Ellis Island Love Story.

 

 

 

Pamela Stanek, who writes under the name Pamela Deane, will be reading from her book, The Byers Avenue Bunny Club, a fictional story about growing up in post-World War II Ricochet, a snug little community nestled in the rolling, sage-brush hills along the Columbia River.

Pamela was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.  She began teaching high school when she was fifty, retired at sixty-five, and today enjoys spending her time writing. She read previously from her novel, The Translation of Max.

 

 

 

 

Lorraine Merrin will be reading a selection of her often witty and whimsical, occasionally dark poems.

Lorri’s poetry has appeared in number of publications including The Salal Review, Quercus Review, Tar Wolf, The Great American Poetry Show anthology (Vol. 2) and the Wordfest anthology, That Holiday Feeling.

 

 

 

Carlin Lohrey, author of the historical novel, The Caves of Lavar, will read from her Young Adult novel, Spy Secrets, about two boys in the seventh grade who become inspired by a book about spies and their techniques. They start to develop suspicions about a neighbor, convinced that the strange contraption he’s working on in his basement is a bomb.

 

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

 

Cassava, located at 1333 Broadway in Longview, Washington, offers local wines and brews as well as a dinner menu for those who wish to enjoy a meal and beverage with the readings.

 

 

The next WordFest gathering will be on Tuesday, March 3, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

 

Cam Parvitee will be launching her recently published novel Black Dragons: The Gang. It concerns a tai chi group of senior citizens who form their own street gang to address the rising teenage gang problem in their community, and in the process assume the task of mentoring a group of middle school kids.

A graduate of Cal State University, Cam is a retired public school teacher. A memoir piece of hers was included in the WordFest anthology, That Holiday Feeling.

 

 

 

 

Susan Taylor will read from the novel she is currently writing, titled The Death Index, based on her experience as a federal whistle blower. Susan served as an expert witness for several civil and criminal cases while she was a computer systems analyst and researcher for Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Washington, and other agencies and institutions.

 

Alan Rose will read his short story, “The Conquest of Mt. St. Helens: A somewhat true account of the harrowing 1999 assault on the treacherous peak.”

Coordinator of the monthly WordFest gatherings, Alan is the author of two novels, The Legacy of Emily Hargraves (2007), a paranormal mystery, and Tales of Tokyo (2010), a modern quest novel set in contemporary Japan, and of a novella, The Unforgiven, published by Bold Strokes Books in 2012. Alan also hosts and produces the KLTV program, Book Chat, and is the book reviewer for The Columbia River Reader.

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the first Tuesday of each month. 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.

 

 

The next WordFest gathering will be on Tuesday, February 3, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Portland writer Kate Gray looks at bullying and being different in her debut novel, Carry the Sky. The story centers on a strange and brilliant thirteen-year-old boy at an elite Delaware boarding school in 1983. His story is narrated by two teachers: Taylor Alta, the new rowing coach, who has recently arrived at the school, still reeling from the death of the woman she loved; and physics teacher Jack Song, the only Asian American on campus, struggling with his personal code of honor when he gets too close to a student.  Carry the Sky examines being different in a world of uniformity. 

A teacher at a community college for over twenty years, Kate has published three collections of poetry, one of which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Rorden will be reading from his novel-in-progress, A Method to His Madness, the story of a young man from a prominent local family who is detained for mental treatment after sitting in the freeway and nearly being run over by an 18-wheel truck. His bizarre behavior sets in motion a high-profile jury trial to decide whether he should be involuntarily committed. His public defender soon learns the freeway-sitting incident was planned to draw public attention to the young man’s goal: putting the state’s system of forced psychiatric treatment on trial.

The story grows out of Dave’s 10 years as a public defender in involuntary mental commitments. He has practiced law locally for 15 years. Before that, he worked at The Daily News for 24 years, including 6-1/2 years as city editor.

 

 

Mary Putka was unable to read at the January WordFest as scheduled, so she will be reading from her collection of short stories, Letters To My Oldest Daughter, in February.  When her daughter, Holly, was a young child, Mary’s family was stationed on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, where her husband was a dentist in the military. For Holly’s birthday a year ago, Mary began writing brief vignettes to her about her time in Japan.

Mary co-founded Kalama Word Catcher seven years ago with Molly Ciancibelli.  She is very involved in volunteer and civic activities, including serving on the Kalama City Council.

 

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the first Tuesday of each month. 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.

For more information, contact Alan Rose at 360-425-3430 ext 280, or at www.alan-rose.com

 

 

The first WordFest gathering of the year will be on Tuesday, January 6, 6:00-8:00 PM, at Cassava, 1333 Broadway in Longview.

Mary Putka will be reading from her collection of short stories, Letters To My Oldest Daughter.  When her daughter, Holly, was a young child, her family was stationed on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, where her father was a dentist in the military. For her birthday a year ago, Mary began writing brief vignettes to her about her time in Japan. “I wanted to fill in some of her memories from those years. As I began to write them, I realized how each short piece reflected a different trait of Holly’s personality, revealing my daughter to me in a whole new way.”

Mary co-founded Kalama Word Catcher seven years ago with Molly Ciancibelli.  She is very involved in volunteer and civic activities, including serving on the Kalama City Council.

 

Ernie Jones will be reading a short story about a famous writer whose life spirals out of control with drugs and alcohol. He is arrested for drunk driving, and as part of his sentence, he is ordered to conduct a creative writing class for the parks recreation program. A number of those who take the class are members of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Through the stories they write about their losses, he reconsiders his life.

Ernie’s first novel, Book Of Caleb, will be released in early 2015. He’s currently working on his second novel about alien invaders who come to save the earth from the destructive humans infesting the planet.

Pat Nelson will be reading from the latest in her Not Your Mother’s Book . . . series. This one, On Working for a Living, released in November, is a humorous anthology of true stories “by working stiffs.”

There will be an open mic period following the presentations.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meet the first Tuesday of each month. 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.