On Tuesday, April 3, WordFest will be meeting in the historic Monticello Hotel to learn about the craft of writing one’s memoirs.

Vancouver writer Bob Ferguson will read from his book, Some Days Chicken, Some Days Feathers, and will talk about the craft of writing one’s own story.

Bob’s memoir starts with his early recollections of harvesting potatoes as a pre-schooler in Central Oregon, and ends when he is released from a Naval hospital as a young Marine Corps lieutenant after being wounded in Vietnam.

He believes that everyone has a good story to tell and he will offer some fun ideas on how to get started telling that story.

Bob received a BA degree from Linfield College, and later a Masters degree in Teaching. Self-employed for over 30 years in the advertising industry, he is a frequent professional speaker at national industry trade shows throughout the United States.

During the second hour, there will be an open mic period, where people are invited to read from their own memoirs (10 minute limit.)

WordFest is a monthly gathering of readers and writers who meet the first Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 pm. The events are free and open to the public.

In April, WordFest will be held at the Monticello Hotel.

Next Tuesday, March 6, WordFest will be moving to Las Rocas Mexican Restaurant, located at 1260 Commerce Avenue in Longview.

Headlining the evening’s program will be authors Mike Nettleton and Carolyn J. Rose, who will be reading from their newest works and be discussing the craft of writing murder mysteries. Mike’s new book, Shotgun Start, is about a former cop turned golf hustler who sets out to prove his ex-wife’s innocence in the shotgun slaying of her abusive boyfriend and becomes entwined in a dark world of biker gangs and the Mexican Mafia.

Carolyn has a new book, titled No Substitute for Murder, about a former radio talk show host whose job is downsized and she takes a position as a substitute teacher. Soon after she arrives at the school, an unpopular teacher who was a bully and blackmailer is found strangled.

In addition to the books they have written individually, Mike and Carolyn are a husband and wife team who have collaborated on a number of quirky murder mysteries set on the Oregon coast, including The Big Grabowski, Hard Karma Shuffle, and Sometimes a Great Commotion.

Following their readings, there will be an open mic time.

WordFest is a monthly gathering of writers and readers who meet on the first Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 pm.

The event is free and open to the public.

Former Lower Columbia College instructor and poet Joseph Green and LCC counselor Mary Stone will be launching their books at WordFest on Tuesday, February 7.

That Thread Still Connecting Us, Joe’s  first book since The End of Forgiveness in 2001, is a “chapbook,” a unified collection of poems under 48 pages. “I’ve come to think of the chapbook as a nearly ideal format for grouping poems,” says Joe. “Like most poets I know, I spend an obsessively long time working out the order of poems, and I almost think of the collection as one long poem, from beginning to end.”

Joe’s poems have appeared in magazines since 1975 and have been collected in His Inadequate Vocabulary (1986), Deluxe Motel (1991), Greatest Hits: 1975—2000, and  The End of Forgiveness, which won the Floating Bridge Press Poetry Chapbook Award.  He was PEN Northwest’s Margery Davis Boyden Wilderness Writer for 2000, in residence at the Dutch Henry Homestead in Oregon’s Rogue River Canyon; and in 2002 he held a residency at Fundación Valparaiso, in Mojacar, Spain.  He lives in Longview, Washington, where he retired from teaching in his twenty-fifth year at Lower Columbia College. Through his own printing operation, The Peasandcues Press, he collaborates with his wife, Marquita, to produce limited-edition, letterpress-printed poetry broadsides, using hand-set metal type.

Mary Stone draws on her expertise as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Lower Columbia College and her life in Christ to present principles and techniques in her non-fiction book, Run in the Path of Peace–the Secret of Being Content No Matter What. Mary writes with openness and sincerity seasoned with humor as she shares vignettes from her own life. Also included in the book are stories from contemporary women who share how they have overcome tragic events.

In January of 2011, Mary retired from almost 30 years on the faculty at Lower Columbia College, at which time she was conferred Faculty Emeritus.

WordFest is a gathering of local writers and readers who meet on the first Tuesday of each month at The Brits, 1427 Commerce Avenue, in Longview, 6:00-8:00 PM.

The events are free and open to the public.

Irene Martin, author of several books on Columbia River history, will be launching her newest book this Tuesday at WordFest.

The Flight of Bumble Bee, One Hundred Years of the Columbia River Packers Association and the Pursuit of Fish tells the story of what became the largest salmon packer in the world. The book covers developments in 19th century salmon canning technology, the expansion into Alaska in the 20th century, and the beginnings of the west coast tuna industry. Numerous historic photographs, engravings and salmon labels illustrate the volume. Started by Roger Tetlow and completed by Irene after his death, the book presents the history of a corporation that has been in business over a hundred years and became a national icon in brand names. Copies will be available for sale and autographing.

Irene has been a writer for nearly forty years, specializing in Northwest regional history, particularly that of fishing and the Columbia River. Among her publications are Legacy and Testament, the Story of Columbia River Gillnetters, The Beach of Heaven, a history of Wahkiakum County, and Sea Fire, Tales of Jesus and Fishing. She lives in Skamokawa, Washington, with her husband who is a commercial fisherman in Alaska and on the Columbia River. She is also an Episcopal priest at St. James Church in Cathlamet.
Following Irene, Kelley Jacquez will be reading from her collection of short stories, Holding Woman and Other Stories of Acceptable Madness. The book is being published by Bilingual Press, Tempe, Arizona, due out in May.

WordFest is a gathering of readers and writers who meet on the first Tuesday of each month at The Brits, 1427 Commerce Avenue in Longview.

The event is free and open to the public. Following the presentations, there is an open mic period.

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the readings starting at 6:00 pm.

The community is invited to share holiday stories and reflections at the next WordFest on Tuesday, December 6.

 Local optometrist Terrence Tack will be leading with a short story he wrote titled, “Off the Grid” which, despite its title, is a Christmas story.

“Several years ago I began writing non-fiction vignettes about life changing encounters, the kind that you like to tell your grandkids.  It started out as a casual exercise, a ‘value checker’, so to speak, and has become a way for me to pass on my heritage and to tell the same story more than once and not lose the details…or my audience,” says Terry.

Raised on a farm in Rose Valley and a Kelso High graduate, Terry graduated with honors from Pacific University College of Optometry in 1970, then practiced optometry in the US Air Force before establishing his private practice in 1974 in Longview. His oldest son joined the practice in 1991.   

Following Terry’s reading will be an open mic time when people are invited to share their poems, short stories, memoirs or chapter from their novel that focus on the holidays. There is a 10-min limit.

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the readings starting at 6:00 pm.