At the next WordFest on Tuesday, November 1, local poet Carolyn Caines will be launching her book of poetry, titled “In the Noiseless Night,”  a collection of poems evoking what it was like to grow up in the 1950s. 

Carolyn, active in the WordFest poetry group, was a teacher (K-12) for thirty years and is now retired. She has published short stories in the past and has written for the Cowlitz Historical Quarterly. She recently completed a novel based on the lives of  her Finnish grandparents coming to America that began as an article in the CHQ. 

Carolyn has been writing poetry for the last fifteen years, and has published more than 125 poems in devozine, Evangel, The Salal Review, and various other magazines and journals. Since 1998, she continues to write Poems For You, a weekly e-mailing.

Copies of her book will be available for $10 each.

 Also that evening, WordFest regular Mary Louise Lyons will read from a collection of Memoir and Poetry that she has been working on this past year. Mary has conducted Memoir workshops at the annual Kalama Word Catcher events.

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the readings starting at 6:00 pm. There will be an open mic time following the presenters.

At WordFest on Tuesday, October 4, two former newspaper editors will provide advice on how writers can improve their fiction or nonfiction, by using skills and techniques from journalism.

Jack Hart, former managing editor and writing coach at The Oregonian will be discussing the application of fiction techniques to nonfiction writing.

Jack is the author of A Writer’s Coach and Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction, just published this year. During his time with The Oregonian, the paper won a number of Pulitzer Prizes for stories that he helped craft and shape, using these principles. Jack has been a popular workshop presenter at the Kalama Word Catcher events. Copies of both of his books will be available for purchase.

David Rorden, Longview attorney and former reporter and editor for The Daily News, will offer tips for developing and honing reporting skills to sharpen one’s fiction or nonfiction writing. David was city editor of The Daily News and part of the news staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. He was also one of four writers of the 1980 best-seller, Volcano! The Eruption of Mount St. Helens, and is currently working on a novel. 

Doors open at The Brits at 5:30, with the presentations starting at 6:00 pm. There will be an open mic time following the presenters.

At the WordFest gathering on Tuesday, September 6, Gilbert Rossing will be discussing and reading from his book, Dignity, Dogmatism, and Same-Sex Relationships: What Science and Scripture Teach Us. A retired Lutheran pastor (ELCA), Gib and his wife, Beth, began an unexpected journey of study and understanding when their oldest son came out to them that he was gay. Gib’s book is both a personal account of their struggle to understand and what they learned from their investigation of scripture and modern science.

 He writes: “In the beginning, I cared about information about homosexuality only to help me understand my gay son. But soon, I realized that I needed to reconcile understanding about my son with larger issues raised by traditional religious judgments about homosexuality.”

Gib served Lutheran parishes over a period of 30 years in Spokane, Portland, and in Texas. He has a Master of Theology degree from Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Master of Arts degree in Education from Portland State University. After retirement from parish ministry, he was a computer software developer and database designer in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

 During the second hour, Daniel Iddings will read from his manuscript, Happily Depressed, for which he is currently seeking a publisher. Born and raised in Kelso, Dan moved to Seattle where he lived for 20 years. Suffering from severe bouts of depression, he lost his job, marriage and home, and became homeless, living out of the back of his pickup truck. With the support of family and friends, he got back on his feet and returned to Longview, where he wrote his book. Happily Depressed discusses how he recovered from major depression by discovering and implementing four key principles to building a happier life.

During the open mic time, Kelley Jacquez will be reading a poem that was recently accepted for publication.

The Brits doors open at 5:30, and the readings begin at 6:00.

There will be no WordFest gathering in August. We will resume our monthly get togethers on Tuesday, September 6th.

Good reading!  Good writing!

WordFest Workshop on Story Spinning

Saturday, August 13,  9:30-12:00, $10

CAP Conference Room,

1529 Commerce Avenue, Longview

You have an idea for a story or a novel. Now what? Or maybe your story has dead-ended. What to do?

The creative process of “spinning” stories is part conscious (we invent, we plot, we “make up”) and part unconscious (we discover–and sometimes are surprised at what we find bubbling up from the subconscious.) This two-hour, interactive workshop explores and experiments with a variety of techniques that cultivate both conscious and unconscious processes. Participants will be invited to workshop their own story ideas, using this tool kit of techniques.

Workshop leader: Alan Rose

Pre-registration necessary. Contact Alan at [email protected].

On Tuesday, July 5, editor and publisher John Morgan will give an overview to current publishing options available to authors, including traditional print publishing, print-on-demand services, and the rapidly growing world of e-books.

John founded Morgan Online Media earlier this year, an e-publishing company that is seeking to edit, publish, market and sell e-books by new and undiscovered authors. John has worked for several large media corporations, including three years as senior editor of the financial trade journal Money Management Executive. His articles have appeared in American Banker, Financial Planning, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Investment Dealer’s Digest.

Also that evening Kim Le will be reading from her book, 100 Snapshots of Struggle, Hope and Survival, which captures the experiences of Southeast Asian refugees who left their homelands and started new lives in the West.

Kim has worked with various social services for over thirty years.  She served as the Executive Director of New Americans Social and Cultural Assistance for almost 10 years, an organization that provides resettlement services for Slavic and Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants in Southwest Washington.   She has also been very involved in community building and empowerment since 1977. Copies of 100 Snapshots will be available that evening for a $5.00 to the Health &Well Being Foundation.

Linda Eddleston will be reading poems that she and her daughter wrote and published in a booklet entitled, Poetry A Through Z.Linda , a retired teacher, will be discussing why people write poetry and providing handouts with different styles of poetry. Copies of the booklet will be available for $10.00.

WordFest is a gathering of readers and writers who meet on the first Tuesday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at The Brits, 1427 Commerce Avenue in Longview. Following the evening presenters, there is an open mic time where the audience can read their own material.

The events are free and open to the public.