On Tuesday, May 1, WordFest will be meeting at the Electric Bean coffee shop, 946 Washington Way (Washington Way and 10^th Avenue) in Longview.

Carolyn Caines will be reading from her novel, Passage to Love, an Ellis Island Story. The novel is based on the lives of her Finnish grandparents who came to America more than a hundred years ago. The story begins in the village of Puolanka, Finland, where young men and women are pulling up roots and following the lure of land and a new life in America. Among them are the headstrong Reeta, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a landowning family, and Thomas, the son of a tenant farmer. Social class restrictions doom their relationship from the start.

Carolyn is a third-generation resident of SW Washington and taught in both public and private schools for thirty years. She began writing during her college years at Seattle Pacific University, publishing a dozen short stories. She has had more than 125 poems published in devozine, Evangel, The Salal Review, and various other magazines and journals. Since 1998, she has written Poems For You, a weekly e-mailing.

Both her novel and her volume of poetry, In the Noiseless Night, poems about childhood in the ‘50s, will be available for purchase and autographing at WordFest.

Former prosecuting attorney and retired judge C.C. Bridgewater will be reading from his unpublished novel, entitled The Hook.  A crime mystery situated in SW Washington, it involves kidnapping, murder, and the use of mysticism in discovering the murderer and the location of the victim.

During the second hour, there will be an open mic period (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.

 

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.