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.