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June WordFest features writers from the coast

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WordFest features writers from the Long Beach Peninsula on Tuesday, June 9, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Jan Bono will be reading from her 19th book, Two Cozies for Christmas. These “cozy mysteries” were originally written as Hallmark-type Christmas movie scripts. In “Presence Under the Christmas Tree,” a rather inept but comical sleuth tries to figure out who left the photo of a bare-chested man among her gifts from the staff party. The man’s face is obscured, but could he be “the handsome hunk” she’d asked the mall Santa to bring her?

In “Up on the Housetop,” a wife brings home a 15′ tree to go inside their 12′ living room. Her husband decides to cut off the top of the tree and nail it to their roof so it looks like the tree is going right up through the house.

Jan is the author of the Sylvia Avery mystery series and writes a bi-weekly newspaper column for the Chinook Observer in Long Beach.

Peter Adams Young will be reading from Another Death at Gettysburg, the second in his Contemporary Battlefield Mystery series, modern-day whodunits located in and around historic Civil War battlefields. During a reenactment of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, a participant is shot and killed with live ammunition, most certainly not an accident. Mike Davis, a reenactor and professor of US history, investigates the murder.

A native of Washington, DC, Peter resides on the Long Beach Peninsula. He is the author of One Hundred Stingers, a novel about the Vietnam air war. He is currently writing a new mystery set at the Manassas battlefield, while editing the memoirs of a cousin who served in the 6th US Cavalry fighting the Confederacy. His books are available at: www.shoalwaterpress.com

Dawn Shipman is a Longview author who spent many years writing for inspirational and equestrian magazines before turning to novel writing. The first book in her Young Adult Fantasy trilogy, The Lost Stones of Argonia, came out in 2021. She’s currently working on the prequel.

Dawn will read her story. “A World that Was,” about the disaster in an ancient world that led to the founding of Argonia. It appears in Hidden World: A Lower Columbia County Writer’s Anthology. When not writing, Dawn enjoys traveling, visiting with friends and family, and riding her horse along trails in the Pacific Northwest.

An open mic will follow the presentations where people can read for 10 minutes. The Open Mic sign-up sheet is on the center table.


The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

May WordFest celebrates stories in poems, songs and diaries

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WordFest celebrates stories told in poems, songs, and personal diaries on Tuesday, May 12, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

James Dott will be reading from his new poetry collection, Touch Wood (Watershed Press.) The poems form a lyric field guide to trees. The short life and tragic death of David Douglas, early botanist who cataloged Northwest trees, threads through the work, offering elegies, narratives, and meditations on our tangled histories.

Jim is the son of a geologist and a naturalist who kindled his love of nature and natural history. Born in Eugene, Oregon, and growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, Jim began writing poetry and fiction at an early age. He is the author of several chapbooks and two previous poetry collections, A Glossary of Memory and Another Shore. He and his family live in Astoria, Oregon, above the Columbia River.  More information at jamesdott.com.

Tami J. Whitmore will be sharing from her latest book, The Year Around: A 1930’s Diary. After purchasing rural property in 2020, she found a diary left in a tote in a storage shed. It belonged to Ione Merritt, who was born in 1909, in the tiny town of Farmington, straddling the Washington and Idaho border.

The diary begins when Ione is 24 years old, living with one of her sisters and working as a public stenographer downtown. She goes to movies, dances with friends, swims and spends weekends at many of the surrounding lakes. She even meets some famous people along the way, including Mae West, Bob Hope, Billy Sunday, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Bing Crosby. She meets a boy on the streetcar–he was the driver–and falls in love with him. Then she meets another boy while skating at the local rink. When the diary closes, Ione is 28 and is marrying one of them.

Ione’s diary captures a slice of history and also contains several mysteries. Why did her mother move to the other side of Oregon and leave her behind? Where did the mysterious Mr. Powell go each weekend during Prohibition? And why did she have to wait three years to marry the love of her life?

Tami grew up on a wheat farm in rural south-central Washington state. As far back as she can remember, she was always reading and/or writing books. Now she has numerous books in print with a family biography to be released this fall.

Craig Werner writes fiction and non-fiction as well as poetry. As a former (frustrated) musician, he finds that those times when he is most introspective and immersed in stories is when stories are accompanied by music.  At WordFest, Craig will discuss song writing as story-telling. He says, “As authors, we immerse ourselves in our stories and in our characters. We research locations, historical events, and people, then weave those elements

together in a way that carries our story along a path to enlighten and entertain our readers. Songwriters do that, too. More importantly, their work becomes something that we want to re-experience, time and again. How many books have you read that you would happily re-read dozens or even hundreds of times? As a story-telling medium, songs hold that unique distinction.”

An open mic will follow the presentations where people can read for 10 minutes. TheOpen Mic sign-up sheet is on the center table.

The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

April WordFest hosts an evening of poets for National Poetry Month

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WordFest features a variety of northwest poets on Tuesday, April 14, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Debra Elisa Wöhrmann explores joy and sorrow, grief and ecstasy through poetry and fiction. She believes sharing stories can save lives. Her collection, You Can Call It Beautiful, debuted in 2023. When not playing with words, she loves to lose herself in her backyard garden, or along the coast and in lush forests, often with her dog and partner. Her novel-in-verse, The StoryCatcher, written for tweens, is roaming the world in search of publication.

Eric Fair-Layman writes poetry that is a mix of cheeky, cathartic satire along with the occasional sorrowful lamentation. His first collection of poetry was published in March 2026. Titled Cathartic Musings and Do-It-Yourself Revenge Poetry: A Workbook of Poems, Prompts, Templates, & Other Trojan Horses, he describes it as “a petty, quirky book of retribution, mostly at those who deserve it.” On stage, he goes by Papasquatch. You can find him on Instagram at Papa_squatch2229, or at his website, ericfairlayman.com.

Emmett Wheatfall is an Oregon Poet Laureate nominee, and recipient of the prestigious Oregon Poetry Association Patricia Ruth Banta Award. His poetry has been published in his several books, as well as collections and anthologies. His collection, As Clean as a Bone, was a 2019 Eric Hoffer Award Finalist and a da Vinci Eye award finalist. Emmett has keynoted two Oregon Poetry Association’s Conferences, and in 2020, Corban University produced a 9-part documentary highlighting Emmett’s early life and poetry. You can find him at https://www.poet-emmettwheatfall.com

Quin McFadin (she/they) is a queer, neuro-expansive psychotherapist in Portland, Oregon. She studied in the US, India and England, which contributed to a love of anthropology, sociology and philosophy.  Their work has appeared in High Shelf Press, Rue Scribe, and Peregrine.  She writes that she is “discovering her voice amid the turbulence of disability, ableism and the increasingly seasoned acceptance of so many newfangled entropies.”  

Zac (Sunflower) Oberg is a poet from Athens, Ohio, now based in Portland. His poems move between tenderness and philosophical inquiry, humor and tragedy, employing big words and simple truths. His work often touches on “the quiet work of becoming and how we choose each other, lose each other, and insist on loving anyway.” Recently featured at Poetry Street PNW, Zac is an avid attendee of open mics across Portland every night of the week. More information at www.zacoberg.com

Brandy Knapton is a novice American poet and lifelong student. Trained as a social worker, currently employed as a web developer, she aspires to be “a future scholar of peaceful revolutions” who believes that art is a powerful way to reach people.

Margaret R. Sáraco is the author of If There Is No Wind and Even the Dog Was Quiet, which was a finalist for the Eyelands Book Awards and semifinalist in the Laura Boss Narrative Book Contest. She won first place in both the 2025 Ginosko Literary Journal Flash Fiction Contest and 2024 Moving Words Competition. Margaret sits on the board of the Italian American Writers Association. Her work appears in video, Instagram, and podcast projects. Find more information at https://margaretsaraco.com.

Sally Jones has been in love with words and images since she was eleven when she realized how they can generate, express and satisfy emotions. During her 40-year career in 911 communications, she found writing poetry and taking photographs to be forms of personal therapy. She is now working on a book of stories about her 911 experiences. Sally is a long-time participant of WordFest and local writing groups. 

Jim MacLeod is retired from the computer industry and the author of seven e-books in the Harry & Company Mystery series. A long-time fan of Ogden Nash humor, he dabbles in limericks for the sheer joy of creating whimsical wordplay. For him, “they’re the mental equivalent of snacking.”

If time permits, an open mic will follow the presentations where people can read for 10 minutes. The Open Mic sign-up sheet is on the center table.


The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

March WordFest offers a variety of views and voices

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WordFest features three local writers on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Crime writer Tom Larsen will be reading an excerpt from his article, “Women Fight Back,” part of Women Who Murder, which is the sixth volume in the series, Best New True Crime Stories from Mango Publishing. Tom’s article tells the story of two Mexican women who fought back against their abusers. Femicide, the act of killing someone simply because they are female, has only recently been codified in the Mexican constitution and enforcement has been sporadic at best. This is a tale of two women who were forced into violent reactions by the society that failed them.

Tom is the author of six novels in the crime fiction genre. His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and Black Cat Weekly. His stories have been selected four times for the anthology Best Mystery Stories of the Year published by Mysterious Press.  

Bobby Havens will be reading from Tall Tales from the Church in the Middle of Nowhere. In this collection of short stories, Bobby takes true events from his quarter of a century serving in local church ministry, then distorts them to create “tall tales” that are humorous, real-to-life, and emotionally moving. At the March WordFest, he will be reading the first chapter, a monologue titled “Miss Heidi Holbrook.”

Bobby is an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church of North America and has pastored churches in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. He’s also been an award-winning performer on the live stage, a digital creator, high school volleyball coach, union plumber, and storyteller coach. As an actor, he was the recipient of the 2022 AriZoni for best actor in a major role for his portrayal of Morrie Schwartz in “Tuesdays with Morrie” at Desert Stages Theater in Scottsdale. A father of 6 and grandfather to 22, he draws from his life experiences to create stories that inspire others.  

Kamil Khan who writes and performs as “Khancept” is an immigrant to the US from Pakistan who utilizes the spoken word, hip hop, and poetry platforms to give voice to the struggles of indigenous peoples around the world. At WordFest, he will perform a series of poems, including “Filastin Erased,” highlighting the life, resilience, outrage, betrayal, and solitude amid what he calls “the deliberate erasure of the Palestinian people.”

Khancept’s work advocating peace and social justice has been presented and published in Prairie Review, APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon), Wordpeace, as well as at the Wild Sound Festival, and by the Communist Party USA.

Note: WordFest welcomes the expression of all views. Presentations that are expressly political in nature or expressed in strong language that some people may find offensive are scheduled in the second hour, following the break. People who may be offended by political views and strong language can leave at the break.

An open mic will follow the presentations where people can read for 10 minutes. The Open Mic sign-up sheet is on the center table.


The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.

February WordFest shares stories from our lives

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WordFest highlights and celebrates people’s personal stories on Tuesday, February 10, 6:00-8:00 pm, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1428 22nd Avenue in Longview.

Life partners Jeff Stookey and Ken Barker are featured in a forthcoming anthology titled Crossing Paths: Queer Moments That Changed Everything, scheduled for release in April. Compiled and edited by Paul Iarrobino, Crossing Paths is a collection of “how we met” stories.

Jeff and Ken met in 1980 in Seattle. Thirty-three years later (2013) they were allowed to legally marry in Washington state. They came from different backgrounds, Ken from Texas, Jeff from Okanogan County in northeast Washington. Ken joined the US Air Force, flying 272 combat missions in Vietnam, while Jeff was a college student protesting the war in Los Angeles. Before his retirement, Jeff was a medical technician and is the author of the Medicine for the Blues trilogy, set in 1920s Portland when the Ku Klux Klan was rising to prominence in the state. Ken is a photographer, and volunteers at the Dharma Rain Zen Center, where he managed their community garden for many years, delivering fresh produce from the garden to local food banks.

Jeff and Ken will be reading an excerpt from their story and talking about working with Paul Iarrobino on the Crossing Paths project. You can find more information at https://www.ourboldvoices.com/.

Long time WordFest member Gloria Sanders cared for her partner at home for 11 years as he descended into Alzheimer’s dementia. She shares her story to help people understand both the disease and what it’s like to live with and care for a loved one going through the experience. A native of Longview, Gloria graduated from R. A. Long High School in 1955, and worked at Longview Fibre for three years. She returned to work at Longview Fibre later in life for 13 years until her retirement. Gloria now resides at Campus Towers where she teaches knitting, her knitting group making hats for Head Start kids.

New to WordFest, Wade Boyd began writing as a volunteer at the Community Hospice Care Center. He recounts how, during the volunteer orientation session, “we were asked to write about departed loved ones, and I was overcome with emotion as I tried to put into words my feelings about my mother and father. In the days that followed, I began writing poems to help release the emotions stirred up. In the years since, I have often found myself sitting down to write stories and poems as a way of coping with both the joys and the travails of life.”

Married for 62 years to his college sweetheart, Wade served as a First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Artillery during the Vietnam war. Earning a PhD from the University of Washington School of Forestry, he became a professional forester and computer systems analyst with the U.S. Forest Service, as well as a college instructor, Senior Vice President of Timber at Longview Fibre, and a certified Search and Rescue K-9 trainer and handler.

An open mic will follow the presentations where people can read for 10 minutes. The Open Mic sign-up sheet is on the center table when one arrives.


The monthly gathering of readers and writers meets the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00-8:00 PM, in the fellowship hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. The events are free and open to the public.