THE OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR 2012 ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
(theNatureofWords) SAVE THE DATES! (See complete schedule on Page 8) OUR CO-SPONSORS Greetings from Dr. Becky Johnson VICE-PRESIDENT, OSU-CASCADES
At Oregon State University-Cascades we celebrate great writers and readers. We see them in our classrooms, among our faculty, and throughout Central Oregon and Oregon. Great writers teach and inspire. Great readers understand the complexities of the world around them.
Rising Star Awards ...............................................................................................Wednesday, Nov. 7 Guest Author Readings/Book Signings ...................................................... Thursday-Friday, Nov. 8-9 VIP Reception ...............................................................................................................Friday, Nov. 9 Author-led Workshops & Lectures ......................................... Thursday-Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9-10 Gala Dinner, Brief Author Readings & Keynote Speaker ......................................... Saturday, Nov. 10 Special Guest Author Reading & Open Mic ............................................................. Sunday, Nov. 11 BUY TICKETS: www.thenatureofwords.org Tickets to the Author Readings are available only at the Tower Theatre. Visit the box office at 835 NW Wall St., Bend, call 541.317.0700 or visit www.towertheatre.org. Free reading tickets for students with valid student ID or proof of student status. Visit the Tower Theatre box office in advance.
OSU-Cascades is proud of its long association with The Nature of Words. Reading and writing are at the foundation of our efforts as educators within a university, and central to the contributions our undergraduate and graduate students make on a daily basis. We congratulate the NOW staff and volunteers who make the annual festival and writing programs possible.
Welcome All Attendees!
OSU-Cascades has been a cosponsor of The Nature of Words since it was founded in 2005.
This year we offer an extraordinary lineup of 10 authors and musicians to help us celebrate the year-round efforts of The Nature of Words in creative writing, expression, literature, and education.
Greetings from Dr. James Middleton
PRESIDENT, CENTRAL OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE At Central Oregon Community College, we strive to inspire our students to learn about great writing and great writers — and to become exceptional writers themselves. Through this festival, The Nature of Words helps bring that effort beyond the classroom and into the larger Central Oregon community. We are proud to be a partner in this festival and other events featuring exceptional authors. Maya Angelou once said, “Some critics will write ‘Maya Angelou is a natural writer’ — which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.” Congratulations to The Nature of Words on its continued success and on attracting another outstanding group of authors and presenters this year. And to everyone—enjoy the festival.
THE MISSION OF THE NATURE OF WORDS is to strengthen and support the literary arts and humanities in Oregon and the Northwest through community interaction with acclaimed authors and through creative writing programs for youth and adults.
A Message from Robert McDowell, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE NATURE OF WORDS
Please join us for as many of the star-studded events as you can. These include author readings at the Tower Theatre on Thursday and Friday evenings, authorled workshops and lectures at OSU-Cascades and COCC, a Gala Author Dinner on Saturday, and a rousing program of poetry and music by Paisley Rekdal and Kevin Gordon on Sunday morning at Bend Library. As we bid adieu to 2012 and look forward to welcoming 2013, we give thanks for our ongoing Storefront Project, our workshops at The Shepherd’s House and Deer Ridge Correctional Institution, the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition, our expanding creative writing workshops and residencies (Words Without Walls), and the bold, inspiring latest edition of our annual anthology of student writing. None of this work would be possible without you. We’re grateful for your support and suggestions, and we look forward to working with and knowing you better in the coming year. I give special thanks to a terrific staff, board of directors, and advisory committee, and a grateful bow to our individual, foundation, and corporate partners and donors. I also want to thank our founder and former executive director, Ellen Waterston, for her vision and generosity. Ellie knows as well as anyone that telling stories is all about creating community. Together, we do that, and we do it gloriously. Come join the fun and help us celebrate the good work of a lifetime!
Why I support (theNatureofWords) STEPHEN ARCHER, PRESIDENT The Nature of Words is evolving. As our programs for students expand, we are realizing that we are much more than the literary festival, although the festival continues to be our year’s highlight. We are a year-round reading/writing/thinking/education nonprofit. Look for NOW in your child’s school. Maybe you can help bring us there. We need your help as we grow. Please share your ideas with us. We want to hear from you. Last Book Read: “11/22/63” by Stephen King
2 | The Nature of Words 2012 • Official Guide
MARGARET HEATER, VICE-PRESIDENT It’s exciting to be a part of The Nature of Words.There’s always rewarding payback from everything I get involved in.Work is fun with this wonderful group of individuals who bring so many rewarding programs to Central Oregon. Last Books Read: “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles and “The Tiger’s Wife: A Novel” by Tea Obreht
(theNatureofWords)
JUST RELEASED! “NOTE TO SELF” NOW’s 2012 Anthology of Student Writing The excellent work produced by students in The Nature of Words’ creative writing programs deserves to be shared with the community. That is why, for the third consecutive year, NOW has compiled that writing in an anthology to be released in conjunction with the festival. The 2012 anthology, titled “Note to Self,” includes poetry, fiction and nonfiction by writers from NOW’s Words Without Walls classroom writing workshops, the Storefront Project students at NOW’s Literary Arts Center, and the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition winners.
The Board of Directors
is proud to present (theNatureofWords) Literary Festival. The festival, and NOW’s creative writing programs, are possible due to the dedication, vision and support of the Board of Directors. Front row (left to right): Stephen Archer, Margie Robberson, Sue Fountain, Kristee Chick, Margaret Wood; Back row (left to right): Max Merrill, Julia Kennedy Cochran, Broc Stenman, Karen Poulsen, Kristin Kovalik, Beth Patterson; Insert (left to right): Christine Coffin, Margaret Heater.
William Kittredge, an icon of Western writing and 2011 recipient of NOW’s Caldera Special Recognition Award, graciously provided the Foreword to “Note to Self.” Sisters artist Kathy Deggendorfer, a long-time NOW supporter through the Roundhouse Foundation, created the cover art for the anthology. Visit The Nature of Words book sales table at a festival event, or the Literary Arts Center at 224 NW Oregon Ave., to purchase your copy of “Note to Self” for only $15. Proceeds from sales of “Note to Self” help to support NOW’s creative writing programs.
Donate to (theNatureofWords) Supporting The Nature of Words’ events and creative writing programs is easy. Donate at www.thenatureofwords.org or mail a check to: The Nature of Words, P.O. Box 56, Bend, OR 97709. Have questions or want more information? Call 541.647.2233 or email info@thenatureofwords.org.
Why I support (theNatureofWords) MARGARET WOOD, SECRETARY
KAREN POULSEN, TREASURER
Each year The Nature of Words broadens its reach and amazes me with the programs that are offered. I am proud to be a small part of an organization that is constantly evolving to support a strong literary presence in our community. NOW provides an opportunity for that community to hear its voice and brings us other voices to listen to.
I am honored to have been a part of The Nature of Words for the past four years. I am most pleased and proud of the growth in the number of classroom writing workshops that The Nature of Words now holds in all of Central Oregon. We enable a vast number of young people to find their written voice through these amazing programs. Perhaps one day one of the youth we have touched will come back as a guest author for the November Festival!
Last Book Read: “Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer
Last Book Read: “The Land of Painted Caves” by Jean Auel The Bulletin • The Nature of Words 2012 | 3
(theNatureofWords)
2012 Guest Authors Ayad Akhtar (Fiction)
Kevin Gordon (Poetry, Songwriting)
Ayad Akhtar’s first novel, “American Dervish,” was published in January 2012, and will be re-released in 22 languages worldwide. He is a New York city resident, where he has taught acting on his own and alongside Andre Gregory (“My Dinner With Andre,” “Vanya on 42nd St”). Also a playwright, Akhtar’s latest stage plays are “Disgraced” and “The Invisible Hand.” Ayad earned a degree in Theater from Brown University and, after graduating, moved to Tuscany to work with world-renowned acting theorist and pioneer, Jerzy Grotowski.
Kevin Gordon is a Nashville based singer-songwriter with five CDs to his credit. His latest, Gloryland, released in 2012, garnered the highest critical success of his career from Rolling Stone Magazine, The New York Times and others. Gordon studied poetry and graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He is a working musician, fronting his own band and writing songs for more than 20 years. Gordon’s songs have been cut by artists including Keith Richards and New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas.
Jean Auel (Fantasy/Science Fiction)
Thor Hanson (Nonfiction)
Jean Auel is an American author best known for her Earth’s Children® books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her novels have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. The series consists of “The Clan of the Cave Bear,” “The Valley of Horses,” “The Mammoth Hunters,” “The Plains of Passage,” “The Shelters of Stone,” and “The Land of Painted Caves.” Auel is the recipient of The Nature of Words’ 2012 Caldera Special Recognition Award.
Sherwin Bitsui (Poetry) Sherwin Bitsui, originally from White Cone, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation, now lives in Tucson. He holds a BA from the University of Arizona and an AFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Bitsui is the recipient of an American Book Award for his book “Flood Song,” a Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship, an Individual Poet Grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, a Lannan Foundation Marfa Residency, a 2006 Whiting Writers’ Award, and a 2010 PEN Open Book Award.
Hanson’s recent book, “Feathers,” won the 2012 A.A.A./Subaru SB&F Prize for science writing and a 2012 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. His first book, “The Impenetrable Forest,” won the 2008 USA Book News Award for nature writing. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of popular and scientific publications, including Audubon, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Neotropical Ornithology, The Journal of African Ecology, Biotropica, Canoe & Kayak Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald and The Los Angeles Times.
Michael Meade (Poetry) Meade is a renowned storyteller, author and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths. He is the author of “Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of The Soul,” “The World Behind the World,” and “The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul.” Meade is founder of the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit network that encourages greater understanding between diverse peoples.
Tracy Daugherty (Nonfiction)
Aimée Nezhukumatathil (Poetry)
Tracy Daugherty, a four-time winner of the Oregon Book Award, is the author of four novels, four short story collections, a book of personal essays, and biographies of Donald Barthelme and Joseph Heller. His stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Paris Review online, The Southern Review, and others. His fellowships include the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at Oregon State University.
Aimée Nezhukumatathil was born in Chicago to a Filipina mother and a father from South India. She is the author of three poetry collections: “Lucky Fish;” “At the Drive-In Volcano,” winner of the Balcones Prize; and “Miracle Fruit,” winner of the Tupelo Press Prize, ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and the Global Filipino Award. Recent honors include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pushcart Prize.
Brian Doyle (Fiction)
Paisley Rekdal (Poetry)
Brian Doyle is an award-winning author, essayist, and editor of the University of Portland’s Portland Magazine. Doyle’s books include “Mink River,” a finalist for the 2012 Oregon Book Award, “Saints Passionate & Peculiar,” “Credo,” and “Two Voices,” which won a Christopher Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award. Doyle’s own essays have appeared in The American Scholar, The Atlantic Monthly, Orion, Commonweal, Georgia Review, and Harper’s. He also reviews books for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian, and Preservation magazine.
Why I support (theNatureofWords) KRISTEE CHICK, BOARD MEMBER I support The Nature of Words to further the writing programs offered to youth through the Storefront Project, Rising Star awards and writing residencies provided to local schools. The environment of mentored creative writing provides an expressional outlet for our local youths. Last Book Read: “Once a Runner” by John L. Parker Jr. 4 | The Nature of Words 2012 • Official Guide
Paisley Rekdal is the author of a book of essays, “The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee,” and four books of poetry, “A Crash of Rhinos,” “Six Girls Without Pants,” “The Invention of the Kaleidoscope,” and “Animal Eye.” She has received a Village Voice Writers on the Verge Award, an NEA Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Pushcart Prize. Her poems and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review and “Best American Poetry 2012.”
CHRISTINE COFFIN, BOARD MEMBER
JULIA KENNEDY COCHRAN, BOARD MEMBER I am a part of NOW because NOW brings outstanding authors to Bend for its annual festival and develops local writers through its workshops and work in the schools. Last Book Read: “Feathers” by Thor Hansen
It’s hard to imagine Central Oregon without its great community of writers – and readers. It feels good to support The Nature of Words, knowing how many writers and readers it impacts, from those who read from a stage, to those who sit in the wings and take it all in, and from those whose work is nationally acclaimed to those whose youthful writing is cheered around a kitchen table. Our hope is that we’re making our community even better.
Honoring Emerging Writers
MEET THE WINNERS OF THE 2012 RISING STAR CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION LITERARY NONFICTION
Kate O’Keefe
Natalie Lerner
D.H. Dweller
Now in its seventh year, the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition provides a showcase for talented emerging writers to compete with their peers and achieve recognition for their work. Prizes are awarded in fiction, literary nonfiction and poetry. First place winners receive a cash prize, a trophy donated by local metal artist Ben Schade of Schade Steel (www. schadesteel.com), a scholarship to a guest author-led workshop in their winning genre, an award certificate, and recognition in a special awards ceremony and reception that is the opening event of the literary festival on November 7. Winning and honorable mention submissions are published in “Note to Self,” The Nature of Words’ annual anthology of student writing. Cover art for the 2012 anthology was created by Sisters, OR artist Kathy Deggendorfer. “Note to Self” is available for purchase at all festival venues, and at NOW’s literary arts center, for $15. The Rising Star Creative Writing Competition is one of The Nature of Words’ creative writing programs. Other programs include Words Without Walls, providing creative writing residencies in schools and alternative education settings, The Storefront Project, offering creative writing workshops to students and adults, and SpeakNOW, an annual spoken word competition for high school-age students.
POETRY
Laura Winberry
Sarah Sargent
Alissa Weber
Literary Nonfiction
AGE 15-18 CATEGORY WINNER: Kate O’Keefe, Bend, OR WINNING ENTRY: “The Scariest Monster”
Kate O’Keefe, 18, lives with her parents and two younger sisters, and attends Central Oregon Community College, working toward her A.A. Transfer Degree. Kate plans to transfer to the University of Oregon to pursue a degree in English/Literature.
HONORABLE MENTION: Natalie Lerner, Portland, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Like Mother Like Daughter” AGE 19-25 CATEGORY No winners selected.
AGE 25+ CATEGORY WINNER: D.H. Dweller, Redmond, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Roadkill”
D.H. Dweller grew up an only-daughter in a field of Alaskan fireweed and has a closetful of journals to prove it. She lives with five other sets of legs in semi-rural Oregon and writes essays, flash fiction and short stories.
HONORABLE MENTION: Laura Winberry, Bend, OR WINNING ENTRY: “And Grace Sings”
Born and raised in New Jersey, Laura began to turn experience and feelings into written word almost 20 years ago when she wrote her first poem. She earned an English and Africana Studies degree from Rutgers University and was recently accepted into the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets in Boulder, Colorado.
Poetry
AGE 15-18 CATEGORY WINNER: Natalie Lerner, Portland, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Neunzehn Vierzig Ein (1941)”
Rachel Sims
FICTION
Megan Risley Wildhood
I come from a family of writers: my grandparents were English professors at the University of Iowa and both of my parents are lawyers. My writing skills have developed over the years and I have found myself interested in writing more poetry.
HONORABLE MENTION: Sarah Sargent, Bend, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Class Photo”
Sarah Sargent was the 2009 winner of the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition in poetry for 15-18 year olds, and the 2011 winner in literary nonfiction for 15-18 year olds. She plans to attend Central Washington University in the fall.
AGE 19-25 CATEGORY WINNER: Alissa Weber, Ashland, OR WINNING ENTRY: “River Baby”
Alissa, a northern California native, has lived in Oregon since 2008. She studied at Lewis & Clark College and transferred to Southern Oregon University to study creative writing and theater. Alissa is fluent in Spanish and French, having lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Strasbourg, France.
Daniel Chen
Carol Gift
Fiction
AGE 15-18 CATEGORY WINNER: Emma Fredgant, Portland, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Cain and Sons”
Emma Fredgant is a senior in high school and has had several pieces in small publications. She loves to read and write, and she will continue to do so in the future.
HONORABLE MENTION: Daniel Chen, Lake Oswego, OR
WINNING ENTRY: “Method”
Daniel is a student at Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Oregon, he attended Lake Oswego High School, where he was editor-in-chief of his school’s newspaper, Lake Views, and a board member for the school’s literary magazine, Reflections.
AGE 19-25 CATEGORY No winners selected.
AGE 25+ CATEGORY WINNER: Carol Gift, Bend, OR WINNING ENTRY: “Gone Fishing”
HONORABLE MENTION: Rachel Sims, Corvallis, OR Carol has been accepted to Pacific University’s WINNING ENTRY: “my swollen heart told me so” Graduate School to study fiction. She also works Rachel Sims is a student of art and design, lately at The Evergreen State College in Washington. She likes pie, and prefers deserts to other biomes.
AGE 25+ CATEGORY WINNER: Megan Risley Wildhood, Seattle, WA WINNING ENTRY: “The Little Book of Longing”
Megan has been a registered scuba diver and played saxophone (including on a concert tour around Western Europe) for over half her life. She works full time editing and proofreading at a transcription company.
for SkyWest/United Express Airlines full time. She is currently pitching a complete novel, and last year traveled to West Africa to research her current novel project. Carol has been published in The Phoenix, The Painted Circle, and The High Desert Journal.
HONORABLE MENTION: Ruby Murray, Cathlamet, WA
WINNING ENTRY: “Joy Among Angels” Rising Star Competition sponsored by
HONORABLE MENTION: Laura Winberry, Bend, OR WINNING ENTRY: “The Wrangler”
Why I support (theNatureofWords) SUE FOUNTAIN, BOARD MEMBER
Emma Fredgant
MAX MERRILL, BOARD MEMBER
KRISTIN KOVALIK, BOARD MEMBER
My first introduction to “real” literature was at Bend High School where I was fortunate to have some amazing English teachers. I later became a teacher myself, and when I discovered The Nature of Words, I embraced the connection between my hometown and the literary community here in Bend.
The Nature of Words offers our community, and especially youth, an opportunity to explore, grow, learn and dream through writing. After attending a student reading and witnessing the creativity and power in self-expression, I knew I wanted to support the organization and help grow this amazing program.
Last Book Read: “Mink River” by Brian Doyle
Last Book Read: “American Dervish” by Ayad Akhtar
I am a supporter of NOW primarily because I see how it impacts our young students by encouraging their creativity in writing. It validates all of those young writers and their asprirations to express themselves by having training, as well as a visible and appreciative audience to applaud their efforts. Last Book Read: “Scotland: The Story of a Nation” by Magnus Magnusson The Bulletin • The Nature of Words 2012 | 5
(theNatureofWords)
WORDS WITHOUT WALLS
A Resource for Literary Arts Instruction Words Without Walls places author/instructors in traditional and alternative education settings throughout Central Oregon for five- or ten-day residencies, providing creative writing workshops tailored to each individual site. Residencies are offered for grades K-12, as well as to adults in correctional facilities, social welfare or habilitation programs. NOW’s roster of creative writing instructors includes writers who specialize in fiction, nonfiction, nature writing, playwriting, screenwriting, ‘zine creations, poetry, and spoken word.
THE STOREFRONT PROJECT The Storefront Project, launched in 2010, offers free, after-school creative writing classes for middle and high school students every Monday and Thursday from 3:30-4:30 p.m. at NOW’s Literary Arts Center in downtown Bend. Classes are taught by regional authors, and focus on developing critical thinking skills and expanding awareness of the literary arts through a fun, project-based curriculum around a variety of genres. The Nature of Words is pleased to recognize Umpqua Bank, Central Oregon Radiology Associates and Bend Broadband as sponsors of The Storefront Project.
The
Rising Star Judges
Kim CooperFindling, literary nonfiction judge, is a nationally published writer. She grew up on the Oregon Coast, spent years in the Willamette Valley, and has lived in Central Oregon for 16 years. Her work has appeared in Horizon Air, Oregon Quarterly, Runner’s World, Hip Mama, Sky West, The Best Places to Kiss NW, High Desert Journal and more. She is the author of “Day Trips From Portland: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler” and “Chance of Sun: An Oregon Memoir.” Kim was the 2011 winner of the Oregon Quarterly Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest. For more details, see www.kimcooperfindling.com.
Kevin Max, fiction judge, read The New York Times while growing up in Michigan and Indiana. Like most kids of a literary bent, he pursued philosophy and boxing at the University of Notre Dame. After a wayward spell in the financial markets, trading S&P options in the open outcry market, Kevin returned to graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He moved to New York to write for Money magazine and eventually The New York Times, where he covered IPOs for a joint venture with TheStreet.com. After 9/11, Kevin and his wife, Sarah, left the city for
Oregon. Kevin is an owner and the editor of 1859 Oregon’s Magazine, a statewide lifestyle magazine that packages the National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveler aspects of Oregon. Ellen Welcker, poetry judge, saw her first book, “The Botanical Garden” (Astrophil Press, 2010), win the 2009 Astrophil Poetry Prize. She has poems and critical writing appearing or forthcoming in Leveler, H_NGM_N, The Quarterly Conversation, Capitalism Nature Socialism, and Shampoo. Ellen lives in Seattle.
SpeakNOW
The Nature of Words’ second SpeakNOW performance poetry competition was held October 4. Spoken word, or performance poetry, gives writers an opportunity to share their work and hone their public presentation skills. The competition, open to high-schoolers ages 14 to 18, attracted entrants from throughout Central Oregon. Scott Goodenough won first place, which garnered him a cash prize, a scholarship to a NOW festival workshop, and an appearance as a featured reader during the festival.
Why I support (theNatureofWords) MARGIE ROBBERSON, BOARD MEMBER I feel so fortunate to live in a community where an organization like The Nature of Words exists to encourage writers to have a voice and provide so many platforms from which those voices can be heard, where students can have the opportunity to work with professional writers to find avenues to express themselves. There is nothing like the magic I feel when I go to student readings and hear how profoundly they express themselves. Last Book Read: “Bring Up the Bodies” by Hilary Mantel
BROC STENMAN, BOARD MEMBER I’ve lived throughout the U.S. No other region has a literary resource as valuable and unique as The Nature of Words is to Central Oregon. It is a privilege to donate my time and energy to NOW’s efforts to strengthen literary education and enjoyment in the place I call home. Last Book Read: “Telegraph Avenue” by Michael Chabon 6 | The Nature of Words 2012 • Official Guide
Workshops and Lectures THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
SHERWIN BITSUI: The Strategy Within (Lecture—Wille Hall, Campus Center, COCC) - In this lecture, we will explore examples from contemporary Navajo poetry in order to experience possible underlying strategies that occur in Navajo thought and philosophy. We’ll see how these poets may be “resonating Navajo through English” by paying attention to nuances within their poems and collective thought that may provide a counterweight to previously existing type. We will draw upon these models to explore ways in which our own poetic and linguistic strategies may serve or sustain our intent.
AYAD AKHTAR: Story Workshop (Room 103) We will discuss a few major paradigms of story structure: the hero’s journey, classical three act structure, eleven-point story analysis. The goal will be to provide useful ways of thinking about story for the writer planning a full-length narrative in either screenplay or long-form fiction.
Noon – 2:00 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
SHERWIN BITSUI: The Image (Room 103) - In this workshop, we will attempt to enter the creative space by removing ourselves from the written work and letting the poetic image speak for itself. In this way, we can get outside our drives for individual gain and into areas of articulation that reflect what is inherent in Dine’ language and through as the collective ‘we.’ In this space, we may discover something that binds us together. AIMÉE NEZHUKUMATATHIL: Landscapes & Light: Poetry and the Natural World (Room 104) - Through a keen sense of observation and an ardent pulse to translate nature’s language, you’ll learn what nature poetry can be — its deep-sea baubles, prairie grassswish, and northern-light delights. Through carefully crafted immersions in writing, we’ll explore/explode the very fun and dynamic haibun form of poetry to record your own observations and past travels.
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
TRACY DAUGHERTY: A Character’s Skin (Room 118) See description above. KEVIN GORDON: Lyrics and Poems (Room 115) This workshop will focus on contemporary song lyrics: the relationship between lyrics and poems. MICHAEL MEADE: Finding Genius In Your Life (Room 104) - The original idea of genius refers to the natural spirit and inner qualities of a person; this includes their god-given talents as well as the way they are aimed at life. In that sense, everyone has a genius nature and something essential to give to the world. However, when neglected or rejected, our natural genius can incite our worst inner demons. PAISLEY REKDAL: Playing With Form (Room 117) - See description above.
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
JEAN AUEL: Thirty Thousand Years Ago (LectureHitchcock Auditorium, Pioneer Hall, COCC) - Jean Auel is an American author best known for her Earth’s Children® books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals.
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
THOR HANSON: The Naturalist’s Eye (Room 117) Author and biologist Thor Hanson explores the interface between observation and description in this workshop, bringing a field naturalist’s perspective to the way we voice our thoughts on nature.
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
TRACY DAUGHERTY: A Character’s Skin (Room 104) In this workshop, we will explore how a character (in fiction) or a persona (in nonfiction) moves through the world we’ve created on the page. What details are most effective in setting them in motion?
PAISLEY REKDAL: Playing With Form (Room 103) This workshop will get participants writing in a variety of unusual poetic forms culled not only from history, but from more recent Oulipian and conceptual poetry movements. From pantoums and canzones to poetic anagrams, antonymic translations, spoonerisms and fibonacci sequences, participants will explore the delights—and limitations—of radical poetic form. The purpose of this workshop is to encourage even more radical creativity and, hopefully, surprising new breakthroughs in the work. This is a workshop for people who may be bored with the regular sonnet but are still interested in rhyme and meter, who want to rethink their definition of “prosody,” or for those who may just be stuck in a poetic rut.
MICHAEL MEADE: (Lecture- Hitchcock Auditorium, Pioneer Hall, COCC) - Michael Meade, D.H.L., is a renowned storyteller, author, and scholar of mythology, anthropology, and psychology. He combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths. AYAD AKHTAR: Story Workshop (Room 103) - See description above. SHERWIN BITSUI: The Image (Room 104) - See description above. BRIAN DOYLE: Beginnings, Starts, Seeds, New Angles, Jumpstarts (Room 114) - Some moments will be devoted to starting pieces, and finding them waiting for you, and going sideways when you are stuck and feel clogged and foolish and fatuous. THOR HANSON: The Naturalist’s Eye (Room 118) - See description above. AIMÉE NEZHUKUMATATHIL: Landscapes & Light: Poetry and the Natural World (Room 117) - See description above. * COCC = Central Oregon Community College The Bulletin • The Nature of Words 2012 | 7
EventsSCHEDULE More info: www.thenatureofwords.org/Festival
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 • 7:30 p.m. Rising Star Creative Writing Competition Awards Ceremony & Reception Book Launch for “Note to Self,” NOW’s 2012 anthology of student writing. Central Oregon Community College Library, 2600 NW College Way, Bend. Sponsored by the University of Oregon. Free to the public. Emcee: John Moseley, Special Assistant to the Provost, University of Oregon
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Guest Author Workshops & Lectures OSU-Cascades and COCC Campuses
Jean Auel, Thirty Thousand Years Ago (Lecture) Hitchcock Auditorium, Pioneer Hall, COCC, $40
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. – Workshops, $45
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Sherwin Bitsui, Aimée Nezhukumatathil
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. – Workshops, $45 Tracy Daugherty, Thor Hanson, Paisley Rekdal
5:30-6:30 p.m. Umpqua Bank’s VIP Reception Sponsored by Umpqua Bank, 828 NW Wall St., Bend By invitation only for eligible sponsors and donors.
Lecture: Sherwin Bitsui, The Strategy Within Central Oregon Community College, Wille Hall, Campus Center. $30
7:00 p.m. Guest Author Readings & Book Signings Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend, $25 Presented by St. Charles Health System. Readings by (in order of appearance): Sherwin Bitsui, Thor Hanson, Tracy Daugherty, Jean Auel. Emcee: Jim Diegel, President and CEO, St. Charles Health System
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. – Workshops, $45 Ayad Akhtar, Sherwin Bitsui, Brian Doyle, Thor Hanson, Aimée Nezhukumatathil
5:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Guest Author Readings & Book Signings Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend, $25 Sponsored by St. Charles Health System. Readings by (in order of appearance): Brian Doyle, Aimée Nezhukumatathil, Ayad Akhtar, Michael Meade. Emcee: Jim Diegel, President and CEO, St. Charles Health System
Gala Author Dinner Century Center, 700 SW Century Drive, Bend. Friends Table: $75 person; Author Table: $110 per person. Keynote Speaker: Dan Wieden, Co-Founder and Global Executive Creative Director of Wieden+Kennedy, plus brief readings by guest authors. In addition to co-founding Wieden+Kennedy, a noted advertising agency, Wieden is the founder of the Caldera art retreat in the Cascades. Caldera is a creative program focused on the intersection of art and the environment for kids who would otherwise miss art opportunities.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
7:00 p.m.
4:00-5:15 p.m.
Michael Meade (Lecture) Hitchcock Auditorium, Pioneer Hall, COCC, $40
Guest Author Workshops & Lectures OSU-Cascades and COCC Campuses
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. – Workshops, $45 Ayad Akhtar, Tracy Daugherty, Kevin Gordon, Michael Meade, Paisley Rekdal
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sunday Author Reading and Open Mic Guest authors: Kevin Gordon and Paisley Rekdal Bend Public Library, Brooks Room, 601 NW Wall St., Bend, Free.
(theNatureofWords) Sponsors & Donors Co-Sponsors:
Laureate: Starview Foundation in support of
Anonymous Donor
Ex Libris:
Best Seller: Dan Wieden on behalf of
Edna L. Holmes Fund of
Rose & Stephen Archer; Margaret Heater; Julia Kennedy & Ron Cochran; Karen Poulsen; Herbert A Templeton Foundation Page Turner: Autzen Foundation, The Bend Foundation, Brooks Resources Corporation, Central Oregon Radiology Assoc, P.C., Kristee Chick, Christine Coffin, Cushman Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, Devore’s Good Food Store, Facebook Prineville Data Center, Ron and Molly Foerster, Sue Fountain, Cynthia Kirk, Kristin Kovalik and Damien Nurre, Max Merrill, Beth Patterson, Pepsi-Cola Company of Bend, Phoenix Inn and Suites, Jeff and Margie Robberson, Sally Russell, Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, Broc and Judy Stenman, Stephen Thompson, Matt and Diana Tomseth, Visit Bend, Margaret and Jim Wood Chapbook: Associated Students of COCC, Jeb Barton, Bank of the Cascades, Bend Dental Group, Cascade Professional Computing, The Casey Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Deschutes Brewery, Deschutes County Discretionary Grant Fund, Deschutes Public Library, Eriksen Wall Properties, Grace Bio-labs, Tim and Jenny Green, Bruce Jackson, Jane and Jerry Kirkpatrick, Line Design Graphics, John Martin, Edward J. Meisen, Ann Miller, Craig Moore, Multicultural Activities of COCC, Nancy R. Chandler Visiting Scholar Program, Mary Heather and Gavin Noble, Larry Nurre, Duane and Corinne Paulson, Dave and Margaret Rose, Ben Schade and Schade Steel, SELCO Community Credit Union, M C Smith Sign and Graphics Company, Strictly Organic, Suntrack Sound, The Trust for Public Land, Village Baker, The Ward Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation, Writing Ranch We also thank our Bookmark donors for their generous support of The Nature of Words!
The Nature of Words is supported in part by an award from the Oregon Arts Commission.
The Nature of Words is supported in part by a grant from Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians investing in Oregon’s arts, heritage and humanities.