If Ernest Hemingway arrived on the North Coast, what would he say?
Talented writers who will read at the Writers Read Celebration on March 10 at the Cannon Beach Library have all sorts of ideas. He might: ask why he left Cuba; tell stories and knock back a bourbon at the Driftwood Inn; recount how a boy reeled in a seagull; discuss fishing with a youngster at the library; or describe how a 12-step program member took flight as a crow.
The Writers Read Celebration will begin at 7 p.m. in the library, 131 N. Hemlock St. It will be a hybrid event, with an online link available on the library’s website, cannonbeachlibrary.org
Most of the writers, who range from Longview, Washington to Tillamook, Oregon, will read their short stories and poems in person at the library, while at least three will read online.
This is the fifth year for the Writers Read Celebration. Writers from everywhere were asked to submit entries in any form, including stories, essays, poems, haikus, etc. on a theme; entries were limited to 600 words, and writers could submit up to three pieces each. This year’s theme was “Hemingway at the Beach: What Would He Say?”
A six-member panel of volunteers chose 16 from among 47 submissions without knowing who wrote them. Selections were made based on how closely the pieces followed the theme, word usage, content and the emotions evoked.
Writers who were invited to the Writers Read Celebration are:
Darrell Clukey, Cannon Beach, Oregon: short story, “The Passing Visitor”
Celeste Deveney, Nehalem, Oregon: short story, “A Dog’s Tale”
Butch Freedman, Tillamook, Oregon: short story, “An Old Man Surfs”
Dian Greenwood, Portland, Oregon: short story, “On First Seeing”
Craig Allen Heath, Longview, Washington: short story, “Papa at Cannon Beach”
Marc Imlay, Longview, Washington: short story, “The Young Boy and the Seagull”
Eve Marx, Seaside, Oregon: short story, “Nothing’s Going to Happen”
Steven Mayer, Cannon Beach, Oregon: short story, “Hemingway at the Beach”
Russell Myers, Vancouver, Washington: short story, “The Library”
Jennifer Nightingale, Astoria, Oregon: poems, “Papa’s Bindlestiff” and “Eel Grass”
Steve Price, Portland, Oregon: short story, “Leaving Cuba”
Scott T. Starbuck, Vancouver, Washington: poem, “Salmon Prophet”
L Swartz, Wheeler, Oregon: short story, “12-Step Famous”
James A. Tweedie, Long Beach, Washington: short stories, “Castaway” and “Birthday at the Beach”
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