If Ernest Hemingway arrived on the North Coast, what would he say and how would he say it?
Residents from Cape Meares, Nehalem and Wheeler will be among the writers who will ponder this question during the Writers Read Celebration on March 10 at the Cannon Beach Library.
Butch Freedman, of Cape Meares, will read his short story, “An Old Man Surfs”; Celeste Deveney, of Nehalem, will recite “A Dog’s Tale”; and Wheeler resident L Swartz will read their short story, “12-Step Famous,” during the celebration, which begins 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
Writers selected to read the works they submitted for the celebration have all sorts of ideas about what Hemingway would say if he visited the North Coast. 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.
Most of the writers, who range from Longview, Washington to Cape Meares, 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.
In addition to Freedman, Deveney and Swartz, other writers who were invited to the Writers Read Celebration are:
Darrell Clukey, Cannon Beach, Oregon: short story, “The Passing Visitor”
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”
James A. Tweedie, Long Beach, Washington: short stories, “Castaway” and “Birthday at the Beach”
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