Increasing the Literary Density of Yamhill County

Barbara Drake was excited about the Terroir Creative Writing Festiva   coming up next Saturday. April 14th at the McMinnville Community Center.  I talked with her this morning at McMinnville Public Market.  She was staffing the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County booth. 

Barbara Drake is the guiding spirit of the Terroir. Writing Festival  It was November of 2008 or 2009, when she, then President of  Arts Alliance, stood before a large Arts Alliance membership gathering and asked for help in realizing her dream of a creative writing festival. 

“What we want to do.”  she said. “We want to increase the literary density in Yamhill County.”   

Barbara has done just that.  The first Terroir Creative Writing Festival in 2010 was a huge success.   The well known Portland writer Ursula LeGuin was a speaker and there were writing workshops by well known Northwest writers.   Terroir 2011 was also successful.  Author of the Earth’s Children’s series Jean Auel  was a speaker and again there were excellent writing workshops by Northwest writers.

This year’s Creative Writing Festival is shaping up to be as good or better than previous years.  The line up of Northwest writers speaking,  writing workshops and readings is impressive.

The musician and writer who opened the recent Oregon Book Awards presentation, Willy Vlautin will talk about finding inspiration in Oregon.  Portland suspense writer, author of “Kill you Twice”, Chelsea Cain will give a work shop on writing a best selling thriller.  There is a Poetry workshop by gardner and poet Charles Goodrich whose new book is ‘Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden” and who is the judge for the Arts Alliance’s annual  Paper Gardens Writing Contest .

One of my favorite Northwest writers Matt Love will be doing a work shop on writing creative non-fiction.  Leanne Grabel will have a work shop on writing and producing your own play.   Those who are thinking about a memoir, Evelyn Hess  will give a work shop on writing memoirs. 

There will be readings by novelists and poets.   The poetry journal of place Windfall Journal  editors and authors Bill Siverly and Michael McDowell will read and many other local poets.   There will be an opportunity for writers take a risk and to stand up at an “open mic” and read their work to an appreciative audience.

For those who love the feel and touch of the old fashioned book, you are not forgotten, the founder of Book Arts Center of McMinnville Marilyn Worrix will have a work shop on the handmade book.

If you are a writer the  Terroir Creative Writing Festivalwill give you access to some very good Northwest writers from varied disciplines.  In the workshops you pick up tips to help you improve your craft.  The entire event will introduce you to other local writers.   The registration form is on the website and you can register Saturday morning, April 14th at the Community Center.

As Barbara said. “What we want to do is increase the literary density of Yamhill County.”

Matt Love and teachers as social control troops

Matt and Ray

Ever since I read My great writing dog in the Oregonian last year, Matt Love is one of my favorite Oregon writers.  A quote from his essay, which is a heart felt eulogy to a companion, has stayed with me. 

   "For many writers, writing begins with conversations, ones you have with others, ones aloud with yourself, ones you overhear, and ones with documents and ancient texts."

I have the quote tacked to my wall.  For Matt, his conversations started with his dog Ray as they traveled around Oregon.

Recently Matt wrote an Opinion piece Oregon's overreach: Are teachers the troops in a war on individualism? in the Oregonian.  He tells a story of he and his high school students field trip to do a performance at another high school.  After 18 years of teaching he is feeling "complicit" in shaping students into the American consumer corporate mold.  To me he was expressing an existential angst in recognizing his discomfort as being part of the control machine. 

Matt and Ray

If Matt were sending the opinion piece as a letter to Dear Sugar at Rumpus , I could image Sugar responding, "There, there, sweet pea, you have been complicit, as a teacher you are absolutely part of the social control troops shaping our good children.  But it's okay.  You work within.  It is usually easier to open a window from inside a house than outside."  

The response to Matt opinion piece showed how differently we hear what is being written and what we choose to react to.  The article was shared on Facebook and among my "friends" the comments were the "Nice article" kind of typical pablum Facebook comments.  I read the Oregonian readers comments which were argumentative.  Some responded to the word "corporate", some focused on the "standardized testing".  For the most part they put Matt Love into a political caricature and argued against their own construct.  They were having fun, some quite eloquent. 

I wonder how we can get from dueling monologs to conversations.