Registration is now open! Transform your writing life this August 5-7, 2022, in-person at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and online. Our 53rd Annual Conference is sure to be a wonderful weekend full of workshops, critiques, queries, and connections. With over 50 industry professionals in-person and online, you'll have the support you need to take that next step in your writing life. Register today and join us this August.
Conference Keynotes
Mark Oshiro (they) is the award-winning author of the young adult books ANGER IS A GIFT (2019 Schneider Family Book Award) and EACH OF US A DESERT, both with Tor Teen, as well as their middle grade books THE INSIDERS and YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, DAVID BRAVO with Harper Collins. They are also the co-author (with Rick Riordan) of the upcoming PERCY JACKSON novel centered on Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. When not writing, they are trying to pet every dog in the world. Find out more about Mark at MarkOshiro.com.
Once upon a time, Laura Stanfill (she/her) lived in a New Jersey house filled with music boxes, street organs, and books. She grew up to become the publisher of Forest Avenue Press and the author of the novel SINGING LESSONS FOR THE SYLISH CANARY (Lanternfish Press). Her work has appeared in Shondaland, The Rumpus, Catapult, The Vincent Brothers Review, Santa Fe Writers Project, and several print anthologies. Find out more about Laura at LauraStanfill.com.[/caption]
All Writers Welcome!
As a non-profit educational organization, Willamette Writers is committed to helping writers connect with their communities, develop their craft, and expand their career. Our chapter meetings are open to everyone! We are here to help you!
Want to be more involved? Become a member!
A community of writers supporting and learning from each other. We strive to provide members with everything they need to thrive—community support, networking opportunities, continuing education, inspiration, publicity, and much more.
Here’s all you get for just $57 a year:
Willamette Writers Membership benefits:
Weekly Chapter Meetings: with talks and inspirational, educational presentations on the craft and business of writing from leaders in the writing world
Online Coffee Hours: socialize with other writers twice a week
The Write Place: weekly productivity meeting, an opportunity for mutual support and accountability towards achieving your writing goals
The Timberline Review literary journal: free submissions and discounted subscriptions or copies
WilWrite Conference: early registration and discount on our acclaimed yearly writers conference
Kay Snow Writing Awards: Discounted submissions to our writing contest
FilmLab Contest: discounted submissions to our filmmaking contest
Critique groups: We help connect members to critique groups for various genres.
Post your writing news free: on our website, in our weekly Dispatch email, in our quarterly Newsletter, and on our social media. We want to celebrate YOU!
Join today!
We’d love for you to be part of the community.
All Writers Welcome!
Members & Full-Time Students Attend for Free!
Online: The Write Place Productivity Meeting
Online: Coffee at your Kitchen Table
Online: Coffee at your Kitchen Table
Online: Pitch Practice with Industry Professionals at your Salem Chapter
YWW Portland & YWW Southern Oregon Chapter Meeting
Creating, Staging, and Getting Plays Produced with Kwik Jones
Online: Screenwriters Happy Hour
Willamette Writers Open Mic Night
Your writing community NEWS
Member News: New Release — Dark Sand
Book #4 in the Port Stirling Mystery series, Dark Sand, released in March from author Kay Jennings. Police chief Matt Horning thought life in Port Stirling, Oregon was returning to normal after the earthquake. He was dead wrong. One of the world’s leading geologists, British Lord Phineas Stuart, has gone missing in this classic whodunnit.…
Member News: New Release — Kaleidoscope
Tiffany Dickinson has released Kaleidoscope, a middle-grade novel set in Portland in 1980. This coming-of-age historical novel is a warm and funny read starring Tabby, a bi-racial 12-year-old, and her eclectic group of friends. While navigating the typical 7th grade stressors of friends, family, and boys, Tabby struggles to determine who she really is as…
Member News: New Release — Blood Sapphire’s Revenge
Book publisher Epigraph announced the release and worldwide availability of Blood Sapphire’s Revenge — the new military thriller novel by author Dr. Bruce Farmer in eBook, audiobook, softcover and hardcover formats. Mixing questions of faith and existential fate with an exploration of resiliency, human struggle and fortitude in the face of extreme pressure, Blood Sapphire’s…
Member News: New Release — The Model Spy
Maryka Biaggio’s The Model Spy was released by Sunbury Press March 2022. The Model Spy is based on the true story of Toto Koopman, who spied for the Allies and Italian Resistance during World War II. Largely unknown today, Toto was arguably the first woman to spy for the British Intelligence Service. Operating in the…
Member News: New Release — Toxic Soup
Toxic Soup by RR Rowley is a new environmental thriller set in the Columbia River Gorge. Toxic waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been poisoning for more than six decades. When her brother dies working at Hanford, Casey swears revenge. But, how can she take on the fortress of a facility? After confiding in…
Member News: Essay Publication — The Letter
Member News: New Release — Reaping the Whirlwind
Robert E. Boertien has signed a contract with Two Gun Publishing to produce five western novels. The first novel, Reaping the Whirlwind, set in Oregon, is available in either paperback or ebook format. Gold coins minted to commemorate the Lewis and Clark Exposition have been stolen, and it is left to Special Deputy Jennie Palmer…
Member News: New Website — Joe C Smolen
Member News: New Release — The Yesterday Girl
GladEye Press is excited to announce its latest title, The Yesterday Girl by Eugene, Oregon author Sharleen Nelson, available March 21, 2022. A stand-alone sequel to The Time Tourists, The Yesterday Girl features the continuing adventures of time-travelling investigator Imogen Oliver. Nelson weaves a nuanced exploration of fatherhood within a well-paced adventure packed with fascinating…
Member News: New Release — Greater Vegas Bleeds into The Dreams of My Cryogenic Slumber
Kenneth M Cale’s third chapbook, Greater Vegas Bleeds into The Dreams of My Cryogenic Slumber, was published through Steel Incisors on March 5th 2022. Building on the style and approach of Cale’s two previous chapbooks, Midnight Double Feature and elsewhen, Greater Vegas… is a full-color mix of collage and poetry, and is described by Zak…
Writing Resources from Willamette Writers
Writing Advice from Zoraida Córdova
by Mari Hotchkiss An unusual career path. As a young child in Ecuador, Zoraida Córdova grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories that were filled with magic and wonder. At six years old, she immigrated to the United States with…
Creating Characters
Happy Fall! Have you got your sweater? Your scarf? Your pumpkin-spiced whatever?Then sit down and talk with us about character. Hemingway said, “When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people, not characters. A character is a caricature.”…
How To Happily Write A Query Letter
We’re excited that Bill Kenower is a member of the faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference. Bill is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence and Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion. In…
HOW TO WIN THE SUBMISSION WAITING GAME
We’re excited that Erick Mertz is a member of the faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference. Erick is a Portland-based ghostwriter and fiction/memoir manuscript consultant. Over the last five years as a full-time freelancer he has written manuscripts for…
Experts Weigh In: 10 Crucial Screenwriting Mistakes
Experts Weigh In: 10 Crucial Screenwriting Mistakes Lee Jessup, a member of our screenwriting faculty at the upcoming Willamette Writer’s Conference and the author of Breaking In: Tales from the Screenwriting Trenches and Getting It Write: An Insider’s Guide To A…
The 7 Things Writers Need to Make a Living by Sonia Simone
Written by SONIA SIMONE Reprinted with permission from Copyblogger. If you’re a writer, you might have heard this most of your life: People don’t make a living writing. You should find something practical to do with your life. Smart, capable writers grimly…
WW News
Author Cohorts
Join your author cohort this fall! Author cohorts will meet online for weekly write-ins, check-ins, and workshops during the month of November. After the cohort, you will be connected with a published mentor to help you continue along your author journey. Reserve your spot now – $99 for Willamette Writers members, and $199 for guests.…
Writing Advice from Zoraida Córdova
by Mari Hotchkiss An unusual career path. As a young child in Ecuador, Zoraida Córdova grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories that were filled with magic and wonder. At six years old, she immigrated to the United States with her mom and grandma, causing her to abandon her love of stories. “I stopped reading.…
Literary Agents at the 2020 Willamette Writers Conference Register now for our 2020 Conference, and meet these agents, along with other top notch industry professionals. You can register for a pitch or critique, and share your work with these pros. They are excited to hear from you. At the conference, you can join them in…
C.C. Humphreys, Best-Selling Author of Historical Fiction, Joins the Willamette Writers Conference
TV Development and Production with Grant Rosenberg
Willamette Writers Authors at the Portland Book Festival
We are proud to be supporting these Willamette Writers member authors at this year’s Portland Book Festival on November 9th! 9AM-9:30AM Dede Montgomery Sue Fagalde Lick Sharleen Nelson Tasche Laine 9:30AM-10AM Kerry Blaisdell Kay Jennings Phillip Kenney Deni Starr 10AM-11AM Paula Butterfield Charley Descoteaux Marilyn McDonald Holly Manno 11AM-12PM Mazarine Treyz Marilynne Eichinger Rick George Jo Sparkes 12PM-1PM Ruby Lee Cornelius Holly Manno Bob Ferguson Kim Hester 1PM-2PM Anne Hendren Jeff Stookey R. Gregory Noakes Heather Ames 2PM-3PM Dawn Prochovnic Julie Dawn…
FiLMLaBtv 2019 Writer’s Room The 2019 winning script is “Stripes,” written by Alexandra Keister. Keister, an executive assistant and screenwriter, has written two feature-length screenplays, both romantic comedies, and a handful of short screenplays that range from dark sci-fi to the classically uplifting my-dog-is-dead story. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2012 with a BA…
Willamette Writers Authors Sign Books at The Portland Book Festival
by Ari Mathae Willamette Writers, the Portland literary community, and book lovers near and far will meet again Saturday 10, 2018, for the largest celebration of books in the Pacific Northwest: The Portland Book Festival. The event starts at 9 A.M. at the Portland Art Museum and continues there and at other neighboring venues in the…