Willamette Writers Chapters are local writing communities where writers improve their craft and acquire the career skills required in today’s publishing world.
Willamette Writers Chapters are local writing communities where writers improve their craft and acquire the career skills required in today’s publishing world. They also provide opportunities for local writers to hone their leadership, presentation, and teaching skills.
Willamette Writers on the River serves writers in Corvallis, Albany, and Linn-Benton County. We welcome members from other chapters and all writers aged 18 and older (unless otherwise stated).
Read on to learn about our chapter, and join our mailing list to keep in touch.
Become a Willamette Writers Member today to enjoy membership benefits such as free meetings for all WW chapters and reduced conference registration fees.
Upcoming Meeting
Online: Writing About Trauma with Deborah A. Lott
How do you write about the worst thing that ever happened to you when it hurts to think about it? How can you write about it in a way that doesn't also traumatize your readers?
Deborah A. Lott, author of Don’t Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir, will address these questions and more at the Oct. 25 joint meeting of Willamette Writer’s Coast and Writers on the River in Corvallis chapters. Her talk, “Writing about Trauma,” offered online via Zoom, begins at 6:30 p.m.
"Traumatic experiences often render us speechless at the same time that they compel us to tell the story,” Lott says. “Language may feel inadequate, memory fragmented, and others may tell us to ‘just move on.’ We also may feel resistance of our own—how can we overcome the fear of re-experiencing trauma that will come with writing about it?” In this workshop, Lott will draw on information from trauma researchers and clinicians, provide multiple examples from published memoirs, and describe her own experience writing Don't Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir. There will be time for questions and for participants to share their own challenges in writing about traumatic experiences.
About Deborah A. Lott
Lott’s memoirs, essays, and reportage have been published in the Rumpus, Salon, the Alaska Quarterly Review, Bellingham Review, and other publications. Her family’s legacy of hypochondria was featured on NPR’s This American Life. Her first book, In Session: the Bond between Women and their Therapists, offered an unprecedented look at psychotherapy from the perspective of clients interviewed by the author. She teaches creative writing and literature at Antioch University, Los Angeles.How to Join
To receive the Zoom link for this workshop, register in advance at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkfu6pqTsoHNYZKRyKb03puYjZ2cbSsGy-Find out more »About the Meetings
Willamette Writers on the River offers monthly meetings normally held on the fourth Monday of each month at the First Presbyterian Church (Allison Room) in Corvallis. No meeting in August when we head to Portland for the Willamette Writers Conference. No meeting in December due to proximity of holidays.
In March, June, and September, we use our meetings for open mic readings.
Meeting Time
6:30-8-30 p.m., Fourth Monday of each month
Meeting Location
First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis—114 SW 8th Street
Use the parking lot entrance at 9th & Monroe as other doors are locked. We will be in the Allison Room. Watch for the sign in the hall to point you in the right direction.
Our programs are not endorsed or sponsored by First Presbyterian Church.
Meeting Format
Open-Mic Readings in March, June, and September give writers the opportunity to test their work on an audience of their peers. The readings are free and open to the public.
Meeting Format:
- 6:15-6:30 — Sign-up for a 7 minute slot.
- 6:30-8:30 — News and Announcements followed by Readings
Programmed Meetings in which WWotR presents a speaker/workshop/panel discussion to help writers learn more about writing.
Meeting Format:
- 6:30-6:45 – Networking & social time
- 6:45-8:15 – WWotR News and Announcements followed by the Program
- 8:15-8:30 – Q & A, Networking, and Speaker’s Book Sales
Meeting Cost
Monthly meetings at all the chapters are free for members of Willamette Writers. The three open mic readings are free and open to the public. Fees for Nonmembers to attend programmed meetings (suggested donation):
- Nonmember guests of members pay $5.
- Nonmember full-time students with student ID pay $5.
- All other nonmembers pay $10.
Thank you for your support!
Would you like to be a speaker?
We are always looking for new speakers from around the region and around the country. Do you have a topic of interest to present to writers in our region?
Please contact us for scheduling and details.
The Chapter Co-Chairs
The Willamette Writers on the River Chapter is run by co-chairs who create a program to fit the needs and interests of the Willamette Writers members around Corvallis.
Nancy Ballard
Nancy Ballard is a retired emergency manager with a previous life in natural resources management. She now writes poetry and science-fiction cowboy stories after years of environmental assessments and operations manuals. She has written and collaborated on adaptations of several plays for community theater including a wild west Taming of the Shrew, a murder mystery for dinner theater, and an historical drama on the Modoc Indian War. As Nan C. Ballard, she self-published her novel, Carico Trails, in 2014. The sequel, Carico Canyons, is scheduled for release by Not a Pipe Publishing in 2021. Her poetry has been published in Willawaw Journal, the anthology Mount Shasta Reflections, and The Modoc Independent newspaper. She joined Willamette Writers in 2014 after moving from far northern California and was on the support team for Willamette Writers on the River before accepting the Co-Chair position in 2020.
Connect with the Chapter
- Join our meetings and workshops if you’re a writing enthusiasts from the Corvallis area, if you happen to be in the area, or if you are interested in a specific topic/speaker. All writers 18 and older welcome. Join us!
- Follow our Facebook Page and subscribe to our events to keep in touch.
- Find a local critique group or announce your group.
- Visit our contact page if you have a specific inquiry or something you’d like to share with the chapter co-chairs.
Volunteer with the Chapter
Are you a local writer and want to be more involved with the Mid-Valley Chapter? Volunteer!
How would you like to be involved? Get in touch and let us know how you’d like help.
Click here for other volunteer opportunities at Willamette Writers.
2019 Year-at-a- Glance
January 28th
Louise Cary Barden
Writing to Sell: Commercial Non-Fiction
February 17th, 2-4
Kim Stafford
Newport Public Library
February 25th
Maren Anderson
Alternate Writing Tools
March 25th
OPEN MIC
April 22nd
Terri Thomas
Reading your work as performance
May 11th
Write Here Write Now with Eric Witchey
Join us at our writing conference
May 18th
Stafford/Sears Memorial Rdg.
Co-sponsored by WWotR and Library
May 27th
Phillip Kenney
The Writer’s Crucible
June 24th
OPEN MIC
July 22nd
Hazel Denhart
The Grammar of Story
August
Willamette Writer’s Conference
September 23rd
OPEN MIC
October 28th
Brenna Crotty (Calyx)
Notes from the Editor
November 25th
John S. Williams