Celebrating our Writing Community
Congrats, Willamette Writers!
#WilWriteWins
2020 Conference Feedback
Wow! What an amazing online conference!
We had the best time at the 51st annual Willamette writers conference. From our keynotes, to our workshops, to our networking and community events, it was a weekend we will never forget. And it was all online! Thank you to all of our volunteers, faculty, and industry professionals who made the weekend possible.
Catch up with us on Twitter: @Wilwrite
One of the best conferences in the world…
“This is truly one of the best conferences in the world. The fact that Willamette Writers pulled this off during Covid is remarkable.” —April Eberhardt, agent
Awesome, fun, inspiring…
…it was awesome, fun, inspiring and looking forward to seeing each and every one of you again. You are a wonderful group and this was a fantastic intro to the Willamette Writers. See you next time! —Cheers, Rosemary (writing as RD Fiori)
Resonant with the warmth of community…
Thank you! The conference was a great experience, resonant with the warmth of community. Terrific speakers, master classes, and workshops! WW did a fantastic job of creating safe, inviting virtual spaces. Looking forward to upcoming offerings and future volunteering. —Cheers, Greta
Classy, well run conference…
As always, thank you all for putting on a classy, well run conference with excellent speakers!! It has definitely been worth my time!! —Karen, Ashland, Oregon
Another knockout conference…
I just wanted to thank everybody at Willamette Writers for another knockout conference. I’ve been going for 20+ years, and it’s always interesting, entertaining, and enlightening. Thanks especially to the folks who had to deal with Zoom’s… everything. I caught a bit of behind-the-scenes Zoom wrangling Sunday morning, and I’m very glad it was you…
Beyond grateful…
Amidst the pandemic, bright spots can be few and far between. When we find those moments of connection and grace, we hold them close. I am beyond grateful to attend the 51st Willamette Writers Conference this weekend from my home in Austin. Three days with fellow writers, all of us sharing our stories and struggling…
Excellent job all around
Thank you for everything! I couldn’t believe it was the first time you’ve done it all virtually because everything was so smooth. Excellent job all around. Couldn’t have been better! Scott
Great, great conference…
Excellent conference! You guys are the best! …Thanks again for a wonderful job and a great, great conference. —Paul
Member News
Member News: Steven Mayfield to Appear on Book Spiel
Member News: Murder by The Sea Named Best Mystery
Member News: Book Release- Democracy in Silhouette: Poems
Democracy in Silhouette: Poems, a recently released book of poetry that examines the roles that everyday people, those in power, and corporations play in the struggle to protect democracy from autocracy, corpocracy, and complacency. This succinct collection of poems explores current events, history, tradition, progress, and beliefs while seeking solutions grounded in love and connection.…
Member News: Kirkus Names Iva a Top Indie Book
In the December 15th Issue of Kirkus Reviews, Mike Weedall’s book, Iva: The True Story of Tokyo Rose, documenting the story of Iva Toguri was named one of the top Indie reads of the year. Written as historical fiction, the story of this courageous woman has been getting national attention. Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court…
Member News: New Release by Larry Bradley
Eugene author Larry Bradley announced the release of Trials—Two cousins, cancer, and the doctors who fought to save their lives. In this narrative nonfiction, Bradley follows the personal journal of two sisters, each of whom had a son diagnosed with leukemia twenty years apart. The story of the two boys tracks perhaps the most miraculous…
Member News: WeScreenplay Winner
FilmLab alum Shaun Radecki won the 2020 WeScreenplay Shorts Contest judged by Oscar-nominated filmmakers for his original animated short, SQUISHED. He’s currently looking for animators and producing partners to help move this exciting project forward. If you or anyone else you know might be interested please feel free to get in touch! Get more info
Member News: “Obscurity”, Clarke’s Debut Novel
Ryan Clarke, a news and sports reporter for Pamplin Media Group and lifelong Beaverton resident, published his debut novel on Dec. 14 — two weeks before his 25th birthday. The novel, Obscurity, is a blend of noir crime and supernatural horror. Daniel Bishop and Andre Gibson are best friends leading a life of crime in…
Member News: New Book Published about Childlessness
Sue Fagalde Lick, co-chair of the Coast Chapter, announces the publication of her new book, Love or Children: When You Can’t Have Both. Based on her Childless by Marriage blog, the book offers the best of more than 700 posts and resulting comments about relationships where one’s partner is unable or unwilling to have children.…
Member News: Release of New Christmas Novel
Just in time for holiday reading, local author Bill Cullen’s new novel Christmas Adrift is now available. Take an unforgettable journey through the Christmas holidays as experienced by those living in the shadows of society. Set in Portland, Oregon, the book follows a cast of misfits living aboard the St. Remy, an old tugboat plying…
Member News: Livestream Reading, Jason Tanamor with Grace Talusan
Annie Bloom’s welcomes Portland author Jason Tanamor for a livestream reading from his latest novel, Vampires of Portlandia. He will be in conversation with Grace Talusan, author of The Body Papers. Jason Tanamor is the critically acclaimed author of the novels Anonymous and Drama Dolls. His new novel Vampires of Portlandia is an urban fantasy…
Join a Meeting or a Workshop Near You
All Writers Welcome! Members & Full-Time Students Attend for Free!
The Write Place: An Online Meeting for Productivity
Online: Coffee at your Kitchen Table
Online: Coffee at your Kitchen Table
The Art of Writing Joy with Tabitha Blankenbiller
Young Willamette Writers: Hello, World: Techniques and tricks for creating a realistic, complex, captivating science fiction world that can be used in any story!
Productive Plotting with Heather Ransom
Shiny Dialogue with Kate Ristau
Young Willamette Writers: Finish That Novel! – with Kim Johnson
Writing Resources from Willamette Writers
Pre-Launch Machinations
You wrote a book. It’s been acquired! Now what in the world do you do with yourself?
Every writer has heard the axiom that penning a book is only the first in a long run of hurdles, and if we’re honest with ourselves every last one of us has believed that must be a mendacious proposition. Writing is hard work.
Ten Words To Keep In Mind For A Writer’s Conference
by Chip MacGregor As you begin preparing for this year’s Willamette Writers Conference, I’d like to suggest you keep ten words in mind… • READ. Don’t just show up and wonder who the speakers are. Read the blog of the…
Get The Most Out of Your Book Event
Authors sometimes don’t do all they can do to get the most out of their book events. A small turnout can feel discouraging, but in fact, small readings are a great opportunity to connect personally to convert readers into loyal…
Screenwriting Tips
Willamette Writers encourages writers of all genres to enter the FiLMLaB Competition–even those who have never written a screenplay before. Screenwriting has generally accepted conventions and guidelines. Below are some valuable resources as well as links and screenwriting tips to make…
What Can You Learn From Oscar Shorts?
by Ruth Witteried It is not easy to find the Oscar Nominated Shorts on Comcast Pay Per View. I found them once, then they seemed to disappear from cable and the internet. In fact, they had been pulled from the…
Script to Screen Tips and Trips
by Ruth Witteried As the Willamette Writers kick off their second Script to Screen short screenplay competition, several writers have requested tips for creating successful entries, or at the very least that we share the ‘trips’ of previous submissions; the…
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WW News
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…
Member News: Mary Andonian & David Poulshock launch ISA Third Thursdays
Mary Andonian & David Poulshock launch ISA Third Thursdays Members Mary and David are launching the local chapter of the International Screenwriters Association(ISA). It’s a monthly mixer for screenwriters on Third Thursdays, where you can mingle with fellow screenwriters, meet film and television industry professionals, and win door prizes — including a free Willamette Writer’s…
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 a blog he posted this past June, he shares his perspective on how he learned…
Wilwrite20 — The Willamette Writers Conference
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…
2019 Willamette Writers Conference Pitch Professionals We are proud to announce the industry professionals accepting pitches this year at our 50th annual Willamette Writers Conference. You will find a list of all our current industry professionals here. We are welcoming a fantastic group of agents, editors, manager, and producers, and the list will continue to…
Julie Whipple Book Signing at Powells
Julie Whipple will be reading and signing copies of her new book, Crash Course Join Julie Whipple at Powell’s downtown flagship store on West Burnside on Monday, August 20 at 7:30 (http://www.powells.com/book/-9780692070406#product_details) and award-winning audiobook narrator Heather Henderson for a special performance of excerpts from the book. Long-time Portland residents vividly recall the crash of…
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 a variety of clients. In a blog he posted this past December, he shares advice…
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 pass around war stories on Facebook. Penny-a-word assignments, clients who don’t pay, disdain for our…
Open Mic Night at the Willamette Writers Conference
Open Mic night started at the Willamette Writers Conference in 2013, when I mentioned to the conference chair that I attended a really fun Open Mic Night at another writing conference. This launched us into a talk about how we could make one for Willamette Writers and how we could make it even better than…
What’s New at the Willamette Writers Conference
Welcome to our 2018 Conference! This year, our theme for The Best Three Days in Writing is “Celebrating Diverse Voices in Writing.” The whole team is really looking forward to what we’ve got in store for you all this August 3rd -5th. As you know, the conference has grown and changed much over its 49-year…
Experiences at The Willamette Writers Conference
“A writers conference can be an empowering and uplifting experience,” according to Scott Myers, a producer, writer, and assistant director. Myers presented at the Willamette Writers Conference this year, and said it was a “special experience.” He explains on his website about his conference experience that he met so many writers and old friends, and his classes were packed. His…