Willamette Writers Chapters are local writing communities where writers improve their craft and acquire the career skills required in today's publishing world.
The Salem Chapter offers monthly meetings and occasional workshops. Meetings are normally held on the 1st Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center (4090 Commercial St. SE, Salem).
You can join a monthly meeting even if you're not a member. Read on to learn about us, and join our mailing list to keep in touch. Become a Willamette Writers Member today to enjoy membership benefits (like free meetings) and to support our community of writers.
Upcoming Meeting
Online: Pitch Practice with Industry Professionals at your Salem Chapter
June 1 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pmPractice Your Pitch with Industry Professionals At your Salem Chapter: David Poulshock, Nancy Froeschle, Clark Kohanek, and Christine Autrand Mitchell

About Our Industry Professionals:
David Poulshock is a Northwest filmmaker whose work includes the best-selling “Wee Sing” children’s series (Universal Home Video); the educational series “America’s History in the Making” and “Mathematics Illuminated” (Annenberg Channel); the feature documentaries "Raw Materials" and “Space” (currently in post). His projects have won over 80 major awards, including 9 national Telly Awards in 2015 alone. From magical realism and political satire to suspense thriller and true crime, his original screenplays have won top honors in such script competitions as Austin, Worldfest, Slamdance, Fade-In, IFP, Nicholl, Storypros and Scriptalooza. Prior to his film career, David was keyboardist with the legendary Northwest cult band Upepo, an Oregon Music Hall of Fame honoree. He has served as adjunct faculty of the Art Institute of Portland, Chairman of the Willamette Writers Conference and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Academy. Nancy Froeschle is a Nicholl Fellowships top-ten winner for her WWI script, The Greater Glory. Her optioned thriller, The Restoration, was a 2019 Writer’s Lab finalist and winner of the Writers Digest Script Competition, and her co-written thriller, Terminal, was a 2020 quarter-finalist in Final Draft’s Big Break competition. She was hired to adapt a WWII true story into a feature and the Vietnam War autobiography, Captain For Dark Mornings, into a co-written limited series pilot with Martin Sheen attached. She’s also written and pitching pilots for Blue Hour, a dark dramedy series, and Purgatory, a co-written, 1910 western, which was a 2022 Austin second-rounder. Her most recent project is Lake Crescent, a supernatural pilot based on a true story. In addition, Nancy served four years as Film Coordinator for the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland and taught screenwriting to middle and high school students. She currently hosts Script Frenzy, a weekly zoom screenwriter’s forum via the International Screenwriters Association. Clark Kohanek is a writer, story consultant, illustrator. Over 30 years experience in the film, television and advertising industry. Clients include Fox, Disney, Universal Studios, EA Games, Nike. Currently working as a story consultant for NicoNazar on multiple projects this year starring Robert De Niro, John Malkovich, Bella Thorne, Thom Jane and others. Christine Autrand Mitchell is an alumni of The Writers Lab, ranking in top contests and fellowships like Austin, PAGE and ScreenCraft. Her genre and STEM-based TV and feature scripts highlight characters challenged by secrets along with their story’s unique settings, making her a grounded world-builder. She's inspired by places she grew up, like a tourist island and a 900-year-old Austrian cloister, so outsiders are a common theme. Christine is a filmmaker, has published short fiction and articles, and is a story analyst. She’s a former business consultant and casting director now living in Portland, Oregon. Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/About the Meetings
Unless otherwise stated...
When and Where
All meetings are currently held online.
Meeting Format
6:30-7 pm: social time, including news and member announcements*
7-8:30 pm: speaker’s presentation followed by Q&A and book sales/signing
* We have snacks, but if you want coffee or water, please bring it with you.
Cost
Monthly meetings at all the chapters are free for members of Willamette Writers.
Suggested donations for guests: $5.
Thank you for your support
The Chapter Co-Chairs
The Salem Chapter is run by two co-chairs who together create a program to fit the needs and interests of the Willamette Writers members from the Salem area.
Kathy Saviers
After working in law enforcement as a forensic examiner for more than 30 years, Kathy is turning her efforts towards writing fiction. While she has published three research papers in scholarly journals and written technical manuals on forensic practices, she finds the craft of writing novels is far different than writing a crime scene report. She has had one short story published in the Gold Man Review.
Summer Bird
Summer Bird has been a volunteer and leader of the Salem chapter for many years. She is an artist and a writer, and you can find her work at https://summerbirdstories.com/.
Connect with the Chapter
- Join our meetings and workshops if you’re a writing enthusiasts from the Salem area, if you happen to be in the area, or if you are interested in a specific topic/speaker.
- Follow Willamette Writers on Twitter, and on Facebook where you can subscribe to our events.
- Join us on MeetUp to receive meeting updates
- Join our chapter's mailing list to receive updates by email.
- Contact us if you have a specific inquiry or something you'd like to share with the chapter co-chairs.
All writers welcome. Join us!