Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series
of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE
44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. Readers and performers interested in participating
should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen [at] gmail.com with an expression
of interest and sample work.

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The readers/performers for February 4 are Ron
Bloodworth, John Blackard, Alison Apotheker, David
Hill

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Ron Bloodworth has published poems in The Oregonian
and in Ghosts: Dreams & Hauntings, a chapbook of poems by the
Nulla Dies Poets. He has been influenced and inspired by many different
poets at writing workshops in the Northwest including Centrum, Fishtrap, Oregon
Mountain Writers Community, and the MFA program at Pacific University. Ron is
active locally with a number of writer's groups and a long-time member of the
Portland-based Nulla Dies Sine Linea poetry group. He lives with his domestic
partner of 23 years in Portland, Oregon.

.. ..

John Blackard is a graduate of the University of North
Carolina with advanced degrees in English Studies and Library and Information
Studies. He has two books of poems in print and a book about the golden age of
paperback publishing. He has received Fulbright and National Endowment for the
Humanities fellowships. He now lives in Portland with his wife, the poet
Valentina Gnup, and was recently appointed assistant managing editor of Poetry
Northwest.

.. ..

Alison Apotheker’s first book of poems, Slim Margin,
will be published by WordTech Communications in
Dec. 2008.   Her work is the recipient of an Oregon Literary
Arts fellowship and two Pushcart Prize nominations.  She has poems
published in or forthcoming from Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard
Review, and Mid-American Review among other literary magazines. She
teaches creative writing and English at ..Portland..
..Community College.. where she also runs
the ....Rock.. ..Creek.. ..Writing..
..Center.....

.. ..

David Hill will read from his new book, *Consumed* (KenArnoldBooks, 156
pages. $14.00), which offers quirky snaps of life in the consumer age. Hill's
poetry has been published in numerous anthologies and periodicals, and a debut
collection was issued in 1999 by the UK's National Poetry Foundation. He has
also provided lyrics for recording artists, and writes journalism and
nonfiction on economy, travel and culture. "Well on his way to becoming a
major poet—perhaps the first for the era of globalization." —James Bowman,
former American editor, the *Times Literary Supplement*.

Oregon Literary Review co-hosts Third Tuesdays, a series of readings and performances held at Krakow Koffeehouse 3990 N. Interstate (at N. Shaver, next to The Alibi and blocks from N. Mississippi hip-zone), 7-8:30pm. Readers and performers interested in participating should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen at gmail.com with an expression of interest and sample work.

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The readers/performers for January 20^th are Evelyn Sharenov, John McAteer and Kate Mann

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Evelyn Sharenov's stories, essays and poetry have been published in Glimmer Train, Fugue, ....Rain.. ..City.... Review, Mediphors, Hip Mama, XConnect, Eclectica and other journals. She has been awarded an Oregon Literary Arts grant in fiction and has been a notable in Best American Short Stories. She is a freelance reviewer for the the Oregonian newspaper, and has written features and reviews for The Bear Deluxe and Bitch Magazine. Her short story "Magic Affinities" was anthologized in "Love You To Pieces" from Beacon Press last spring.  Evelyn has degrees in literature and mental health nursing and did graduate work in piano performance.

.. ..

John McAteer, originally from ..Boston.., came to ..Portland.. via 35 years teaching English in ....Kyoto...., where he published in the Hailstone Haiku Review and became deeply involved in the Japanese Noh theater. His major work was the 2005 production of Frost’s “The Death of the Hired Man” as a complete English Noh drama with Japanese musicians and foreign cast and chorus. Recently he has been working on shorter, Noh-inspired “Poem Performed” pieces and will present T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock preceded by an introduction to Noh dance movement.

.. ..

A former high school teacher, Kate Mann had an awakening of sorts in 2005 and dedicated herself to music full time. She traded in her car for a van, fixed up her mother’s old 1963 Gibson acoustic, and started touring the ..Western United States... Her unique brand of moody ....Americana.... has been cultivating a loyal local fan base, and she is continuing the trend regionally. Her song “Cowboys are my Weakness” was recently selected as a finalist in the ....Americana.... category of the Independent Music Awards.

.. ..

January 7 2009

.. ..

Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series
of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE
44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. Readers and performers interested in participating
should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com with an expression of
interest and sample work.

.. ..

This is a special reading of students of and graduates from ....Pacific.. ..University....’s Master of Fine Arts in
writing program.

.. ..

The readers/performers for January 7 are Mindie Kniss, Ellen
Michaelson, Jason Sandefur and Beth Russell.

.. ..

.. ..

Native to the woods
of ..Whidbey Island.., ..Washington..,
Beth Russell has studied at ..Whitman.. ..College.., ..St. Andrews University..,
..Oregon.. State University and--most recently--at
....Pacific.. ..University.... in Forest Grove.  She
holds a Bachelors in English, a Masters in Teaching, and an MFA in Creative
Writing.  Currently, she gardens, writes, and teaches in ....Corvallis.., ..Oregon....,
where she lives with her husband, her son, a dog, two cats, seven hens, three
roosters, and a large, inscrutable frog. ....

.. ..

J. Paul Sandefur
began his writing career publishing essays and stories in local newspapers in ....Virginia...., where he grew
up. After earning his bachelor's at the ..University..
of ..Montana.., he taught middle school in
....Colorado....
before becoming a journalist. He is currently studying fiction in the Master of
Fine Arts program at ..Pacific.. ..University.. in ....Forest
Grove.., ..OR.........

.. ..

Mindie Kniss is currently pursuing an MFA in nonfiction from
....Pacific.. ..University.....  In 2006, she was
awarded a Global Health Fellowship to live and work in ....Nairobi.., ..Kenya....,
where much of her forthcoming memoir takes place. 

Originally from ..Chicago.., Mindie recently
relocated to ....Portland.., ..OR.... to reestablish her holistic coaching
practice, Awaken Consciousness.  Her work appears in the new book, Wake Up
Women:  Be Happy, Healthy & Wealthy.  Mindie holds degrees in
theology and metaphysics.

.. ..

Ellen Michaelson was born in ..Portland..,
..Maine.. and moved to ....Portland.., ..Oregon....
to work with novelist, Tom Spanbauer. She is currently a student in the MFA
program at ....Pacific..
..University.....

She has published non-fiction in Portland Monthly,
Literature and Medicine, and Women and Solititude(ed. Delese Weir), and an
excerpt of her novel in Fetishes.

Before moving from NYC to ....Oregon...., she was a semi-finalist for the
Heekin Foundation Awards and a finalist for the New Voice Awards(Writers
Community, NYC) and Rocky Mt Women Writers Institute.  Ellen is a
physician and a cyclist. Her novel-in-progress is about outsiderness as seen
through the eyes of a young Polish Jewish immigrant, the only white orderly in
an inner city ....New York....
hospital.

.. ..

Link to Oregon Literary Review Calendar of Events: http://...com/8kph8z

Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE 44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. Readers and performers interested in participating should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com with an expression of interest and sample work.

The readers/performers for October 1 are Craig Lesley, Primus St. John and Diana Abu-Jaber.

Craig Lesley is the author of 4 novels and a memoir, along with numerous other works. He has received three Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards, the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award for Best Novel, and an Oregon Book Award. He has been the recipient of several national fellowships and holds a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Whitman College. Currently the Senior Writer-in-Residence at Portland State University, Craig lives with his wife and two daughters in Portland, Oregon. Both Storm Riders and The Sky Fisherman were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

When Professor Primus St. John joined the PSU faculty in 1973 he already enjoyed a national reputation as a fine poet. Since then he has published several collections of his poems, edited two anthologies, helped create the NEA-funded Poets in the Schools Program, won the Western States Book Award for Poetry (2000), and the Oregon Book Award for Poetry (1990). In 2000 he was a finalist for poetry for both the Oregon Book Award and the PEN West Award. Professor St. John has participated in countless readings and taught hundreds of students to write creatively and think critically. Currently he is completing a collection of new poems based on historical and Caribbean themes where he continues his examination of people, their circumstances, and how they deal with those circumstances.

Diana Abu-Jaber's latest novel, Origin, was named one of the best books of the year by the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, and won the 2008 Florida Book Award.

Her memoir, The Language of Baklava, won the Northwest Booksellers' Award. Her novel, Crescent, won the PEN Center Award for Literary fiction and the American Book Award. Her first novel, Arabian Jazz won the Oregon Book award.

She teaches at Portland State University and divides her time between Portland and Miami, Florida.

Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE 44th off Fremont, 7-9pm. Readers and performers interested in participating should contact Julie Mae Madsen at maemadsen@gmail.com with an expression of interest and sample work.

The readers/performers for September 3 are Doug Spangle, Mike Mudd, Alison Apotheker, and Kate Gray.

Douglas Spangle has emceed open-mike readings, hosted a poetry/talk radio show, and served on the boards of literary and artistic events. He has been Senior Editor of Rain City Review, Co-Editor of Moose, is currently on the staff of Gobshite Quarterly, and in 1994 edited the Festschrift Homespun: A Tribute to Mary Barnard.  His poems, reviews, graphics, articles and translations have appeared in Adragtul, Black Bear Review, Georgetown Review, Main Street Rag, Small Press Review,; in the anthologies Off The Beaten Track, Portland Lights, Broken Word and many other small press literary publications.  His long poem "From Oregon to Gloucester, Maximus" appears on OlsonNow! at Blogspot His chapbooks are Initial, (Quiet Lion Press, 1996), Suite: Lost Things (Flyleaf Editions, 1997),  2 ½ Bridges (26 Books, 1999), Perseus Pursuing (9 muses books, 2002) and August (Snark Publications, 2004).

Mike Mudd -- With one foot firmly planted in the singer-songwriter tradition, Mike's versatile sound has not only drawn comparisons to Dylan and Woody Guthrie, but also to Tom Waits, Radiohead, Floyd and the beat-jazz style of Kerouac. Mike delivers dynamic solo performances ranging from acoustic guitar and wailing harmonica to any combination of acoustic and electric guitar, percussion and auxiliary instrumentation, often incorporating real-time looping and ambience.

Alison Apotheker's first book of poems, Slim Margin, will be published by WordTech Communications in Dec. 2008.   Her work is the recipient of an Oregon Literary Arts fellowship and two Pushcart Prize nominations.  She has poems published in or forthcoming from Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, and Mid-American Review among other literary magazines. She teaches creative writing and English at Portland Community College where she also runs the Rock Creek Writing Center.

Living in Portland for 25 years, Kate Gray has finally discovered the Arts & Crafts movement, and hopes those sturdy lines will enter her writing. She also just published her first full-length book of poems, Another Sunset We Survive in 2007, which followed prize-winning chapbooks, Bone-Knowing, and Where She Goes.  She teaches at Clackamas Community College and dreams of linebreaks that are blind dove-tails.