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Covering 180 miles of Oregon coast travel: Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler, Rockaway, Garibaldi, Tillamook, Oceanside, Pacific City, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport, Yachats & Florence. 08/29/08
Oregon Authors Speak on Central Coast
(Newport, Oregon) - The Nye Beach Writers' Series presents novelist and musician Willy Vlautin and poet Tim Sproul Saturday, September 20. The event begins at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Newport Visual Arts Center at the Nye Beach turnaround. Admission is $5 at the door and students attend free. Sproul will take the microphone first, followed by Vlautin. After intermission, the popular monthly open mic is open to the first 10 people who sign up to read from their original work for up to five minutes. Light refreshments, including coffee, tea, and wine are available for purchase throughout the evening. Poet Tim Sproul was born and raised in Newport and graduated from Newport High. He now resides in Milwaukie, Oregon, where his day job is creative director at Avenue A/Razorfish International Advertising Agency. Sproul's formative years took place near Newport's Nye Beach. His father, a career Naval officer, supported the family by spending as much - if not more - time deployed at sea as he did at home.
Sproul's poem "66 Days at Sea" captures a perspective that mirrors the childhood experiences of many commercial fishermen's sons and daughters: "With one small suitcase and a half-salute to the wind, my father steps onto the ship's gangplank and out of our lives," reads an excerpt. "We fall back to who we think we are - tough beach kids who never go to the beach... I learn the language of loss in our eyes... we suffer this house and its various empties... time doesn't pass, it enters us." Sproul holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism and a Master's in creative writing, both from the University of Oregon. During his recent experience as a featured writer at the Fisherpoets spoken word event held in Astoria, he commented on coastal Oregonians' recognition of their unique experience, noting, "It's great to see a celebration of a culture; a recognition of what makes our lives here in this moist environment, separated from the convention of people who don't always understand what it's like to be here."
Following Sproul, novelist and musician Willy Vlautin will read from his work. Vlautin, who currently lives in Scappoose, Oregon, splits his time between writing novels and performing as lead singer-songwriter for the Portland-based urban country music band Richmond Fontaine. Vlautin is a native of Reno, Nevada, the backdrop against which he set his novels "The Motel Life," published in 2007, and "Northline," published earlier this year. "The Motel Life" follows the lot of two brothers whose lives go from bad to abominable when one of them flees a hit and run accident while under the influence. The novel received national recognition as a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and was named a Top 25 Books of 2007 selection by the Washington Post. The Oregonian named the novel among the 2007 Top Ten Books of the Northwest. With a writing style often associated with the gritty timbre of musicians Tom Waits and Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan, Vlautin's works shine a light on the struggling members of American society: resilient individuals who, often through a combination of circumstance, poor choices, and missed chances, continue to search for their place at America's trough of opportunity.
After their spoken word performances at the Nye Beach Writers' Series, Vlautin and Sproul will answer questions from the audience. Their books will be available for purchase courtesy of Ulrike Bremer of Nye Beach Book House. The Nye Beach Writers' Series is a monthly program of Writers On The Edge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of literary arts in Lincoln County and the support of lifelong participation in reading, writing, and literary performance. The Nye Beach Writers' Series showcases authors of diverse writing genres including fiction, nonfiction, plays, lyrics, Oregon history, memoir, poetry, essays, and investigative journalism. The readings are appropriate for high school age and adult writers and readers who appreciate good writing and diversity of thought. Donations to Writers On The Edge are gratefully appreciated and fully tax-deductible. Writers On The Edge is generously supported by grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and by the Lincoln County Cultural Coalition, which re-grants funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust, a statewide organization that invests in Oregon's arts, humanities and heritage. Overnight accommodations for Willy Vlautin has been underwritten by board member Matt Love. Upcoming Nye Beach Writers' Series events will feature
authors Donna Henderson and Bonnie Henderson, Sharon Wood Wortman with
Jonah Bornstein, Don Colburn, Margaret Gish Miller, Cecelia Hagen, Rita
Ott Ramstad and Sandra Stone, Carlos Reyes and Travis Champ, Jim Lynch,
Claudia Handler, Spike Walker and Craig Carothers. Schedule details event
are available on our website. For more information, to request direct
e-mail notification, or to view a map and directions to the Newport Visual
Arts Center, visit writersontheedge.org or call 541-574-7708.
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