Pacific Crest Writers group launches Tuesday

By Jim Flint for Ashland.news

Ashland newcomer Susan Gress was impressed with the city’s vibrant arts scene, but something seemed to be missing. While there are numerous organizations that champion the visual, musical, and theatrical arts, she felt the town lacked similar spaces for the literary arts.

“Bloomsbury Books and their wonderful series of writers’ talks is it,” she said.

That got her thinking. And moved her to action.

“I decided a good place to start was by forming a community of writers to get to know one another.”

Teaming with fellow book club members Dianne Oberhansly and Jennifer Bacon, the three of them set out to create a new support group, Pacific Crest Writers.

Their initiative, aimed at fostering literary connections in the community, has already drawn local interest, with the first meeting of PCW set to take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at John Pugh’s Big Dog Studio, 235 Helman St., #1C/D, in Ashland.

At this writing, 40 had already signed up to attend, with room for more. The meet and greet is free for all writers — from beginners to pros, from scientists to poets.

Oberhansly is an award-winning writer and poet.

“Susie and I began commiserating with each other as writers new to the area,” Oberhansly said. “We were finding it hard to connect with other writers. Jennifer, a long-time community organizer in Ashland, was our greatest resource and link to the area, and we knew we needed her to come aboard.”

Bacon, who had invited the two to join the book club, was happy to join the effort.

“I’m not really a writer,” she said. “I’m a cheerleader. I really am interested in keeping Ashland a vibrant arts community and doing that in any way I can.”

She’ll be helping with logistics, she said, including hosting, set-up and clean-up at the meet and greet.

When Gress got acquainted with Oberhansly and Bacon, she discovered a shared enthusiasm. She proposed her idea and they jumped at it.

“Each of us brings a different skills set to this creation,” Gress said.

At the Aug. 20 meet and greet, writers will have an opportunity to introduce themselves, get acquainted, and hear from two guest writers — Amy Miller, a prize-winning Ashland poet; and Janet Eastman, a journalist who works for the Oregonian.

“Writers tend to be an introverted group, so we will serve wine,” Gress said. “If nothing else, writers will find out they are not alone in their endeavor. At best, they will find one or two others who share their journey to serve as beta readers and inspiration for each other’s writing.”

Oberhansly says writers need other writers, and hopes PCW will provide a way for them to meet, confer, share insights, inspire each other, “and feel less isolated in the solitary hours that writing requires,” she said.

The Aug. 20 meetup will help gauge the interests, both generally and specifically, of local writers.

“We’ll take a bit of time to let attendees know what we are seeing as some possible PCW endeavors, but we also want to hear about what support they are hoping for,” Oberhansly said.

What’s in the future for PCW?

“We won’t be teaching classes,” Gress said, “just bringing in successful authors to talk about their experience and answer questions — and possibly publishers and agents as well.”

Monthly meetings are in the initial plans, but partnerships with the library and university are possible down the line.

“We would like to keep it free, but that is up to the members,” Gress said. “If they want to bring in paid teachers in the future, that’s up to them.”

A Writers in the Schools program in Ashland is on her wish list.

“Those kinds of programs are found in so many Oregon towns,” Gress said. “I would like our voices to be heard and recognized.”

Gress has been in and out of writing her whole life. After a year of writing classes in college in the 1970s, she realized people with degrees in the subject had the same part-time waitress jobs she had.

She went to the University of Washington and asked what degrees they offered that led to available jobs. Chemical engineering, she was told.

“I had never passed a math class in my life, but somehow made it through. And the first job I landed was writing for Pulp and Paper International Magazine in Belgium. Funny how life works out.”

Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.