SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER
Learn how to pitch nonfiction stories…
To our readers who are also writers: Do you want to know how to pitch nonfiction and journalism stories to publications like Cascadia Magazine? Cascadia Magazine editor Andrew Engelson will be participating in a series of classes at Seattle’s Hugo House taught by freelance writer Madeline Ostrander called “Pitch Laboratory.”
To pitch is to distill a story to its fundamentals. In few words, you must conjure plot, characters, and story structure, so that your editor trusts you to grow the story into a robust narrative. In this workshop, students will bring their ideas to life in pitch form—in order to entice editors and find opportunities for publishing new work. The class runs for four session from June 24 -July 22.
To qualify for the best rates for this class, you’ll need to sign up online by Monday, June 17. More info here.
US senators call out BC mining policies
In a rare display of bipartisanship, all eight senators from Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Montana wrote a scathing letter to British Columbia premier John Horgan urging the province to do a better job limiting the effects of mines in transborder regions (a proposed new mine at the headwaters of the Skagit River provoked the letter). The Narwhal has more on the letter and how mining is polluting the Kootenay River that flows into Montana & Idaho. Meanwhile OPB report that Oregon’s Forest Practices law intended to protect streams in logging areas, is essentially useless because no one knows how it’s being enforced.
Portland pedestrian killed day after a “safer” intersection opens
The Portland Mercury reports the sad news that the day after Portland unveiled safety improvements on SE Foster, an 82-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed there by a car. Eric Barnett reports on how Seattle is still dragging its feet on bike lane improvements. And in related news, the Inlander talks with the founder of a Spokane urbanist group working to make the city more dense and pedestrian-friendly.
A protest in support of overdose prevention in Fraser Valley
The Tyee has a photo essay on a protest in Maple Ridge, BC that’s calling on health authorities in the Fraser River Valley to allow the creation of an overdose prevention site. For more on how supervised injection saves lives, read this feature published last year at Cascadia Magazine.
Washington designates native abalone as endangered
Hannah Weinberger, writing for Crosscut, has a fantastic feature on what it means that Washington has designated the pinto abalone as endangered. The only abalone species native to Washington, the shellfish has been in serious decline after over-fishing in the late 20th century–populations are now 97 percent lower than in 1992.
Boise author Emily Ruskovich wins big prize for her novel
The International Dublin literary award is the world’s most lucrative prize for a single novel (€100,000), and the Guardian reports that it was awarded to Boise-based novelist Emily Ruskovich for her book Idaho. The novel unravels why a woman killed her daughter in the backwoods, and was inspired in part by Ruskovich’s experiences being raised in a remote rural community in the Idaho panhandle. The judges said it “gradually uncovers the psychological abysses that would explain the inexplicable.” Boise Weekly has more on Ruskovich and a spooky incident that inspired the book.
Poetry by Joe Wilkins
Over at Juxtaprose, take a few moments to read “Tell Me Whatever Will Help Me Lay Hold of the Day,” a brief, gorgeous poem by Joe Wilkins, who lives in the foothills of the Coast Mountains of western Oregon and directs the creative writing program at Linfield College.
“Up through the fire-scar we go
& slow, kneeling at the spill creek
to rinse our bitten necks, dreaming names–
cat’s eye, stardrop, lacy three-leaf…”
Read the full poem here.
That’s today’s curated collection of links to news, arts, and culture from across the Cascadia bioregion. We hope you find this email useful and interesting. If you do, please take a moment to make a contribution at our donate page during our Spring Fund Drive. It’s up to you to help us reach our goal of $10,000 by the end of June. Thanks a bunch! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: Red Chris mining tailing dam in BC by Garth Lezn via The Narwhal Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0