History of The Nature of Words

In 2001 and 2002 Bend author Ellen Waterston, the founder and president of the Writing Ranch, helped organize The Music of Words, a one-day gathering featuring readings by a poet, a fiction writer and a creative non-fiction writer and held in the Cascade Festival of Music tent in Bend. It attracted novelists Anne Patchett and Jane Hamilton, essayists Floyd Skloot and Marjorie Sandor, and poets Lawson Inada and Wendy Mnookin. The second year, writing workshops were added. The event was enthusiastically received and those who attended repeatedly asked that the concept be revived and expanded. In 2005, The Nature of Words made its debut, thanks to the leadership and support of both the High Desert Museum, the non-profit umbrella for The Nature of Words, and OSU/Cascades Campus, along with the Writing Ranch as event coordinator. With this triumvirate, the in-kind, cash and collaborative partnership necessary to make The Nature of Words a success was in place.

The mission of the expanded 2005 event was to foster an appreciation of the literary arts in the region through readings, workshops and panel discussions conducted by nationally and internationally recognized writers and that the authors and poets address the literal and metaphorical western landscape through their writing as a means of encouraging debate and discussion about the historical, present and future west. The first year attracted an exciting line-up of authors and poets who represented some of the best of contemporary Western literary writing. In fiction: Annie Proulx, Kent Nelson and Phil Condon; in literary non-fiction: Kim Barnes and John Daniel; and in poetry: Clemens Starck, Frank X. Walker and Elizabeth Woody. Event emcees included authors Jane Kirkpatrick, Rick Steber and Jarold Ramsey. The weekend concluded with an open mike event, featuring emerging regional writers with the featured authors in the audience. The event’s resounding success was reflected in the unanimous call for an annual encore by all those who attended as well as the enthusiastic feedback from the eight featured authors who echoed Annie Proulx’s endorsement: “Congratulations to The Nature of Words for an excellent and flawless literary gathering.”

THE NATURE OF WORDS 2006:
The author line-up easily rivaled that of 2005 with David Guterson and James Galvin in fiction; Alexandra Fuller, Robert Michael Pyle and Craig Lesley in creative nonfiction; Oregon Poet Laureate Lawson Inada, Linda Hussa and Robert Wrigley in poetry. Event emcees included author Jane Kirkpatrick, Rich Wandschenider, Director of Fishtrap, and Larry Colton, author and founder of Wordstock in Portland. Generous foundation support and individual and business donations addressed higher author fees, audience development, and expanded workshop offerings. The event’s success was also gauged by numbers with over 1,500 people attending the four-day celebration, a 30 percent increase from 2005.

The aim of making this a venture that embraced all of Central Oregon’s literary interests was achieved in both 2005 and 2006 as The Nature of Words worked with outlying communities and their libraries, with the High Desert Journal where selections of participating authors’ work were showcased, and with other regional literary and arts events such Fishtrap, Wordstock, Caldera, and Literary Arts, Inc.

2007 GOALS:
The Nature of Words, as it enters its third year, is showing signs of maturity. A full board is in place and operative. We are about to move into new offices and have a new data management system in place and a new, more accessible website up and running. We have received our 501(c)3 designation and the slate of authors is once again very exciting!