OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Members of our Board meet every second Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm to plan programming, events, workshops, and literacy outreach efforts. Board Members serve two-year terms and are elected in accordance with our bylaws. We post Director vacancies here and in our emailed newsletters. We extend a huge thank you to all past Board Members for their service!
Founder and President
MARIANNE MONSON
Marianne (she/her) is the author of twelve books for children and adults with an emphasis on women's history. Her book Frontier Grit, released in 2016, was nominated for an Amelia Bloomer award by the American Library Association. Marianne holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has taught writing at a number of colleges and universities. When she moved to Astoria with her two teenage children in 2017, she felt for the first time she was truly home.
Vice President and Director of the Board
DAYLE OLSON
Dayle (she/her) moved to the Lower Columbia a few years ago to be close to the river and to marry her longtime sweetheart. Her poem, Water Highway/SR 4 at Stella, was one of eight chosen statewide for inclusion in the Washington Poetic Routes project, sponsored by Humanities Washington. Dayle’s short stories were selected in juried competition two years in a row (2019, 2020) by Seaside Libraries for publication in their annual anthology, Write On! She established Poetry Wahkiakum, a Facebook page for area poets to share their work (anyone can join!).
Secretary
BUNNY KETERMAN
Bunny loves living in the Pacific Northwest and moved here in 2021, ultimately because of losing her home in the Paradise Camp Fire. The highlights of Bunny’s career include being an EMT/firefighter, a high school history teacher, and a CPS social worker. Bunny’s 46 year dream of becoming a writer finally came to fruition in 2022 when she published her website/blog, The Absurdess, which contains her humorous stories, as well as tools and resources for those who, like Bunny, are living with PTSD, depression, and “dis”ability.
Treasurer
KAREN BALTIER-LONG
Karen lives in Hammond, OR with her husband and two rescued chihuahuas. She has dabbled in writing since she was very young and would like to devote more time to this in the future. She spent most of her career working as an Administrator at various California law firms, but is happy to be living on the beautiful Oregon Coast now. In her spare time, she organized a book club that has been going strong for two years here locally. She enjoys travel and is a film fanatic who enjoys all types of films except horror films!
At-Large Member
JOHN CIMINELLO
John Ciminello grew up on the East Coast, but he and his wife have resided in the Pacific Northwest for forty years. He is a retired attorney who practiced law in Oregon for a number of years before transitioning to nonprofit management. He served as CEO and COO of an 8.5 million nonprofit for more than fifteen years. John has published two poetry collections and regularly contributes to journals. He believes poems are everywhere and in everyone.
Director of Communications
MIKE FRANCIS
Mike Francis is a longtime journalist and communicator who lives in Astoria. He has worked as a
reporter and editor for newspapers including the Business Journal of Portland, the (Bend)
Bulletin, the Kansas City Star and The Oregonian, where he worked for more than 20 years. He
also has worked in radio, for technology startups, and most recently, Pacific University. He has
published several short stories based on his experiences as an embedded reporter in Iraq.
Digital Media Coordinator
FLAX GLOR
Flax Glor has won awards for his short films and narrative music videos, which have been screened at venues such as the Cannes Independent and Bay Area Short Film Festival. He has been featured on The Red List through Coverfly and was a semifinalist at the Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition. He is the author of Filmmaking Simplified, recently completed a Master’s degree in screenwriting, and lives in Astoria while working as a script analyst for a company in Hollywood.