Archive: 2023 Raymond Carver Writing Festival

Anis Mojgani served two terms as Oregon’s 10th Poet Laureate and is a two-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam. Winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam and a recipient of an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellowship, Anis has done commissions for the Getty Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum. His work has appeared on HBO, National Public Radio, and as part of the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series; and in the pages of the NYTimes, Rattle, Platypus, Winter Tangerine, Forklift Ohio, and Bat City Review. Anis has been awarded residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, Caldera, AIR Serenbe, The Bloedel Nature Reserve, The Sou’wester, and the Oregon Literary Arts Writers-In-The-Schools program. 

Dayle Olson is a Lower Columbia poet and a zealous Raymond Carver fan. She is a former first prize recipient in the Oregon Poetry Association annual competition, as well as a recent Northwest Voices featured writer at Lower Columbia College and Longview Public Library.

Her poetry chapbook, From the Dead Letter Department, published by Moonstone Press in 2025, was awarded Honorable Mention in their annual contest. Dayle lives in Cathlamet with her husband, David.

Deborah Steele Hazen was the third generation of her family to own, edit, and report for The Clatskanie Chief newspaper, where she spent most of her 50-plus years as a journalist. She interviewed Raymond Carver in 1984. Deborah sold The Chief in 1984, but continues as a freelance writer. Several of her poems have been set to music and performed by her musical partner Clark Mallory.

Deborah and her husband Phil are the parents of adult triplets, and have eight grandchildren. She is president of the Clatskanie Foundation, co-manager of the Clatskanie Cultural Center, president of the Clatskanie Historical Society and host of The Castle.

Joseph Green lives in Longview, Washington, where he retired in 2010 after teaching for twenty-five years at Lower Columbia College. He serves on the board of directors for the C.C. Stern Type Foundry and Museum of Metal Typography in Clatskanie. His most recent poetry collection is What Water Does at a Time Like This (MoonPath Press, 2015).

Marianne Monson is a women’s history author who writes nonfiction, historical fiction, and poetry. She’s the author of twelve books, founder of The Writers Guild (a literary nonprofit) and co-host of KMUN’s River Writers.

Maryanne Hirning received her MLIS from the University of Washington in 2018. Before becoming the Executive Director of the Clatskanie Library District in 2021, she worked as both an academic librarian and a public school librarian. Maryanne is passionate about the educational services and resources libraries provide!

Calvin Mills is a writer of fiction, essays, and plays. His short story collection, The Caged Man is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press (2025). His chapbook of creative nonfiction essays, A Handful of Tragic Days, will be released in April 2025. His stories and essays have appeared in Short Story, Weird Tales, and other magazines. He teaches writing and hosts The Raymond Carver Podcast at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington.