Roger Rook rooms 204-209 as well as McLoughlin 121 hosted Clackamas Community College’s annual writing event “Compose” last Saturday.
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., light snacks and water were served for participants as they gathered for a full days’ worth of workshops on “fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, publishing, and more,” according to clackamas.edu.
Workshops began at 10:45 a.m. and were all taught by local authors and publishers; the last sessions of the day started at 3:30 p.m. and ran until 5:30 p.m. The full event itinerary with detailed descriptions of each workshop was offered online so that attendees might pick and choose their classes.
Compose is open to everyone from writers and poets to lovers of literature and publishers alike. The event is low-cost with a registration fee of $20. Though the event is all day, lunch is not provided by the college or covered in the cost of registration.
Hosted by the English department, Compose aims to “teach attendees how to tell stories in meaningful ways, giving them the opportunity to network, share ideas and learn from special guest speakers,” according to the English department’s Compose registration page.
“I don’t have the final numbers yet, but we had approximately 120 conference-goers this year,” said Nicole Rosevear, Compose organizing team member.
With the event aimed at “Creative writers across a range of genres interested in learning more about and continuing to improve their craft,” Rosevear said. “Anyone interested in creative writing and at any stage with their writing is welcome.”

Compose offers an opportunity for writers of all levels of skill to learn from local authors and publishers. Photo by Autumn Berend.