This page lists all news items published on the website. This includes calls for submissions, contests, adult contest winners, student contest winners, events, conference news, member news, and unit news.
To celebrate National Poetry Month, work by poets Claudia Luna Castro, Kara Briggs, Kelly Lenox, and artist Speakthunder Berry will be displayed in the pop-up Celebration of Words and Vision along the Columbia River Gorge. Poetry and art will be placed along two car-free trails of the Historic Columbia River Highway. The work will be
Celebration of Words and Vision along the Columbia River Gorge Read More »
A new poetry contest opens on March 10 through April 14th for OPA members only in celebration of National Poetry Month. The contest has been sponsored by an anonymous donor. Enter one poem, any style, any subject, any form, two page maximum. No submission fee. https://opa.submittable.com/ Winners will be announced by mid-May 2026, and be
OPA National Poetry Month Contest for Members Only Read More »
I will be reading at The First Thursday Writers & Artists Series, a monthly event designed to bring together writers, painters, photographers, poets, and people who appreciate them, in the inspiring setting of Helvetia Winery. This series will provide a welcoming space for people to connect, share their creative work, and build lasting artistic and
My new chapbook, Marriage: A History, has been released for advance sale from Finishing Line Press. Widowed, divorced, widowed again, yet in age finding love once more, the author of Marriage: A History explores loss, grief, struggle, and love in lyrics that are by turns penetrating and tender. In poignant lyric poems Bruce Parker traces
Marriage: A History, has been released for advance sale from Finishing Line Press Read More »
JUDGE: Ximena Keogh Serrano Ximena Keogh Serrano is a poet and transdisciplinary scholar based in Portland, OR. Born in Quito, Ecuador, her writing embraces a movement between disciplines and languages. She is an Assistant Professor in the department of World Languages and Cultures at Pacific University. Ximena’s areas of specialization lie at the intersection of
SPANISH CONTEST WINNERS 2025 Read More »
Announcing: Dan Liberthson’s latest poetry book, A Carnival of Cats Lovers of cats and poetry, prepare to be amazed and entertained! A Carnival of Cats features 63 poems and 12 watercolor paintings that explore the author’s love for and admiration of cats—their beauty, grace, and inscrutable character—and his bemused surmises as to what motivates their
Announcing: Dan Liberthson’s latest poetry book, A Carnival of Cats Read More »
READING ANNOUNCEMENT! You are invited to attend a virtual poetry reading featuring Margaret R. Sáraco, Ken Holland, and Guy Reed on Calling All Poets, Friday, 11/7/ at 4 pm PST (7 pm EST). Follow the instructions on the website to register (callingallpoets.net).. There is a $5 admission fee ($4 if you are a member.) The
Calling All Poets, Virtual Read More »
OPA Contest Results 2025 Spring OPA National Poetry Month Contest (judged by Emmet Wheatfall) 1st Place: Ann Heath, “Mary Magdalene Has Second Thoughts about Jesus” 2nd Place: “Reckoning” by Sherri Levine 3rd Place: “October Snow in the Foothills of the Coast Range” by Doug Stone Spanish Contest (judged by Ximena Keogh Serrano) 1st Prize: “Imagen
OPA Contest Results 2025 Read More »
The beauty of Earth enriches life beyond mere survival. The pursuit of fleeting riches has led to a path strewn with destruction ignoring that prosperity is meaningless on an inhospitable planet. We have the power to restore, protect, and renew Earth’s beauty and hospitality. We choose every day whether to build a world where prosperity
New Release, Earth in Silhouette: Poems, by T. L. Cooper Read More »
OPA member Marcia Casey’s chapbook being from being broke open has just been published by Finishing Line Press! In a childhood in which home was alienation and woods were haven, the natural world – trees, birds, seasons, water, mud – offered up the language with which the poems in being from being broke open navigate the crucial questions
being from being broke open by Marcia Casey Read More »
