We're pleased to announce the results of the elections held earlier this month. In addition to the appointment of David Goodrum as President and Steve Slemenda, a new member, as Secretary, OPA has five new board members.
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to the following new members of the OPA Board.


Steve Slemenda is a founding member of the Silverton Poetry Association and the Mid-Valley Poetry Society. He was a chief organizer of the Silverton Poetry Festival from 2001-2020. From 2018-2024 he hosted a biweekly radio program on KMUZ in Salem. Retired from a career teaching English and Film Studies at Chemeketa Community College, Steve lives with his wife in Silverton, where he reads, writes, and avoids arithmetic.

Amelia Díaz Ettinger is a Latinx BIPOC poet and writer. Her books include Learning to Love a Western Sky, Speaking at a Time /Hablando a la Vez, These, These Hollow Bones, and two chapbooks Fossils in a Red Flag and Self Dissection. Amelia’s poetry and short stories have been published in anthologies, literary magazines, and periodicals. She has an MS in Biology and an MFA in creative writing. Her literary work is a marriage between science and her experience as an immigrant. She currently resides in Eastern Oregon.

