The OPA board welcomed three new members at its Oct. 9 meeting and said sad goodbyes to longtime members, Dave Mehler, Dan Liberthson, and Rana Tahir. Shortly after the election, Priscilla Hunter, who has moved to Texas, submitted her resignation, so we will be filling one more seat at our November meeting. Thank you to all four for their years of service.
We are happy to introduce our new board members, all talented poets and capable board members.
Melissa Broderick Eaton, treasurer
A native Oregonian, Melissa has called Bend home since she was a small child, and now she and her husband are raising three creative boys there. After living and attending school in Costa Rica and Spain, she completed undergrad at Sweet Briar College and taught high school Spanish in Virginia before moving back to Bend permanently. At college, she stumbled into working independently with Mary Oliver for two years. Then she didn’t write for two decades. When Oliver passed away, Melissa kicked her writing into high gear out of a sense of tremendous obligation to not let that unbelievable gift go to waste. She completed an MFA in Writing with an emphasis in poetry in 2021 through Lindenwood University and her first poetry chapbook, black bird blue, came out at the end of August 2022. She spends her days as the IT Operations Manager for Bend-La Pine Schools and her free time writing, traveling, or out in the woods on her mountain bike.
Jade Rosina McCutcheon, events coordinator, assistant webmaster
Jade holds a Doctor of Creative Arts degree from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. Her publications include the books Awakening the Performing Body, Embodied Consciousness Performance Technologies, and Narrative in Performance. A Kay Snow Award recipient, Jade’s poetry can be found in anthologies and journals such as Terra Incognita, (Bob Hill publishing 2019, Oregon), /pãn| dé| mïk/ 2020: An Anthology of Pandemic Poems, Beyond Words, and in The Silent World in her Vase. Her first chapbook, ‘SMALL FEATHER’ was published by Finishing Line Press, October 2020, and her second chapbook, ‘the tossing dream’ in March 2023.
Debra Wöhrmann, secretary
Debra lives in Portland and explores joy and sorrow, grief and ecstasy through writing. She leads generative workshops, taught community college for years, and believes in the healing power of putting words onto the page. Anyone can write poetry given the invitation and interest, she says. Her first collection is forthcoming in 2023 with MoonPath Press.
Returning to the board this year are:
Sue Fagalde Lick—President
Nancy Christopherson—Vice President and adult contest chair
Lauren Mallett—Cascadia youth contest chair
Lorna Rose-Hahn—social media chair
Efrain Diaz-Horna—membership chair
We look forward to serving OPA in the coming year and welcome your ideas and suggestions for upcoming events.