We are delighted to host author and poet Ellen Waterston, who was recently named the 11th Poet Laurate of Oregon by Governor Tina Kotek. Ellen will present from her forthcoming book, We Could Die Doing This: Dispatches on Ageing from Oregon’s Outback, along with poems from her books of poetry Via Lactea: A Woman of a Certain Age Walks the Camino, Hotel Domilocos, and Between Desert Seasons.

About We Could Die Doing This:

“As a self-described ‘woman of a certain age,’ and also a winner of multiple writing awards, Ellen Waterston is superbly qualified to offer wisdom on the subject of ageism. Most of us, whether of that ‘certain age’ or simply approaching it, need to listen to her thoughts on the joyful possibilities of ‘the third act’; she believes that ‘this phase of life is as rich, complex and dynamic as any before it.’ Whether addressing gun control, gay rights, or the sound of the tiny tree frog, as it emerges to welcome spring, she displays a wealth of knowledge from her roots in central Oregon to her travels, most recently in Bhutan. She seamlessly merges personal stories with useful data, writing with the sure hand of an experienced creative writer, guided by a researcher’s curiosity. Her subjects are relevant to a wide variety of younger and older readers; for those wondering about retirement, ever the wordsmith, the writer claims that ‘The Spanish got it right. Their word for retirement is 'jubilación.’” --Judith Barrington, author of Virginia’s Apple

Author Bio:

Author and poet Ellen Waterston has published four poetry and three literary nonfiction titles, including, most recently, Walking the High Desert. She is founder of the Writing Ranch which, since 2000, has conducted workshops for established and emerging writers, and of the annual Waterston Desert Writing Prize, established in 2015 and adopted in 2019 as a program of the High Desert Museum. In 2024, she was awarded both the Literary Arts Stewart H. Holbrook and the Soapstone Bread and Roses awards in recognition of her work as an author and advocate for the literary arts. Waterson is currently serving a two year term as Oregon Poet Laureate.

“Inspired by the example of the Poets Laureate who have preceded me, I am eager to share my love of poetry, place and the power of the written word with Oregon’s diverse audiences,” said Waterston, “and to kindling creativity and community as I go.” Ellen lives in the high desert of central Oregon, where she serves on the faculty of OSU-Cascades’ MFA in Creative Writing.