Ready to know who’s coming to Terroirr? Here you go!
We will be releasing new information about the writers on this website and on our newsletter in the run-up to the festival on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at the Stoller Experience Center.
David Ciminello
David Ciminello is the author of the novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park (a Kirkus Best Book of 2024). His fiction has appeared in the Lambda Award winning anthology Portland Queer: Tales of the Rose City, Nailed Magazine, The Untold Gaze, and elsewhere. His original screenplay Bruno was an Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting finalist. davidciminello.com
David’s Workshop: Creating Colorful Characters
Through a series of prompt-driven generative exercises participants will create and flesh out vivid, complex characters. Focus on physical description (how characters inhabit their worlds), the inner life of characters (their souls and personalities), and how scene and setting as well as action and dialogue can round out and bring characters to brilliant 3-dimensional life. Close attention will be paid to literary and poetic devices.
Erin Hall
Erin Hall is a content marketer, writing coach, and author of Dear Sylvia, Love Jane (Detective Molly Malone, Book 1). She’s on the board of Newberg’s Gather Repertory Theatre and is a member of The Oregon Historical Society and Willamette Writers. Erin has a Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing from Portland State University’s Ooligan Press. ehallwrites.com
Erin’s Workshop: The Tension Blueprint: The Secret to Unputdownable Storytelling
Tension is more than just a mystery writer’s trick–it’s an essential tool for keeping your readers on the edge of their seats. In this session, we’ll break down the core components of tension, from well-timed reveals to character-driven suspense. You’ll learn how to balance pacing, stakes, and unanswered questions to create that can’t-stop-reading momentum. You’ll get practical tools, real-world examples, and a better understanding of how to build and sustain tension at every level of your story, regardless of genre.
Stephanie Lenox
Stephanie Lenox is a writer, teacher, and editor. Her book Short-Form Creative Writing explores flash writing techniques. She authored two poetry collections, The Business and Congress of Strange People. An enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Stephanie studies her ancestral language, an experience that inspires her creative projects. stephanielenox.com
Stephanie’s Workshop: Tiny Utopias: Flash Writing in an Imperfect World
An ideal society, “utopia” literally translates as “no place.” Some even argue that a utopia cannot exist without its counterpoint, dystopia. Together, we’ll explore the subversive power of brevity that writers past and present use to create islands of joy in dark times. We’ll examine rebellious hybrid flash pieces–prose poems, micro memoirs, and flash fiction–and focus on carving out imaginative territory with very short creative work. No flash experience needed; we’ll cover the basics. Bring a joyful piece (one page max), yours or someone else’s. This session includes time to write and consider ways to craft miniature worlds in words.
Terroir Creative Writing Festival 