Registration opens mid-March.
Let’s meet the nonfiction writers coming to Terroir this year, on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at the Stoller Experience Center!
Samantha Cole Johnson
Samantha Cole-Johnson is a Portland-based writer, speaker, and educator who serves as the Senior Editor US for JancisRobinson.com. Her work has been featured in online and print publications including GuildSomm, Wine & Spirits, SevenFifty Daily, Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, and The Oxford Companion to Wine. Sam teaches WSET 3 and Diploma qualifications at Portland’s Wine and Spirit Archive.
Samantha’s Workshop: Serving your reader
The principal job of a wine writer is to understand the informational desires of their audience. In this session we’ll discuss how to determine who you’re writing for and how that should influence the information you’re presenting. We’ll share ideas on how to connect with readers. And we’ll think about ways to present technical or niche information in a way that excites rather than alienates.
Tove Danovich
Tove Danovich is the author of Under the Henfluence which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Her essays on nature have been published in The Washington Post, Orion, The Atlantic, Earth Island Journal, and many more. She lives in Portland, Oregon. tovedanovich.com
Tove’s Workshop: Writing Wild Animals: why attention is a writer’s most important tool for writing about the non-human world
When it comes to writing about nature, success is in the details. To write, we have to first observe. This may mean collecting research and facts or simply going outside to take notice. This class will provide tips for how to harness the power of attention in our writing and show examples from different types of writers who have done this well.
Judith Barrington
Judith Barrington ‘s most recent book is Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs (OSU Press, 2024). Her Lifesaving: A Memoir won the 2001 Lambda Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. She is also the author of the best-selling Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art. judithbarrington.com
Judith’s Workshop: A Good Story Well Told: The Poetic Prose of Memoir
There is no reason that prose writing cannot be as pleasing to read and to hear as the best poetry. This workshop will look at what we mean by “poetic prose” and how it can enhance your memoir. We will discuss the various tools used by poets and wonder how they might be applied to prose writing. We’ll share excerpts from memoirs and from prose writers who have written about their craft. We’ll think about retrospection and how to use different time periods without disturbing the style of our story.
Terroir Creative Writing Festival 